At some point in time, every business has a need for professionally written articles, whether they are to be used for website content or for other business purposes. There are services available to meet these needs, and the professionals who specialize in this area are known as ghostwriters. A ghost writer is someone who writes creative stories, articles, blogs, journals and other pieces for different types of businesses. The difference between a ghostwriter and other professional writers is that the entries written by a ghostwriter are typically published under a pseudonym. This allows a company to take credit for the written work without having to actually produce it. This concept is not new, and for some time, borrowed work has allowed businesses to provide professionally written work that is tailored toward their industry. The nature of this work has changed over the last several years because of the explosive growth of the internet, and because of this, ghostwriters have become a prized commodity. Certainly, you have witnessed the many different forms of content on the internet. This content can vary from news articles, service and product descriptions, blogs, press releases and the like. A webmaster may not have the time to write the large amount of content required to keep their website updated. In addition to this, the webmaster may simply not have the talent or professional experience to produce well written pieces. Because of this, ghost writers are used to by many companies' to produce appealing content for their websites.
Most ghostwriting is outsourced as freelance work. This allows companies access to professional writing without having to staff a full time professional. There has been a recent trend of outsourcing ghostwriting jobs to countries such as India because these places offer companies a more cost effective way of doing business. The overall costs for ghostwritten articles in places like this can be up to 80% less than pieces written in the United States, UK or Canada. Before selecting a content writing company, it is important to understand what content writing entails. First of all, there is the actual content of your website. This concerns the different pages of your website which will include the home page, "about us" page and the like. Typically, a webmaster will outline the general requirements for these pages, and then allow writer to create professionally written material that is designed to attract the viewer. Because this type of material is representative of the company itself, it is considered to be some of the most important writing that the company has to offer. Poorly written content reflects negatively on a company and can turn away many potential clients. In addition to writing original material for website content, ghost writers can also improve website content by editing or updating previously written work.
Another form of writing that you will need to consider is in the form of articles. Articles can be used for various business purposes and one role of the article is for search engine optimization strategies. An article that is correctly optimized can significantly increase a websites ranking within the search engine, and thus increase the flow of traffic to the site itself. These types of articles typically reflect general information or current industry news. They normally contain links embedded in the article itself, and then they are distributed to various article directories and e-magazines to ensure mass circulation. In addition to search engine ranking benefits, a well written article will keep the viewer abreast of current news and industry trends and thus provide the company with a steady stream of repeat visitors.
Another important form of writing is the company blog. Blogs are more informal than articles or website content, and they are typically written as opinion pieces. Like articles or website content, blogs can be used for search engine optimization purposes. Even though most of these pieces are written by a ghost writer, they are generally published under the pseudonym of the webmaster. Because a blog is less formal than an article or press release, they allow the writer much more creative freedom; however, they should always contain material that is pertinent to the company's products and services. Posting a blog is a very effective way of promoting a website, and should always be considered an important part of a company's writing strategy.
Lastly, there will come a point in time when a company will need to issue a press release. Press Releases are another mechanism of promotion and they normally focus on specific products or services offered by the company. For example, a company will issue a press release when a new service or product is available to the public. They are also issued when a company starts a promotional campaign. One particularly effective form of the press release is the product or service review. A good ghost writer will take the time to research the company's products and services and write an effective review. A review will give the reader insight into the product they are interested in and will allow them to make a more informative decision. It is always in the best interest of the company to keep potential clients informed of new products and services and the press release is the ideal strategy to attract new customers. Press releases can be published at various press release websites, and a good content writing company will be ensure that these materials are published on a large scale.
As you can see, there are many reasons to consider a content writing service for your company's writing needs. In essence, the website is the face of the company, so it is important to present to the public the most professional and attractive presentation as possible. A ghostwriter can help you meet these needs and ensure your company's success.
Author: Darren Dunner
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Showing posts with label Freelance Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freelance Writing. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
How to Keep Your Written Work from Being Copied and Plagiarized
It's happened to most of us that write and if it hasn't happened to you yet it will. It's only a factor of time and exposure.
Someone has stolen your labor intensive work and put their name on it. Or, taken your work and rearranged the paragraphs and put their name on it. Or, taken all your good ideas and reshuffled the words and put their name on it. Or any combination of the above.
If you publish and distribute on the web you may have hundreds of articles on a large number of websites, blogs and article databases. That's a lot of exposure. If I google the articles name I might find one that has not given proper credit. Usually they are novices and correct the problem. This type of plagiarism is easy and simple.
It's also a question of monetary gain. My own personal cases of plagiarism did not amount to any monetary gain. Nobody sold my content and made money. So if that is the case, back off and let it go. Notify the infringer and let it go. If big money is involved, talk to a lawyer.
But there are several ways I have found to protect myself. The first is that if I am going to put the article in a public place in the public domain, I want to post the article on my website first. This is proof it is mine.
The next is a bit more involved and it has to do with the content structure.
When I first started writing business articles I wrote nuts and bolts types of articles; what is a balance sheet, what is direct marketing, etc. The problem with these types of articles is that they can be rearranged rather easily and become a 'new' article. There is actually software out there now that purports to do just that.
That's right. There is software out there that can take linear, step by step nuts and bolts articles and rearrange them so someone else can put their name on them.
And of course people can do the same thing. From one hundred dollars down you can buy an article on just about anything from someone else and put your name on it. The only problem is the quality is so bad you may want to use a pen name, which defeats the whole purpose in the first place.
Fortunately this rearranging software only works on content that can be broken up easily. What if the content can't be broken up easily? What if the thread or train of thought of the article is such that it can't be reshuffled and still make sense? What if the text has lots of fragments and subtly intertwined expressions? Ha...just think of the headache of taking it apart and rearranging it. The truth is it takes so much time and is such a pain that it's easier to just write the article from scratch. Go figure...
I also try to spice up my content with slang, offbeat expressions, punctuation and whatever else happens to be handy. Poke, jab, kid, enrage, prod, insult do anything outside the linear behavioral model and your content becomes very difficult to repackage as well as livelier and more interesting.
My strong suspicion is that a lot of these rewrite and write services are offshore, especially in India where English is spoken. So if you add a lot of local zip and slang to your content they won't know that is. It has to be straightforward and linear for them; otherwise they can't do it.
Here's an example. I'm writing an article about the Revolutionary American flag with the snake on it that says 'Don't Tread on Me'. The title I chose was" 'Don't Tread on Me' Snake Motto is Foundation for the Modern Free and Inquiring Mind."
Rearranged, it going to have a lot of rough spots. It's even a tough title as it is...
In the text I open up freely and let it go. The bodacious and frolicking text is very hard to duplicate and repackage. I also consciously try to make the story thread or trail a convoluted and unpredictable one. It can only go this way or it makes no sense. At this point I have probably beaten all the copiers. They of course can take the general idea of the article, but to get another article they will have to write their own.
And so it goes. We all get copied and we all get mad. I just try to make it harder to copy. With fragments. Lots of fragments. Don't forget the fragments.
Think fragments. Mucho fragments...
Author: Jack Deal
Someone has stolen your labor intensive work and put their name on it. Or, taken your work and rearranged the paragraphs and put their name on it. Or, taken all your good ideas and reshuffled the words and put their name on it. Or any combination of the above.
If you publish and distribute on the web you may have hundreds of articles on a large number of websites, blogs and article databases. That's a lot of exposure. If I google the articles name I might find one that has not given proper credit. Usually they are novices and correct the problem. This type of plagiarism is easy and simple.
It's also a question of monetary gain. My own personal cases of plagiarism did not amount to any monetary gain. Nobody sold my content and made money. So if that is the case, back off and let it go. Notify the infringer and let it go. If big money is involved, talk to a lawyer.
But there are several ways I have found to protect myself. The first is that if I am going to put the article in a public place in the public domain, I want to post the article on my website first. This is proof it is mine.
The next is a bit more involved and it has to do with the content structure.
When I first started writing business articles I wrote nuts and bolts types of articles; what is a balance sheet, what is direct marketing, etc. The problem with these types of articles is that they can be rearranged rather easily and become a 'new' article. There is actually software out there now that purports to do just that.
That's right. There is software out there that can take linear, step by step nuts and bolts articles and rearrange them so someone else can put their name on them.
And of course people can do the same thing. From one hundred dollars down you can buy an article on just about anything from someone else and put your name on it. The only problem is the quality is so bad you may want to use a pen name, which defeats the whole purpose in the first place.
Fortunately this rearranging software only works on content that can be broken up easily. What if the content can't be broken up easily? What if the thread or train of thought of the article is such that it can't be reshuffled and still make sense? What if the text has lots of fragments and subtly intertwined expressions? Ha...just think of the headache of taking it apart and rearranging it. The truth is it takes so much time and is such a pain that it's easier to just write the article from scratch. Go figure...
I also try to spice up my content with slang, offbeat expressions, punctuation and whatever else happens to be handy. Poke, jab, kid, enrage, prod, insult do anything outside the linear behavioral model and your content becomes very difficult to repackage as well as livelier and more interesting.
My strong suspicion is that a lot of these rewrite and write services are offshore, especially in India where English is spoken. So if you add a lot of local zip and slang to your content they won't know that is. It has to be straightforward and linear for them; otherwise they can't do it.
Here's an example. I'm writing an article about the Revolutionary American flag with the snake on it that says 'Don't Tread on Me'. The title I chose was" 'Don't Tread on Me' Snake Motto is Foundation for the Modern Free and Inquiring Mind."
Rearranged, it going to have a lot of rough spots. It's even a tough title as it is...
In the text I open up freely and let it go. The bodacious and frolicking text is very hard to duplicate and repackage. I also consciously try to make the story thread or trail a convoluted and unpredictable one. It can only go this way or it makes no sense. At this point I have probably beaten all the copiers. They of course can take the general idea of the article, but to get another article they will have to write their own.
And so it goes. We all get copied and we all get mad. I just try to make it harder to copy. With fragments. Lots of fragments. Don't forget the fragments.
Think fragments. Mucho fragments...
Author: Jack Deal
Need Clients for your Freelance Writing Business? Here are Six Proven Tips
If you would like your writing business to go from sporadic hobby to full-time career (with full-time benefits and income), you need to understand the business of writing. There's nothing more important to your business success than knowing how to get clients. It's a great time to be a writer--but only if you know where to find and how to land clients. If you want to transition your writing life from part-time job to career, here are six proven methods of getting clients.
Getting clients is one of those great mysteries of the writing life. It's a mystery because the writers who can do it rarely talk about it.
And there are a lot of things people believe about this that are just plain wrong.
Here are six ways to get clientssome of which you may not have thought of before. These techniques are appropriate for landing new clients, winning back former clients, and stimulating more business from your regulars.
First, build your network. Networking is one of those things that a lot of people talk about but few people really grasp. For a professional writer, your network is made of the individuals (not the companies, not the industries, not the departments, not the publications) who might hire you. You need to keep tabs on these people. That means holiday cards, occasional e-mails or phone calls, and reminders about your business. I would say that 60% of my business today comes from somebody who knew me (somebody in my network). This is your richest field for business ... mine it!
By the way, people hire writers. Let's say a person at Company A has worked with you for a while when he quits to take a new job at Company B. Guess what? You're now more likely to get your next writing job from Company B than Company A, but if you play your cards right, you may be able to stay on at Company A, too. People are loyal to people; companies are loyal only accidentally.
Second, talk about what you do. Don't become the abominable dinner guest, but make sure you let people know what you do. People know people and believe it or not, there are actually people who are scratching their heads trying to find a writer. Don't belabor the issue, but make sure your friends, neighbors, guests, acquaintances, and mailman know what you do. I once got a year-long gig from a contact my mom made in a bowling alley! (She told one of the bowlers on the other team what I did for a livingand I got a phone call from the other lady's daughter a few days later. She was looking for a very specific type of writer!)
Third, don't overlook sites like e-lance and other places where freelance talent can bid on jobs. True, it's a bazaar on those sites and you will see crazy offers (like "write 100 articles for $12, must be able to complete assignment in three hours") but there are some very respectable businesses that use those sites. Be discerning, but check it out. I use these sites to fill will what I call "dead time," those periods of the year when my business slows down. I've never not made money working these sitesbut you can't bid on every job there. Some of those jobs aren't worth having!
Fourth, develop your own website that promotes your own services. Most creative people do sites that are really online portfolios; that's interesting but I don't think it brings in a lot of work. Instead, use your site to discuss your ideas about writing, your areas of expertise, and those sorts of things. You can always talk samples once a client calls. A year ago, I would not have listed this as a strategy because although I had a website, it did not bring in any business. It now hasI have found a pretty strong new client who came to me on the strength of the website.
(Mostly a website is something that is nice to have to help confirm to your new client that he or she made a good choice. People look at your website, but they don't find writers that way. I think that's changing.)
Fifth, try direct mail. You have to be very clever with this. You need a strong sales letter and you need to send it by first-class mail to a real person. The less is looks like direct mail (a.k.a. junk mail) the more likely it will get through. Put a real stamp on it. Address it to a real person, even by hand. Your letter should pitch your business.
You have to scope out target clients. Find some businesses that might need your services, call to find out who hires freelance writers, and send a letter directly to that person. Call a few days later. This is a tough program because you need to keep after it, but it does work, particularly if you are diligent and target the right folks and have a compelling sales letter. This is the best way to get new clients; in my experience, it works better than cold calling, which I have never had much success with. (Not to mention the fact that it's less fun than going to the dentist.)
Sixth, contact a newspaper and pitch a column. Don't just contact random newspapers, but don't be shy about approaching major papers or local hometown newspapers. Look it over, see what's missing, write up a sample column or two, and pitch it by e-mail or letter directly to the appropriate editor. I got my first major writing job that way (I was a stringer for Variety) and the second time I tried it, I got a job writing a column that is entering its fifth year. This works. Two drawbacks: it usually doesn't pay well and you have to be very careful and make sure you target your offering to the newspaper's needs.
I'm pretty sure you could land yourself a gig as a movie critic or a lifestyle expert or a medical writer. You need to be a matchmaker, though. Don't propose anything unless it seems like a perfect fit for the newspaper.
You may be excited about that last idea but think for a minute. Who needs a low-paying writing job? Well, maybe you do. Regular appearances in an important publication build your credibility as a writer. You can often parlay those writing credits into more lucrative (but less visible) writing jobs in similar industries. Newspapers help fill out your clip files, and sometimes you can re-sell articles or use a body of research to generate similar stories for better-paying magazines or websites.
Writing is a great life, but a lot of it is work, and work is work. Getting clients is not easy for any professional and writers have to do the same amount of chattering, networking, direct mailing, and scouting out opportunities that other people do.
What's amazing to me is that some of these things work really well. Very often, when you do connect with a great long-term client, you'll hear another side to the story. Many businesses dream of finding a reliable, high-quality writer. Right now there are companies and clients wondering how on earth they are ever going to get their brochures and articles and press releases and websites written.
Your job is not "selling" them your services. Your job is really just making sure they know that you're there and ready for assignment.
Author: Jo Ann LeQuang
Getting clients is one of those great mysteries of the writing life. It's a mystery because the writers who can do it rarely talk about it.
And there are a lot of things people believe about this that are just plain wrong.
Here are six ways to get clientssome of which you may not have thought of before. These techniques are appropriate for landing new clients, winning back former clients, and stimulating more business from your regulars.
First, build your network. Networking is one of those things that a lot of people talk about but few people really grasp. For a professional writer, your network is made of the individuals (not the companies, not the industries, not the departments, not the publications) who might hire you. You need to keep tabs on these people. That means holiday cards, occasional e-mails or phone calls, and reminders about your business. I would say that 60% of my business today comes from somebody who knew me (somebody in my network). This is your richest field for business ... mine it!
By the way, people hire writers. Let's say a person at Company A has worked with you for a while when he quits to take a new job at Company B. Guess what? You're now more likely to get your next writing job from Company B than Company A, but if you play your cards right, you may be able to stay on at Company A, too. People are loyal to people; companies are loyal only accidentally.
Second, talk about what you do. Don't become the abominable dinner guest, but make sure you let people know what you do. People know people and believe it or not, there are actually people who are scratching their heads trying to find a writer. Don't belabor the issue, but make sure your friends, neighbors, guests, acquaintances, and mailman know what you do. I once got a year-long gig from a contact my mom made in a bowling alley! (She told one of the bowlers on the other team what I did for a livingand I got a phone call from the other lady's daughter a few days later. She was looking for a very specific type of writer!)
Third, don't overlook sites like e-lance and other places where freelance talent can bid on jobs. True, it's a bazaar on those sites and you will see crazy offers (like "write 100 articles for $12, must be able to complete assignment in three hours") but there are some very respectable businesses that use those sites. Be discerning, but check it out. I use these sites to fill will what I call "dead time," those periods of the year when my business slows down. I've never not made money working these sitesbut you can't bid on every job there. Some of those jobs aren't worth having!
Fourth, develop your own website that promotes your own services. Most creative people do sites that are really online portfolios; that's interesting but I don't think it brings in a lot of work. Instead, use your site to discuss your ideas about writing, your areas of expertise, and those sorts of things. You can always talk samples once a client calls. A year ago, I would not have listed this as a strategy because although I had a website, it did not bring in any business. It now hasI have found a pretty strong new client who came to me on the strength of the website.
(Mostly a website is something that is nice to have to help confirm to your new client that he or she made a good choice. People look at your website, but they don't find writers that way. I think that's changing.)
Fifth, try direct mail. You have to be very clever with this. You need a strong sales letter and you need to send it by first-class mail to a real person. The less is looks like direct mail (a.k.a. junk mail) the more likely it will get through. Put a real stamp on it. Address it to a real person, even by hand. Your letter should pitch your business.
You have to scope out target clients. Find some businesses that might need your services, call to find out who hires freelance writers, and send a letter directly to that person. Call a few days later. This is a tough program because you need to keep after it, but it does work, particularly if you are diligent and target the right folks and have a compelling sales letter. This is the best way to get new clients; in my experience, it works better than cold calling, which I have never had much success with. (Not to mention the fact that it's less fun than going to the dentist.)
Sixth, contact a newspaper and pitch a column. Don't just contact random newspapers, but don't be shy about approaching major papers or local hometown newspapers. Look it over, see what's missing, write up a sample column or two, and pitch it by e-mail or letter directly to the appropriate editor. I got my first major writing job that way (I was a stringer for Variety) and the second time I tried it, I got a job writing a column that is entering its fifth year. This works. Two drawbacks: it usually doesn't pay well and you have to be very careful and make sure you target your offering to the newspaper's needs.
I'm pretty sure you could land yourself a gig as a movie critic or a lifestyle expert or a medical writer. You need to be a matchmaker, though. Don't propose anything unless it seems like a perfect fit for the newspaper.
You may be excited about that last idea but think for a minute. Who needs a low-paying writing job? Well, maybe you do. Regular appearances in an important publication build your credibility as a writer. You can often parlay those writing credits into more lucrative (but less visible) writing jobs in similar industries. Newspapers help fill out your clip files, and sometimes you can re-sell articles or use a body of research to generate similar stories for better-paying magazines or websites.
Writing is a great life, but a lot of it is work, and work is work. Getting clients is not easy for any professional and writers have to do the same amount of chattering, networking, direct mailing, and scouting out opportunities that other people do.
What's amazing to me is that some of these things work really well. Very often, when you do connect with a great long-term client, you'll hear another side to the story. Many businesses dream of finding a reliable, high-quality writer. Right now there are companies and clients wondering how on earth they are ever going to get their brochures and articles and press releases and websites written.
Your job is not "selling" them your services. Your job is really just making sure they know that you're there and ready for assignment.
Author: Jo Ann LeQuang
Entrepreneurs are Perfect for the Stock Market
Author: Scott Johns
Entrepreneurs definitely dont have a monopoly on how to earn cash fast. The dreams of turning small money into a vast financial empire have always existed in one form or another. The global economy and the Internet have created a new genre of entrepreneurs. However, the stock market has always had its own entrepreneurs. The stock market is also full of individuals wanting to experience large returns from a great idea or investment.
Entrepreneurs definitely know how to dream up an idea and act on it, at least the ones who are willing to do the work anyway. These are people who are not content working for a large corporation but instead want to become that large corporation themselves. Entrepreneurs are people who are willing to take sometimes great risks to make more money and see their idea become profitable.
If this describes you or someone you know then you know someone who would probably love investing in the stock market. Investing consists of a good amount of research but also a great amount of guesswork and speculation. It involves taking risks that many times others are too timid to take. These are the people who really make the money in the stock market. Yes they also lose money but they learn from this and move forward making calculated adjustments in their strategy.
Investors are aware of the risks depending on the investment and so are entrepreneurs. However, this does not stop them from taking the necessary steps to riches. Investors sometimes trust their hunches invest in a stock even though everyone else is saying sell. This applies to entrepreneurs as well.
You see, there are so many similarities in investors and entrepreneurs. Of course entrepreneurs can be more associated with higher risk investments such as penny stocks but this is certainly not the only stock they would be involved in. They take on only the risk that is required of them to position themselves for profit. This does not mean that investors or entrepreneurs are crazy. In fact they are just as sensitive about the risks as anyone else. It all comes down to a willingness to do what others are simply too scared to do.
So if you are an entrepreneur then guess what, you have exactly what it takes to make quite the living in the stock market. You have the guts and tenacity to make bold moves at the right time.
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
Entrepreneurs definitely dont have a monopoly on how to earn cash fast. The dreams of turning small money into a vast financial empire have always existed in one form or another. The global economy and the Internet have created a new genre of entrepreneurs. However, the stock market has always had its own entrepreneurs. The stock market is also full of individuals wanting to experience large returns from a great idea or investment.
Entrepreneurs definitely know how to dream up an idea and act on it, at least the ones who are willing to do the work anyway. These are people who are not content working for a large corporation but instead want to become that large corporation themselves. Entrepreneurs are people who are willing to take sometimes great risks to make more money and see their idea become profitable.
If this describes you or someone you know then you know someone who would probably love investing in the stock market. Investing consists of a good amount of research but also a great amount of guesswork and speculation. It involves taking risks that many times others are too timid to take. These are the people who really make the money in the stock market. Yes they also lose money but they learn from this and move forward making calculated adjustments in their strategy.
Investors are aware of the risks depending on the investment and so are entrepreneurs. However, this does not stop them from taking the necessary steps to riches. Investors sometimes trust their hunches invest in a stock even though everyone else is saying sell. This applies to entrepreneurs as well.
You see, there are so many similarities in investors and entrepreneurs. Of course entrepreneurs can be more associated with higher risk investments such as penny stocks but this is certainly not the only stock they would be involved in. They take on only the risk that is required of them to position themselves for profit. This does not mean that investors or entrepreneurs are crazy. In fact they are just as sensitive about the risks as anyone else. It all comes down to a willingness to do what others are simply too scared to do.
So if you are an entrepreneur then guess what, you have exactly what it takes to make quite the living in the stock market. You have the guts and tenacity to make bold moves at the right time.
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
3 Reasons Why Call-backs Can Hinder the Growth of your Home-based Business
If there is one thing I have learned in the 14 years of trying to grow a successful home-based business in network marketing, it is that call-backs are usually worthless. Whether it's someone you have spoken with for only one minute, or someone who has gone through your whole presentation, calling them back is one of the biggest detriments to your business!
First of all, let's get the people out of the way who can't even find the time to say hello. Let's say you call them, introduce yourself and let them know why you are calling. They say "Oh. I don't have time to talk right now. I have to drive my sister to the grocery store." Instead of asking them when a better time would be to call them back, just leave your name and phone number and tell them to call you. That's it. Over and done. They obviously know what the situation is and why you called, right? You are looking for people serious enough to call you when they are ready instead of you tracking them down. Just doing that alone frees up about five hours of your week that you would've wasted on people who were never interested in the first place.
As far as people go who have listened to your presentation, the same thinking applies. With so many people out there in the world who are marketing similar products or services, you have one and only one chance at closing your sale. Gone are the days of spending long hours trying to chase down people who sat on the fence of indecision, and with them went all of the frustration and struggles I encountered trying to grow my business. When I understood that call-backs were actually hindering my business, things started to move in a forward motion. Here are the three main reason why, and what you can do instead to get the ball rolling.
1. Call-Backs Make You Seem Desperate
When you keep the ball in your court by telling a prospect you will call them back in a few days, weeks or months, it makes you seem desperate for their business. What does this say about you and your product or service? It says that you have to work at selling yourself and what you have to offer. The prospect could take this as a sign that your products are not as great as they seem and that they are difficult to sell.
Distributors usually offer to call-back a prospect because they want to seem accessible and willing to go out of their way to help them. Don't assume this is the impression you are giving them. Instead of being their humble servant, make them call you back. That's right, I said they should call you. Why? Because it tells them that they must be responsible for their own business and you will help them, but you won't hold their hand. You'll get more respect by giving them the feeling that your business must be good if you don't have time to waste convincing them to join.
2. The Prospect Just Isn't Ready Or It's The Wrong Prospect
If a prospect cannot make a decision after they've heard all about the benefits of what you have to offer, they are either not ready or they never will be. It's a sad but true fact that you need to come to grips with if you want to successfully grow a home-based business. With all the people out there who really do have a need, want or desire for what you have, don't focus on chasing the ones who can't make up their mind.
What happens when you go out of your way to convince someone to do something they aren't ready for? They will eventually regret it and the person who pushed thim into submission. If they do not wind up quitting because of non-activity on their part, they will probably wind up being someone who you wish you never met. Remember, you had to call them back because they were indecisive. Just think of how much help they will need once they are enrolled into your organization.
3. Stops Forward Momentum
The biggest reason why call-backs are detrimental to the growth of your business is because it's a time waster. What happens when you spend the bulk of your day tracking down people who basically already told you "no"? It doesn't leave enough time for you to find your target audience. People who want what you have to offer will not make excuses and expect you to call them back. Time is precious, and you must spend your time on those who deserve it.
Once you have a proven closing script that focuses on their needs, all you should have to do is follow it. If they cannot make a decision during this call, then that is it. Cut your losses and move on to the next prospect. You are not in the business of convicing. You must learn to develop a "you-snooze-you-lose" attitude, and speak as though it is the last time you will hear from them unless they call you back.
If you are in the habbit of calling prospects back after they have declined your offer once already, you need to be educated on how to be a marketer. All of these detrimental things happen to people who haven't positioned themselves as a leader, and that is the most important aspect of marketing. A leader will not call a person back no matter what their excuse because the education teaches a certain mindset that must be understood. It involves sincere enthusiasm about the prospect and not themselves. It involves developing a certain smoothness that is critical when prospecting over the telephone. It also involves listening and understanding the prospect.
I remember going out of my way to convince people that what I had would benefit everyone in one way or another. This may have been the case, but when I learned the difference between distributing and marketing, my business exploded. I understood that it is not about selling, it's about buying. Only proper education pointed me in the right direction, and I had to look outside of my parent company to get it. Unfortunately, there is a reason for the 95% drop-out rate in network marketing.
People are being educated on how to sell a few products instead of how to grow an organization though marketing. I help people so they don't have to waste 14 years on trial and error to become successful like I did. Instead of calling prospects back, learn from my mistakes and change your way of thinking. Move on to the next without looking back. It is just one of the many differences between success and failure, but it is important none-the-less.
Author: William Winch
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
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First of all, let's get the people out of the way who can't even find the time to say hello. Let's say you call them, introduce yourself and let them know why you are calling. They say "Oh. I don't have time to talk right now. I have to drive my sister to the grocery store." Instead of asking them when a better time would be to call them back, just leave your name and phone number and tell them to call you. That's it. Over and done. They obviously know what the situation is and why you called, right? You are looking for people serious enough to call you when they are ready instead of you tracking them down. Just doing that alone frees up about five hours of your week that you would've wasted on people who were never interested in the first place.
As far as people go who have listened to your presentation, the same thinking applies. With so many people out there in the world who are marketing similar products or services, you have one and only one chance at closing your sale. Gone are the days of spending long hours trying to chase down people who sat on the fence of indecision, and with them went all of the frustration and struggles I encountered trying to grow my business. When I understood that call-backs were actually hindering my business, things started to move in a forward motion. Here are the three main reason why, and what you can do instead to get the ball rolling.
1. Call-Backs Make You Seem Desperate
When you keep the ball in your court by telling a prospect you will call them back in a few days, weeks or months, it makes you seem desperate for their business. What does this say about you and your product or service? It says that you have to work at selling yourself and what you have to offer. The prospect could take this as a sign that your products are not as great as they seem and that they are difficult to sell.
Distributors usually offer to call-back a prospect because they want to seem accessible and willing to go out of their way to help them. Don't assume this is the impression you are giving them. Instead of being their humble servant, make them call you back. That's right, I said they should call you. Why? Because it tells them that they must be responsible for their own business and you will help them, but you won't hold their hand. You'll get more respect by giving them the feeling that your business must be good if you don't have time to waste convincing them to join.
2. The Prospect Just Isn't Ready Or It's The Wrong Prospect
If a prospect cannot make a decision after they've heard all about the benefits of what you have to offer, they are either not ready or they never will be. It's a sad but true fact that you need to come to grips with if you want to successfully grow a home-based business. With all the people out there who really do have a need, want or desire for what you have, don't focus on chasing the ones who can't make up their mind.
What happens when you go out of your way to convince someone to do something they aren't ready for? They will eventually regret it and the person who pushed thim into submission. If they do not wind up quitting because of non-activity on their part, they will probably wind up being someone who you wish you never met. Remember, you had to call them back because they were indecisive. Just think of how much help they will need once they are enrolled into your organization.
3. Stops Forward Momentum
The biggest reason why call-backs are detrimental to the growth of your business is because it's a time waster. What happens when you spend the bulk of your day tracking down people who basically already told you "no"? It doesn't leave enough time for you to find your target audience. People who want what you have to offer will not make excuses and expect you to call them back. Time is precious, and you must spend your time on those who deserve it.
Once you have a proven closing script that focuses on their needs, all you should have to do is follow it. If they cannot make a decision during this call, then that is it. Cut your losses and move on to the next prospect. You are not in the business of convicing. You must learn to develop a "you-snooze-you-lose" attitude, and speak as though it is the last time you will hear from them unless they call you back.
If you are in the habbit of calling prospects back after they have declined your offer once already, you need to be educated on how to be a marketer. All of these detrimental things happen to people who haven't positioned themselves as a leader, and that is the most important aspect of marketing. A leader will not call a person back no matter what their excuse because the education teaches a certain mindset that must be understood. It involves sincere enthusiasm about the prospect and not themselves. It involves developing a certain smoothness that is critical when prospecting over the telephone. It also involves listening and understanding the prospect.
I remember going out of my way to convince people that what I had would benefit everyone in one way or another. This may have been the case, but when I learned the difference between distributing and marketing, my business exploded. I understood that it is not about selling, it's about buying. Only proper education pointed me in the right direction, and I had to look outside of my parent company to get it. Unfortunately, there is a reason for the 95% drop-out rate in network marketing.
People are being educated on how to sell a few products instead of how to grow an organization though marketing. I help people so they don't have to waste 14 years on trial and error to become successful like I did. Instead of calling prospects back, learn from my mistakes and change your way of thinking. Move on to the next without looking back. It is just one of the many differences between success and failure, but it is important none-the-less.
Author: William Winch
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
Environmental Business
Another fast growing niche for work at home businesses is in environmental assessment and management. There are dozens of jobs available for people who want to consult on environmental issues. Especially now that the government suggested they will soon issue a carbon tax.
The UK has already started to apply a carbon tax. This means that people with out of date, low efficiency furnaces, and energy glutton air conditioners.
The hardest hit will be small businesses as Phase I of the low emission programs come into effect within the next five years. It seems absurd that we must live with and clean up the mess our parents made - but they were the ones who reaped the benefits - yet we will profit from the clean up.
The UK has already started to apply a carbon tax. This means that people with out of date, low efficiency furnaces, and energy glutton air conditioners.
The hardest hit will be small businesses as Phase I of the low emission programs come into effect within the next five years. It seems absurd that we must live with and clean up the mess our parents made - but they were the ones who reaped the benefits - yet we will profit from the clean up.
The Home-office Life Can Sometimes be Harder Than it Looks
Are you one of many of the millions of Americans now working outside traditional workplaces who have found themselves surprised by how difficult home-office life can be?Before they were married in September, Nicci Young and Richard Wiese first had to split up. The problem was not romantic, but spatial: Young Wiese, who organizes community development safaris to Africa, and Wiese, a writer and explorer, found that their Upper East Side one-bedroom was not big enough for the two of them after both decided to work from home.
"He kept talking to me about his work, which is very interesting, but it was really taking time out of my workday," Young Wiese said. "And when I was alone there was a sense of loneliness and procrastination." Wiese, who is writing a how-to book about exploration for teenagers, acknowledged the problem. "Nicci tends to be a lot more intense," he said. "Especially with lighter work, I can be watching a ballgame. If I saw a funny e-mail coming through I'd want to share it. I'd get these glances from her, like, `I'm working!'" Young Wiese is one of many of the millions of Americans now working outside traditional workplaces who have found themselves surprised by how difficult home-office life can be.
It requires strict self-discipline and an ability to tune out spouses, children and pets. For the more sociable or emotionally needy, it can feel like house arrest, especially if the phone hasn't rung in a while. Young Wiese's solution was to rent space in a communal office, an increasingly popular option for those who can afford it. (According to Sara Horowitz, the executive director of the Freelancers Union, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the self-employed, the use of communal work spaces has been on the rise among members for about three years, "and in the last year it's started accelerating.") Those who can't afford a separate space, or who find home too convenient or rewarding a workplace base to give up -- learn to live with the challenges, coming up with smaller-scale solutions over time.
One of the hardest adjustments for those working from home is deciding when to take a break, and when to quit for the day. With the computer always beckoning and the commute measured in the time it takes to cross the living room, there's always a reason to go back to work -- or an excuse to avoid it. "It's sort of a guilty feeling -- I should be working," said Kathy McHugh, a headhunter for high-tech companies who has worked out of her Manhattan apartment on and off for several years. "My office is 2 feet away." Children can be a distraction, as Barbara Magnoni, an international development consultant, discovered when she and Magali Montes, a business associate, tried to hold meetings in Magnoni's apartment after picking up their children from school. "We'd meet at home with our kids running around and they would think it was a play date when it actually wasn't," Magnoni said. Sid Holt, a media senior vice president whose office is in a barn a few steps from his house in northern Westchester County, described the difficulty of pacing himself. "There are no cigarette breaks," he said. "You're either working too hard or not hard enough." Holt said he finds it helpful to schedule his time in a way that mimics the 9-to-5 life of his years spent working in a New York office.
He tries to keep to a routine that includes breakfast at a local coffee shop -- reminiscent of his ritual of picking up coffee and a bagel at Grand Central Terminal on the way to his former job -- and a 10am conference call with three other employees of go2Media, a Boston-based mobile Web service for which he oversees editorial content. The conference call and frequent e-mail exchanges with other employees contribute to a sense of accomplishment that would be harder to achieve if he were working entirely on his own, he said. And they also help him to feel that he has earned the reward that once greeted him on his return from Manhattan, and that he still uses to punctuate the day. "I say to myself, there's a martini waiting for me down at the house and I'm leaving now," he said. For home-office workers who aren't in regular touch with colleagues or clients, a frequent complaint -- even among those who say they are distracted by other members of their households -- is of isolation.
David Behl, a photographer whose studio is connected to his TriBeCa loft, said he enjoys working at home when the jobs are pouring in and the studio is filled with clients and assistants. But at other times, he added, he misses the studio he used to share with two other photographers. "You don't see anybody," he said. "You don't go out for lunch. It's easier to get depressed because there's no one to complain to." McHugh said business lunches can be a lifeline after a couple of weeks working from home, and that she often finds herself glomming onto her daughter when she gets home from high school in the afternoon. "I'm happy to see somebody who's out in the world," she said. These issues have been observed at IBM, where a "mobile work force" strategy has led to 30 percent of employees working full time from home (as well as a savings on office space that the company estimates at US$100 million a year). "We found if you're working from home and do not have an interaction with someone from work, or a client, or a physical meeting, after three days you start to feel isolated," said Dan Pelino, who manages IBM's mobile work force program. Soon after the company introduced the program in 2001, he added, "people have said to me, `IBM stands for `I'm By Myself.'" The company has tried to mitigate this problem with "mobility centers," communal spaces that it maintains wherever it has offices, offering desks, phone and Internet lines, and office equipment for the periodic use of home-based workers. It has also promoted "IBM clubs," meant to encourage employee bonding.
Club members have taken day trips together to a zoo, traded cookie recipes and "gone to a race track and learned how to be a NASCAR driver," Pelino said. For those who can't depend on corporate beneficence, it is now possible to rent a desk or office in communal work spaces all over the country. The Regus Group, a Dallas-based company that rents temporary office space around the world and has 17 locations in Manhattan alone, has been doubling its US business every two years, said Guillermo Rotman, the company's chief executive for the Americas. In addition to cubicles and individual offices in various configurations, its spaces all have business lounges with sofas, armchairs, Internet ports, coffee machines and companionship for those seeking it.
The company also sells US$300-a-year passes to its business lounges, which number 950 around the world and cater to itinerant laptoppers. One Regus client in New York, David Robertson, said he had been looking forward to working at home from his Lower Manhattan apartment when he took a job in 2006 with a startup company that licenses images from college sports events, but that he lasted less than three months. "There seemed to be a lot of distractions," he said, "whether it was my children, or the refrigerator, or some home improvement project that was just sitting there staring at me." His company pays slightly less than US$1,000 a month for the cubicle he selected over an office with a closing door because it presented more opportunities to socialize.
He now wears a suit and tie to work when he wants to, and enjoys the reassuring cadences of the 9-to-5 world, as well as the camaraderie of his new office mates. "It's not like they're best friends," he said of his fellow business lounge denizens and the Regus staff members who are there to support them. "But they're adults you can have a conversation with." Young Wiese, who pays US$650 a month for a desk in a communal office in a private house near her apartment, said she, too, is happy to be surrounded by office mates who are friendly, if less gregarious than Wiese.
They share job leads with one another, they go out to lunch. She added that she prefers these relationships to those in a traditional office. "You have this collegial atmosphere, but it's not fraught with any work issues or roles or responsibilities," she said. Several of them are women who, like her, have abandoned their home offices to their work-at-home husbands. Abby Vaughn, an advertising representative for Canadian newspapers, actually took over her husband's space at the communal office when he was dismissed by the office manager after two weeks because his telephone manner was too loud. He is once again selling market research from home, while Vaughn goes off to the rented cubicle. "He's worked from his apartment for two years," his wife explained. "He wasn't used to being around people."
Author: Pedro Martinez
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
"He kept talking to me about his work, which is very interesting, but it was really taking time out of my workday," Young Wiese said. "And when I was alone there was a sense of loneliness and procrastination." Wiese, who is writing a how-to book about exploration for teenagers, acknowledged the problem. "Nicci tends to be a lot more intense," he said. "Especially with lighter work, I can be watching a ballgame. If I saw a funny e-mail coming through I'd want to share it. I'd get these glances from her, like, `I'm working!'" Young Wiese is one of many of the millions of Americans now working outside traditional workplaces who have found themselves surprised by how difficult home-office life can be.
It requires strict self-discipline and an ability to tune out spouses, children and pets. For the more sociable or emotionally needy, it can feel like house arrest, especially if the phone hasn't rung in a while. Young Wiese's solution was to rent space in a communal office, an increasingly popular option for those who can afford it. (According to Sara Horowitz, the executive director of the Freelancers Union, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the self-employed, the use of communal work spaces has been on the rise among members for about three years, "and in the last year it's started accelerating.") Those who can't afford a separate space, or who find home too convenient or rewarding a workplace base to give up -- learn to live with the challenges, coming up with smaller-scale solutions over time.
One of the hardest adjustments for those working from home is deciding when to take a break, and when to quit for the day. With the computer always beckoning and the commute measured in the time it takes to cross the living room, there's always a reason to go back to work -- or an excuse to avoid it. "It's sort of a guilty feeling -- I should be working," said Kathy McHugh, a headhunter for high-tech companies who has worked out of her Manhattan apartment on and off for several years. "My office is 2 feet away." Children can be a distraction, as Barbara Magnoni, an international development consultant, discovered when she and Magali Montes, a business associate, tried to hold meetings in Magnoni's apartment after picking up their children from school. "We'd meet at home with our kids running around and they would think it was a play date when it actually wasn't," Magnoni said. Sid Holt, a media senior vice president whose office is in a barn a few steps from his house in northern Westchester County, described the difficulty of pacing himself. "There are no cigarette breaks," he said. "You're either working too hard or not hard enough." Holt said he finds it helpful to schedule his time in a way that mimics the 9-to-5 life of his years spent working in a New York office.
He tries to keep to a routine that includes breakfast at a local coffee shop -- reminiscent of his ritual of picking up coffee and a bagel at Grand Central Terminal on the way to his former job -- and a 10am conference call with three other employees of go2Media, a Boston-based mobile Web service for which he oversees editorial content. The conference call and frequent e-mail exchanges with other employees contribute to a sense of accomplishment that would be harder to achieve if he were working entirely on his own, he said. And they also help him to feel that he has earned the reward that once greeted him on his return from Manhattan, and that he still uses to punctuate the day. "I say to myself, there's a martini waiting for me down at the house and I'm leaving now," he said. For home-office workers who aren't in regular touch with colleagues or clients, a frequent complaint -- even among those who say they are distracted by other members of their households -- is of isolation.
David Behl, a photographer whose studio is connected to his TriBeCa loft, said he enjoys working at home when the jobs are pouring in and the studio is filled with clients and assistants. But at other times, he added, he misses the studio he used to share with two other photographers. "You don't see anybody," he said. "You don't go out for lunch. It's easier to get depressed because there's no one to complain to." McHugh said business lunches can be a lifeline after a couple of weeks working from home, and that she often finds herself glomming onto her daughter when she gets home from high school in the afternoon. "I'm happy to see somebody who's out in the world," she said. These issues have been observed at IBM, where a "mobile work force" strategy has led to 30 percent of employees working full time from home (as well as a savings on office space that the company estimates at US$100 million a year). "We found if you're working from home and do not have an interaction with someone from work, or a client, or a physical meeting, after three days you start to feel isolated," said Dan Pelino, who manages IBM's mobile work force program. Soon after the company introduced the program in 2001, he added, "people have said to me, `IBM stands for `I'm By Myself.'" The company has tried to mitigate this problem with "mobility centers," communal spaces that it maintains wherever it has offices, offering desks, phone and Internet lines, and office equipment for the periodic use of home-based workers. It has also promoted "IBM clubs," meant to encourage employee bonding.
Club members have taken day trips together to a zoo, traded cookie recipes and "gone to a race track and learned how to be a NASCAR driver," Pelino said. For those who can't depend on corporate beneficence, it is now possible to rent a desk or office in communal work spaces all over the country. The Regus Group, a Dallas-based company that rents temporary office space around the world and has 17 locations in Manhattan alone, has been doubling its US business every two years, said Guillermo Rotman, the company's chief executive for the Americas. In addition to cubicles and individual offices in various configurations, its spaces all have business lounges with sofas, armchairs, Internet ports, coffee machines and companionship for those seeking it.
The company also sells US$300-a-year passes to its business lounges, which number 950 around the world and cater to itinerant laptoppers. One Regus client in New York, David Robertson, said he had been looking forward to working at home from his Lower Manhattan apartment when he took a job in 2006 with a startup company that licenses images from college sports events, but that he lasted less than three months. "There seemed to be a lot of distractions," he said, "whether it was my children, or the refrigerator, or some home improvement project that was just sitting there staring at me." His company pays slightly less than US$1,000 a month for the cubicle he selected over an office with a closing door because it presented more opportunities to socialize.
He now wears a suit and tie to work when he wants to, and enjoys the reassuring cadences of the 9-to-5 world, as well as the camaraderie of his new office mates. "It's not like they're best friends," he said of his fellow business lounge denizens and the Regus staff members who are there to support them. "But they're adults you can have a conversation with." Young Wiese, who pays US$650 a month for a desk in a communal office in a private house near her apartment, said she, too, is happy to be surrounded by office mates who are friendly, if less gregarious than Wiese.
They share job leads with one another, they go out to lunch. She added that she prefers these relationships to those in a traditional office. "You have this collegial atmosphere, but it's not fraught with any work issues or roles or responsibilities," she said. Several of them are women who, like her, have abandoned their home offices to their work-at-home husbands. Abby Vaughn, an advertising representative for Canadian newspapers, actually took over her husband's space at the communal office when he was dismissed by the office manager after two weeks because his telephone manner was too loud. He is once again selling market research from home, while Vaughn goes off to the rented cubicle. "He's worked from his apartment for two years," his wife explained. "He wasn't used to being around people."
Author: Pedro Martinez
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
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Using The Internet To Find Your Niche
The Internet is a wonderful place where users can find a great deal of information. However, many are not aware that the Internet is also where some savvy entrepreneurs can find lucrative business opportunities. Internet niche marketing is just one example of how those in the know can turn their hard work and dedication into profit. This is not to say that Internet marketing is a simple field where anyone can prosper but there are opportunities for those who are willing to persevere in their efforts.
Learning Internet Marketing Online
Believe it or not Internet niche marketing is a subject that can be learned online. It certainly helps for those who hope to prosper in this industry to have some knowledge of marketing and business before venturing in an Internet niche marketing campaign but it is not necessary. There is a great deal of information on organizing and executing a niche marketing campaign available online. This information may come in a number of different forms including websites offering informative articles, message boards focusing on the industry and ebooks.
Let's first examine learning about Internet marketing through websites. Type the search term, "Internet niche marketing" into your favorite search engine and you will likely receive millions of search results. Shifting through all of the search results would be rather time consuming and many of them would likely not be relevant. Fortunately the search engines do a great deal of work for you and the most useful websites will likely appear on the first couple of pages of search results. This still leaves you with a great deal of information to sort through but considering you are likely planning to turn niche marketing into a career this research is certainly worthwhile.
Carefully examine the search results you obtain from your search and bookmark the websites which seem most useful. Next take as much time as necessary to comb through all of these websites to find the most useful information. Take notes as you do to create a comprehensive resource for yourself. After this review your notes and investigate items which seem unclear to your further. This research may include offline resources such as books or phone calls to experts in the industry.
Search Engines are Your Friend
Now that you have already used the Internet to learn about the industry of Internet marketing, you probably know that finding a profitable niche is imperative. A niche is essentially a specific area of interest. Ideally you will already be an expert in this subject and it will be a subject which has a wide Internet audience without a great deal of existing websites focusing on this niche. Once again, you can turn to the Internet for finding this niche.
You may already have a few ideas for niches. These are probably subjects you are passionate about and understand very well. Examining statistical information provided by popular search engines regarding the popularity of search terms related to your niche will give you a good indication of whether or not Internet users are interested in your niche. If keywords related to your niche are searched on these search engines often, it is evident there is an audience for your niche. Next it is time to enter these keywords in a search engine and evaluate the websites which are provided as results for these keywords. If there are many strong results the niche can be considered saturated. In this case, it is a good idea to abandon the original idea and search for another niche. However, if there are not many high quality search results, you may have found your perfect niche.
Author: Sharon Godfrey
Learning Internet Marketing Online
Believe it or not Internet niche marketing is a subject that can be learned online. It certainly helps for those who hope to prosper in this industry to have some knowledge of marketing and business before venturing in an Internet niche marketing campaign but it is not necessary. There is a great deal of information on organizing and executing a niche marketing campaign available online. This information may come in a number of different forms including websites offering informative articles, message boards focusing on the industry and ebooks.
Let's first examine learning about Internet marketing through websites. Type the search term, "Internet niche marketing" into your favorite search engine and you will likely receive millions of search results. Shifting through all of the search results would be rather time consuming and many of them would likely not be relevant. Fortunately the search engines do a great deal of work for you and the most useful websites will likely appear on the first couple of pages of search results. This still leaves you with a great deal of information to sort through but considering you are likely planning to turn niche marketing into a career this research is certainly worthwhile.
Carefully examine the search results you obtain from your search and bookmark the websites which seem most useful. Next take as much time as necessary to comb through all of these websites to find the most useful information. Take notes as you do to create a comprehensive resource for yourself. After this review your notes and investigate items which seem unclear to your further. This research may include offline resources such as books or phone calls to experts in the industry.
Search Engines are Your Friend
Now that you have already used the Internet to learn about the industry of Internet marketing, you probably know that finding a profitable niche is imperative. A niche is essentially a specific area of interest. Ideally you will already be an expert in this subject and it will be a subject which has a wide Internet audience without a great deal of existing websites focusing on this niche. Once again, you can turn to the Internet for finding this niche.
You may already have a few ideas for niches. These are probably subjects you are passionate about and understand very well. Examining statistical information provided by popular search engines regarding the popularity of search terms related to your niche will give you a good indication of whether or not Internet users are interested in your niche. If keywords related to your niche are searched on these search engines often, it is evident there is an audience for your niche. Next it is time to enter these keywords in a search engine and evaluate the websites which are provided as results for these keywords. If there are many strong results the niche can be considered saturated. In this case, it is a good idea to abandon the original idea and search for another niche. However, if there are not many high quality search results, you may have found your perfect niche.
Author: Sharon Godfrey
Running Multiple Home Based Businesses Just Makes Business Sense
Home based businesses will become the norm in business. There are many advantages of having multiple home based businesses. First if one business goes bad you have other businesses to fall back. Next it is always better to have more than one successful company. It just makes sense. The more companies you can efficiently run the better off you are. The experience you also will gain from running multiple companies is also priceless.
With the way the economy is headed and the way many major companies are shipping their jobs overseas, it just makes sense to start your own company. Many people will not catch on to this tread and they will end up getting left in the dust. If you don't believe me just visit your local unemployment office. You will not find 20 year olds in there looking for work. Instead you will find high paid employees, many who were making $150,000 and up, looking for work. Many of these high paid employees will have to take a major pay cut. They will be lucky to earn $60,000 a year.
This is a key reason many people will get left behind in the near future. Many people who get laid off will continue to look for another job and will continue to have to take pay cuts. Many people are using an outdated plan and that plan is failing them, badly. What is worse is they continue to teach their kids the same plan, not knowing they are setting up their kids for failure. These are the people who will continue to get left behind and passed up. This is what we know primarily as the middle class. The middle class believes in getting a college degree and then looking for a stable job. The middle class is being hit the hardest since it is their jobs that are being shipped overseas. As a business owner, I can see many companies are beginning to see hiring employees as a major liability. Which explains why they are shipping out as many jobs as possible. Think about it as a business owner for a sec. First you have to pay insurance for all of your employees and we are talking about accidental insurance for the company, and medical insurance for your employees. Next you also have to pay a salary.
But as a business owner if you know you can contract your work to a professional contractor for cheaper and you wouldn't have to pay any insurance's what so ever, it would just make sense. It just makes sense as a business owner.Many high paid employees are not seeing this fact and it is a fact. Times are changing, either you change and take advantage of the changing times or you get passed up and live out a rough life. Going into business for yourself just makes complete sense. Instead of your employer having the control, you put the control in your hands. Not to mention the tax benefits you get with having your own business. Having multiple home based businesses just makes total sense.
Author: Aaron Aldama
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With the way the economy is headed and the way many major companies are shipping their jobs overseas, it just makes sense to start your own company. Many people will not catch on to this tread and they will end up getting left in the dust. If you don't believe me just visit your local unemployment office. You will not find 20 year olds in there looking for work. Instead you will find high paid employees, many who were making $150,000 and up, looking for work. Many of these high paid employees will have to take a major pay cut. They will be lucky to earn $60,000 a year.
This is a key reason many people will get left behind in the near future. Many people who get laid off will continue to look for another job and will continue to have to take pay cuts. Many people are using an outdated plan and that plan is failing them, badly. What is worse is they continue to teach their kids the same plan, not knowing they are setting up their kids for failure. These are the people who will continue to get left behind and passed up. This is what we know primarily as the middle class. The middle class believes in getting a college degree and then looking for a stable job. The middle class is being hit the hardest since it is their jobs that are being shipped overseas. As a business owner, I can see many companies are beginning to see hiring employees as a major liability. Which explains why they are shipping out as many jobs as possible. Think about it as a business owner for a sec. First you have to pay insurance for all of your employees and we are talking about accidental insurance for the company, and medical insurance for your employees. Next you also have to pay a salary.
But as a business owner if you know you can contract your work to a professional contractor for cheaper and you wouldn't have to pay any insurance's what so ever, it would just make sense. It just makes sense as a business owner.Many high paid employees are not seeing this fact and it is a fact. Times are changing, either you change and take advantage of the changing times or you get passed up and live out a rough life. Going into business for yourself just makes complete sense. Instead of your employer having the control, you put the control in your hands. Not to mention the tax benefits you get with having your own business. Having multiple home based businesses just makes total sense.
Author: Aaron Aldama
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Used Computer Equipment
I haven't been sure how to start the new year's blog. Everyone else is thinking of changing focus. At the moment, I've been looking into things that can help work at home writers survive. Mark told me last night that he is buying more equipment - new.
Why do most people buy new when there are so many good deals in the used market. Saving 50% on a product can make a big difference. Look at it this way. Mark said that he has the money. But, if he bought used, he could get twice the product and have twice the power. His 'Office Depote' router would never provide the same power as a used cisco router. Each costs about the same, $50, and the used products do come with a warranty.
What used products do have is power. The cisco router, new, costs about $800.00. So, the next time you are hunting for office equipment, take a look at used equipment first.
Why do most people buy new when there are so many good deals in the used market. Saving 50% on a product can make a big difference. Look at it this way. Mark said that he has the money. But, if he bought used, he could get twice the product and have twice the power. His 'Office Depote' router would never provide the same power as a used cisco router. Each costs about the same, $50, and the used products do come with a warranty.
What used products do have is power. The cisco router, new, costs about $800.00. So, the next time you are hunting for office equipment, take a look at used equipment first.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
The Importance Of Communication Skills
Communication skills simply do not refer to the way in which we communicate with another person. It encompasses many other things - the way in which we respond to the person we are speaking, body gestures including the facial ones, pitch and tone of our voice and a lot of other things. And the importance of communication skills is not just limited to the management world, since effective communication skills are now required in each and every aspect of our life.
However, in this article we will discuss the importance of communication skills in two areas namely business and relationships.
First, let us concentrate on the importance of communication in business. We can measure the importance of communication skills in the business sector when we take a look at job advertisements. There is little chance that you will come across an advertisement which does not mention that candidates should have good communication skills. Perhaps this is the only criteria which creates a postive impact when a person goes for a job interview. This is because technical qualifications are likely to be more or less the same for the candidates.
Without effective communication skills, a person may find it impossible to climb up the corporate ladder. Promotions come to those who can communicate effectively at all levels, from senior management level to the lowest employee. The use of communication skills in business is covered in more detail at http://www.communicationskillsworld.com
As for communication within relationships, it should be remembered that maintaining good relationships is a way to a healthy lifestyle, and a good relationship can only be maintained by maintaining healthy communication with our near and dear ones. They are the ones we stay with on a regular basis. They are also the ones who see us at our best as well as our worst.
Good communication skills help the relationships to develop along good lines, and ensure that arguements and disagreements are kept to a minimum.
Good communication will avoid arguements and insults
Another important part of communication in relationships is taking the initiative yourself. Do not wait for your best friend to call you after a long break. Instead take the phone and also take initiative to start the conversation. Often people have this problem while communicating, which comes from fear. They always think a thousand times whether to approach a person or not. But a person with good communication skills is always the first to start a conversation.
Given the importance of communication skills in both the personal and the corporate world, any individual who want to make progress with their life should develop this important skill.
Carl Formby owns and operates http://www.communicationskillsworld.com a website dedicated to information on Communication Skills
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Tuesday, November 20, 2007
How to prepare and promote your sample clips for freelance writing
There are tons of ways to get started. Here is what I did.
1. I picked a niche
2. I studied and researched that niche
3. I contacted all the smaller print magazines and asked the editors if I could write an article for them. I posted 2 or 3 samples on the web and suggested they take a look.
(Did you know that professional writers never write an article for a magazine then submit it? They write a proposal, and then send it to the editor. Editors and writers do 90% of their work on the phone, so if you want to become a freelance writer for magazines, you'd better get an internet phone with unlimited long distance.)
4. I collected my clips from the small magazines, and used them to pitch larger magazines.
It takes about 2 years to be making more than $30 000 a year - if you work full time
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1. I picked a niche
2. I studied and researched that niche
3. I contacted all the smaller print magazines and asked the editors if I could write an article for them. I posted 2 or 3 samples on the web and suggested they take a look.
(Did you know that professional writers never write an article for a magazine then submit it? They write a proposal, and then send it to the editor. Editors and writers do 90% of their work on the phone, so if you want to become a freelance writer for magazines, you'd better get an internet phone with unlimited long distance.)
4. I collected my clips from the small magazines, and used them to pitch larger magazines.
It takes about 2 years to be making more than $30 000 a year - if you work full time
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Freelance writing
Here is how me and my friend Sharon Hurley Hall turned our writing into full time work.
1. We wrote about 20 articles and posted them on about 100 free content websites.
2. We started blogs on the topics we wanted to write about. The best blogging site that gets 'major' hits and actually makes Google income is www.communati.com. There are several blogs there that will tell you how to start a freelance writing career - Sharon Hurley Hall and gracepub write the best ones
3. We signed up at www.ifreelance.com and Sharon started up at www.guru.com
4. We wrote for pennies. This lasted about 5 months. But, we discovered that 'real' companies were watching our profiles at ifreelance, and once we'd been around for a few months and build half decent profiles (mine is gracepub at ifreelance.com) they started sending us good projects.
5. We are both topic editors at www.inspiredauthor.com and found that this was a good thing to add to our profiles. Although, Sharon made more money from her profile. We also wrote for www.payu2blog.com and www.blogitive.com - but don't expect them to pay more than $5.00 a post for the first six months. However, blogitive is a good company to write for. They pay every Monday. Inspiredauthor.com does earn the Topic Editor some Google money - the best part is their free training course for freelance writers. It is easily worth $200, and is free if you write for their topics - an excellent trade off.
Both Sharon and Dana at inspiredauthor are freelance writing agents who can regular get work for new writers. They have also posted a job bank in the forum.
6. If you are a writer and can teach English or Writing topics, then teach at www.universalclass.com or www.writersonlinecourses.com
7. If you live in America, then post your articles on helium, associated content. You might make some money. You might also want to write reviews for reviewstream.com. They pay well. But, do not write for other review sites - I haven't had another one pay. Of course - I have make about $200 year from Heliumknowledge.com.
8. Write for magazines. Novel Writer Magazine pays $5 a book review. Not bad. The publisher sends you a book, you read it, get paid $5 for the review. Just make sure that you have the right type of book. There is more information at www.forum.novelwritermagazine.com
9. There is a chat every Friday night, 7 Eastern (Toronto) time, in the chat room at www.inspiredauthor.com. Every Friday night is another free workshop. Some have been hosted by real big names. We are allowed to ask question - very nice!
10. Join a pro blogger community like www.communati.com. You will learn the secrets from pro bloggers and freelance writers.
11.But, if there is a SECRET then it is found in promotion. We build links both inside our blogs and websites - and create inbound links. We joined www.divanetworking.blogspot.com and participate in their team promotion yahoo group. This is where you help 2 other bloggers promote their site, and they help you. The teams change every month. It has raised the PageRank of 3 of my blogs by 1 point in the last few months. This increased the amount Google paid me on one blog from 5% to about 8%.
This is how we did it. It took about 6 months before we were making more than $1500 a month, part time. Sharon works 3 days a week. I work 4 days a week.
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1. We wrote about 20 articles and posted them on about 100 free content websites.
2. We started blogs on the topics we wanted to write about. The best blogging site that gets 'major' hits and actually makes Google income is www.communati.com. There are several blogs there that will tell you how to start a freelance writing career - Sharon Hurley Hall and gracepub write the best ones
3. We signed up at www.ifreelance.com and Sharon started up at www.guru.com
4. We wrote for pennies. This lasted about 5 months. But, we discovered that 'real' companies were watching our profiles at ifreelance, and once we'd been around for a few months and build half decent profiles (mine is gracepub at ifreelance.com) they started sending us good projects.
5. We are both topic editors at www.inspiredauthor.com and found that this was a good thing to add to our profiles. Although, Sharon made more money from her profile. We also wrote for www.payu2blog.com and www.blogitive.com - but don't expect them to pay more than $5.00 a post for the first six months. However, blogitive is a good company to write for. They pay every Monday. Inspiredauthor.com does earn the Topic Editor some Google money - the best part is their free training course for freelance writers. It is easily worth $200, and is free if you write for their topics - an excellent trade off.
Both Sharon and Dana at inspiredauthor are freelance writing agents who can regular get work for new writers. They have also posted a job bank in the forum.
6. If you are a writer and can teach English or Writing topics, then teach at www.universalclass.com or www.writersonlinecourses.com
7. If you live in America, then post your articles on helium, associated content. You might make some money. You might also want to write reviews for reviewstream.com. They pay well. But, do not write for other review sites - I haven't had another one pay. Of course - I have make about $200 year from Heliumknowledge.com.
8. Write for magazines. Novel Writer Magazine pays $5 a book review. Not bad. The publisher sends you a book, you read it, get paid $5 for the review. Just make sure that you have the right type of book. There is more information at www.forum.novelwritermagazine.com
9. There is a chat every Friday night, 7 Eastern (Toronto) time, in the chat room at www.inspiredauthor.com. Every Friday night is another free workshop. Some have been hosted by real big names. We are allowed to ask question - very nice!
10. Join a pro blogger community like www.communati.com. You will learn the secrets from pro bloggers and freelance writers.
11.But, if there is a SECRET then it is found in promotion. We build links both inside our blogs and websites - and create inbound links. We joined www.divanetworking.blogspot.com and participate in their team promotion yahoo group. This is where you help 2 other bloggers promote their site, and they help you. The teams change every month. It has raised the PageRank of 3 of my blogs by 1 point in the last few months. This increased the amount Google paid me on one blog from 5% to about 8%.
This is how we did it. It took about 6 months before we were making more than $1500 a month, part time. Sharon works 3 days a week. I work 4 days a week.
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Writing mentor's advice on overcoming self-doubt: What makes a "real writer"
Am I a real writer? There are many people out there that say 'if you write then you are a writer.' But, that is not what new writers want to hear. You want to know if you write well enough to become a published author. You want to know if you have the talent to write a great book - to survive the editing process - to hold your head up when talking with other writers, editors, and agents.
I understand what you are asking. I've seen hundreds of new writers receive a publishing contract for their first book. I know personally, dozens of writers who struggled for a few years, and then sold a dozen books in a row. I also know full time and working, full time book authors.
After several years of asking questions, polling writers, and interviewing writers, I came up with the following way to determine whether you are a born writer.
Where Should I Start?
There are several good reasons to write:
To express your creativity
To explore your world
You need to write
To fulfill a dream
You feel good when writing
To heal emotionally
It feels right
You want the power to express your views
Poor reasons to write:
To make people proud of you
To seek approval
To prove that you are as good as another person
To get back at someone who hurt you, or your family
Money
Fame
There is no right or wrong reason to write. However, there are some reasons that help people write with creativity and passion while others turn writing into a laborious chore.
There are three types of writers: hobby, struggling, professional.
The hobby writer is someone who hopes to become published one day, but do not write for publication. They write to express themselves, with little concern for publisher's needs, trends, genres, or the marketability of their novel. Writing is a pastime that is both rewarding and enjoyable.
The struggling writer is someone who wants to become published, but they are having a hard time turning their passion for writing into a marketable novel. They often write for several years before becoming published.
There are dozens of variables shared by hobby writers and struggling writers. However, professional writers share some traits that are very telling:
1.They never stop learning.
2.They never stop reading bestsellers and recent releases
3.They pick a few favorite' publishers and study their recent releases, learning what they need and want.
4.They spend about 10 20 percent of their time creating a story and the rest of their time rewriting and polishing their novel.
5.They start promoting themselves as authors long before they are published.
6.They learn to overcome writer's block and rejection by improving their skills and preparing for success.
7.They belong to writer's groups and associations.
The perfect blend is the hobby writer who evolves into a professional writer.
Exercise:
How to get started:
Write ten reasons why you write
Write ten reasons why you want to become published
Write five things you've done this year to ensure that you become published.
Didn't do well? Don't worry. The publishing industry is expanding and evolving monthly. Books that wouldn't sell a year ago are now bestsellers. The most important advice I can give you is this, 'if you need to write then write. A real writer is someone who writes, submits to publishers, and waits until the day when the publishing industry validates their work. The only way to fail is to quit.'
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I understand what you are asking. I've seen hundreds of new writers receive a publishing contract for their first book. I know personally, dozens of writers who struggled for a few years, and then sold a dozen books in a row. I also know full time and working, full time book authors.
After several years of asking questions, polling writers, and interviewing writers, I came up with the following way to determine whether you are a born writer.
Where Should I Start?
There are several good reasons to write:
To express your creativity
To explore your world
You need to write
To fulfill a dream
You feel good when writing
To heal emotionally
It feels right
You want the power to express your views
Poor reasons to write:
To make people proud of you
To seek approval
To prove that you are as good as another person
To get back at someone who hurt you, or your family
Money
Fame
There is no right or wrong reason to write. However, there are some reasons that help people write with creativity and passion while others turn writing into a laborious chore.
There are three types of writers: hobby, struggling, professional.
The hobby writer is someone who hopes to become published one day, but do not write for publication. They write to express themselves, with little concern for publisher's needs, trends, genres, or the marketability of their novel. Writing is a pastime that is both rewarding and enjoyable.
The struggling writer is someone who wants to become published, but they are having a hard time turning their passion for writing into a marketable novel. They often write for several years before becoming published.
There are dozens of variables shared by hobby writers and struggling writers. However, professional writers share some traits that are very telling:
1.They never stop learning.
2.They never stop reading bestsellers and recent releases
3.They pick a few favorite' publishers and study their recent releases, learning what they need and want.
4.They spend about 10 20 percent of their time creating a story and the rest of their time rewriting and polishing their novel.
5.They start promoting themselves as authors long before they are published.
6.They learn to overcome writer's block and rejection by improving their skills and preparing for success.
7.They belong to writer's groups and associations.
The perfect blend is the hobby writer who evolves into a professional writer.
Exercise:
How to get started:
Write ten reasons why you write
Write ten reasons why you want to become published
Write five things you've done this year to ensure that you become published.
Didn't do well? Don't worry. The publishing industry is expanding and evolving monthly. Books that wouldn't sell a year ago are now bestsellers. The most important advice I can give you is this, 'if you need to write then write. A real writer is someone who writes, submits to publishers, and waits until the day when the publishing industry validates their work. The only way to fail is to quit.'
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How to get into ghostwriting
I started my ghostwriting business less than one year ago. I am not a full time writer. I may write about 20 hours a week - and I make $800 - $1400 a month. Most often, I average about $1000.00. Here is a list from my book 'How to Make Money as a Ghostwriter', publisher www.todaybooks.com.
These are not affiliate sites, promotional sites, or resources I found on the web. I use everyone of these services to make money - except www.guru.com. However, a friend of mine swears that guru.com is the best place to start a freelance writing business.
Most freelance writers use two services to connect with clients:
www.guru.com
Guru.com is the place for technical writers and university graduates. It cost more money, but there is more money to make. Writers can get paid up to $1500 to make a simple ebook between 100 200 pages long.
www.ifreelance.com
ifreelance.com is the place to build your profile. There are few other places on the internet that offer freelance writers a nicer place to make their profile than ifreelance.com.
You do not need to be a professional, or have a degree to work here - as long as you don't mind writing for .01 a word until you build a substantial profile. It is all about speed and pay.
Other Sites
There are other sites like www.getafreelancer.com. These sites increase the chances of being scammed. While all freelance writers run the risk of non payment, there are things that will protect you.
First, make sure that the contract states that retainers are non-refundable. If you have a good website then your client has already seen a sample of your writing. Second, make sure the client understands that they do not own the copyright unless the contract is paid in full. Many clients will reject your work but don't think for a minute that they are not using it.
If the writer keeps their copyright until the contract is paid in full then they are guaranteeing that they will be able to resell non-exclusive' rights, or use the content in their blog, article site like www.inspiredauthor.com, as samples and free content at sites like www.novel-writer.com www.ezinearticle.com and www.get-free-content.com , or even in an online course like www.universalclass.com or www.writersonlinecourses.com
Agents
Bidding is fierce at guru.com. Many writers opt to hire an agent to bid for them. The agent's fees range from 10 50%, so choose well. Agents also have different demands and qualifications.
Most agents will contact you. Writers who sign with an agent must ask these questions.
1. What is your commission? It should be below 20%. New writers will pay more because the agent will need to edit the work.
2. How many rewrites can the client ask for before you will kill the contract? This can prove to be a major bone of contention. Many clients ask for rewrites and changes, by the time the ghostwriter makes them, the work-in-progress is several hundred of words longer than agreed on.
3. Do you pay in full as soon as the Work is submitted? Any good agent will say yes. If they say no then do not sign with that agent.
If you are anxious and do not want to wait for agents to find you, then fill in the contact' form at www.doublehdesign.com and start working with Sharon Hurley Hall. She has books here at www.todaysbooks.com and is featured at www.inspiredauthor.com She is always within the top 30 if you Google the term ghostwriter and is one of the most fair, and newbie friendly, agents you'll find.
To learn more, visit my site at www.suzannejames.com or take one of my courses at www.writersonlinecourses.com. I also teach free workshops every Friday night, all year, at 7pm Eastern, from the Novel Writer Magazine chat room www.novel-writer.com
Building a Reputation
One of the best ways to build a reputation is to write advertising blogs. I have several blogs where I post ads for clients. A writer can receive $5 - $10 for an ad in their blog. However, it is not easy to get started. Most blogs need to be at least 3 months old and have at least 50 posts before they will be accepted.
The blog must be on a site where there are not a lot of Google ads. A private blog site is best. If you want to set up a private blog or a network of blogs, then you should get a good hosting site.
I recommend siteground hosting
This is a professional company that your hosting company probably uses. You can get hosting for $70 a year, and they will install all the scripts that you need for blogs, mailing lists, and CMS. If you want to set up a professional looking site, without a lot of trouble, then use the Joomla content management system, or for something easier, wordpress or b2evolution blogs.
The competition is fierce for each writing project. Don't loose work by appearing to be an amateur, or someone who really doesn't care. My site is built on joomla at www.suzannejames.name, Sharon Hurley Hall's site at www.doublehdesign.com is built on the wordpress blog software. Siteground will install both for free.
The trick is to get a lot of inbound links to these sites. One way to do this is to write free content articles for sites like www.get-a-freelancer.com and www.ezinearticle.com. You should also start free blogs at sites like www.blogger.com, www.bloggerparty.com (www.blogsvertise.com will pay for posts at these sites, but www.bloggingads.com and www.blogitive.com will not)
You can use the free blogs to build links to the real blogs. Learning to ping the blog after every post at sites like www.pingoat.com is easy, and will dramatically increase your inbound links. The advertising sites such as www.bloggingads.com, www.blogsvertise.com and www.blogitive.com will watch the inbound links to see if your blog qualifies.
How Much Can You Earn?
I currently ghostwrite 90 articles a month for clients, and post more than 100 ads on 8 different blogs. This takes me about 70 hours a month and earns me $900 USD, about $200 from the blog posts, the rest from articles. I also ghostwrite ebooks. I write one book every couple of months and make from $500 - $1500 an ebook.
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
These are not affiliate sites, promotional sites, or resources I found on the web. I use everyone of these services to make money - except www.guru.com. However, a friend of mine swears that guru.com is the best place to start a freelance writing business.
Most freelance writers use two services to connect with clients:
www.guru.com
Guru.com is the place for technical writers and university graduates. It cost more money, but there is more money to make. Writers can get paid up to $1500 to make a simple ebook between 100 200 pages long.
www.ifreelance.com
ifreelance.com is the place to build your profile. There are few other places on the internet that offer freelance writers a nicer place to make their profile than ifreelance.com.
You do not need to be a professional, or have a degree to work here - as long as you don't mind writing for .01 a word until you build a substantial profile. It is all about speed and pay.
Other Sites
There are other sites like www.getafreelancer.com. These sites increase the chances of being scammed. While all freelance writers run the risk of non payment, there are things that will protect you.
First, make sure that the contract states that retainers are non-refundable. If you have a good website then your client has already seen a sample of your writing. Second, make sure the client understands that they do not own the copyright unless the contract is paid in full. Many clients will reject your work but don't think for a minute that they are not using it.
If the writer keeps their copyright until the contract is paid in full then they are guaranteeing that they will be able to resell non-exclusive' rights, or use the content in their blog, article site like www.inspiredauthor.com, as samples and free content at sites like www.novel-writer.com www.ezinearticle.com and www.get-free-content.com , or even in an online course like www.universalclass.com or www.writersonlinecourses.com
Agents
Bidding is fierce at guru.com. Many writers opt to hire an agent to bid for them. The agent's fees range from 10 50%, so choose well. Agents also have different demands and qualifications.
Most agents will contact you. Writers who sign with an agent must ask these questions.
1. What is your commission? It should be below 20%. New writers will pay more because the agent will need to edit the work.
2. How many rewrites can the client ask for before you will kill the contract? This can prove to be a major bone of contention. Many clients ask for rewrites and changes, by the time the ghostwriter makes them, the work-in-progress is several hundred of words longer than agreed on.
3. Do you pay in full as soon as the Work is submitted? Any good agent will say yes. If they say no then do not sign with that agent.
If you are anxious and do not want to wait for agents to find you, then fill in the contact' form at www.doublehdesign.com and start working with Sharon Hurley Hall. She has books here at www.todaysbooks.com and is featured at www.inspiredauthor.com She is always within the top 30 if you Google the term ghostwriter and is one of the most fair, and newbie friendly, agents you'll find.
To learn more, visit my site at www.suzannejames.com or take one of my courses at www.writersonlinecourses.com. I also teach free workshops every Friday night, all year, at 7pm Eastern, from the Novel Writer Magazine chat room www.novel-writer.com
Building a Reputation
One of the best ways to build a reputation is to write advertising blogs. I have several blogs where I post ads for clients. A writer can receive $5 - $10 for an ad in their blog. However, it is not easy to get started. Most blogs need to be at least 3 months old and have at least 50 posts before they will be accepted.
The blog must be on a site where there are not a lot of Google ads. A private blog site is best. If you want to set up a private blog or a network of blogs, then you should get a good hosting site.
I recommend siteground hosting
This is a professional company that your hosting company probably uses. You can get hosting for $70 a year, and they will install all the scripts that you need for blogs, mailing lists, and CMS. If you want to set up a professional looking site, without a lot of trouble, then use the Joomla content management system, or for something easier, wordpress or b2evolution blogs.
The competition is fierce for each writing project. Don't loose work by appearing to be an amateur, or someone who really doesn't care. My site is built on joomla at www.suzannejames.name, Sharon Hurley Hall's site at www.doublehdesign.com is built on the wordpress blog software. Siteground will install both for free.
The trick is to get a lot of inbound links to these sites. One way to do this is to write free content articles for sites like www.get-a-freelancer.com and www.ezinearticle.com. You should also start free blogs at sites like www.blogger.com, www.bloggerparty.com (www.blogsvertise.com will pay for posts at these sites, but www.bloggingads.com and www.blogitive.com will not)
You can use the free blogs to build links to the real blogs. Learning to ping the blog after every post at sites like www.pingoat.com is easy, and will dramatically increase your inbound links. The advertising sites such as www.bloggingads.com, www.blogsvertise.com and www.blogitive.com will watch the inbound links to see if your blog qualifies.
How Much Can You Earn?
I currently ghostwrite 90 articles a month for clients, and post more than 100 ads on 8 different blogs. This takes me about 70 hours a month and earns me $900 USD, about $200 from the blog posts, the rest from articles. I also ghostwrite ebooks. I write one book every couple of months and make from $500 - $1500 an ebook.
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
How to Make Money Blogging
There are so many sites that tell writers they can get paid to blog. Most of them have something to sell. Few are written by people who are actually doing it. Except now.
I am making about $300 - $700 a month blogging, and that is only after ten months.
HOW TO BUILD A BLOG
You can get paid to write blogs. The first step is to set up about 10 blogs. You need to also set up a squidoo lens and a myspace lens - at least one. The most important thing to remember is that this is 'not' a get rich quick scam. You will need at least 400 posts online before you will start seeing any income.
TYPE OF BLOG
-ADSENSE
The most important thing to do is find out what type of blog you need. If you want to make Google Adsense money and learn from an expert then go to www.writingup.com (Here is my referral code. If you do sign up, please give me the boost. http://www.writingup.com?referer=4062)
Another good site is bloggerparty.com. These two sites get hundreds of thousands of hits, and more important, they come up on Google searches. I make 90% of my Google Adsense money from blogs on these sites.
Yes, I have received Google Adsense checks. I expect to be receiving one every month within the next four to six months.
It may take several weeks, or even months, to learn which blog communities people are clicking at, and which ones they are not.
www.writingup.com, www.bloggerparty.com, www.blogger.com are good for this. Wordpress.com is good, but you need to download a plugin.
-PAY PER POST
This is where companies pay $5 to bloggers for posting their client's press releases. This can be tricky. You usually get 20 at a time, and only 24 hours to post them all. If there is a mistake, the post is kicked back into your inbox and it must be fixed before you are paid.
One such company is Bloggingad.com another is reviewme.com
If you are going to use PPP then do not use www.wordpress.com - they ban sites with PPP ads.
www.writingup.com, www.blogger.com, www.bloggerparty.com is great for this.
-AFFILIATE
I was paid to write one person's blog. This person had so many affiliate codes on the page it was impossible to navigate the blog. I have Amazon code, and I write book reviews and then link to the code. I also have code for my web hosting - a great webhost company that offers me server quality and size, for only $4.50 a month. This is all the affiliate I do.
I also don't try to use general code. If you go to my blog www.Historical-Novel.blogspot.com, you will notice that I have linked single book pictures and code.
www.wordpress.com is a great place for this because the blogs look professional and have credibility. I receive very few clicks from my www.writingup.com or www.bloggerparty.com blogs
HOW TO BLOG
Each blog should have similar topics, but not the same. If all the blogs have different topics then it will be too hard to make a living. The best bloggers write one article or post and then write 5 versions to put on five different blogs.
The content must be personal, conversational, based on your own experience, and link to references.
Write as if you are talking to a friend on the telephone. Do not preach or teach. Conversational language uses simple sentence structure and a grade nine vocabulary. All posts should be based on experience. Do not write a post 'how to make money.' Write 'How I make money.'
Reference links are important. 1. Google will use them to increase the rank of your blog. 2. Readers will know that you are not making the information up.
LINKING
This is as important as hits. The more incoming links the better. The best way to get dozens of inbound links is to write free articles with a link to your blog at the bottom.
NETWORKING
Post in other people's blogs. Reply to threads. Talk to people. This will attract readers to your blog.
You also need to promote your blog on Tecnorati and then go to www.pingoat.com and ping it 'AFTER EVERY' post.
For more information read www.writingup.com/gracepub There are more than 500 posts to help you learn to start a career as a work at home freelance writer.
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
I am making about $300 - $700 a month blogging, and that is only after ten months.
HOW TO BUILD A BLOG
You can get paid to write blogs. The first step is to set up about 10 blogs. You need to also set up a squidoo lens and a myspace lens - at least one. The most important thing to remember is that this is 'not' a get rich quick scam. You will need at least 400 posts online before you will start seeing any income.
TYPE OF BLOG
-ADSENSE
The most important thing to do is find out what type of blog you need. If you want to make Google Adsense money and learn from an expert then go to www.writingup.com (Here is my referral code. If you do sign up, please give me the boost. http://www.writingup.com?referer=4062)
Another good site is bloggerparty.com. These two sites get hundreds of thousands of hits, and more important, they come up on Google searches. I make 90% of my Google Adsense money from blogs on these sites.
Yes, I have received Google Adsense checks. I expect to be receiving one every month within the next four to six months.
It may take several weeks, or even months, to learn which blog communities people are clicking at, and which ones they are not.
www.writingup.com, www.bloggerparty.com, www.blogger.com are good for this. Wordpress.com is good, but you need to download a plugin.
-PAY PER POST
This is where companies pay $5 to bloggers for posting their client's press releases. This can be tricky. You usually get 20 at a time, and only 24 hours to post them all. If there is a mistake, the post is kicked back into your inbox and it must be fixed before you are paid.
One such company is Bloggingad.com another is reviewme.com
If you are going to use PPP then do not use www.wordpress.com - they ban sites with PPP ads.
www.writingup.com, www.blogger.com, www.bloggerparty.com is great for this.
-AFFILIATE
I was paid to write one person's blog. This person had so many affiliate codes on the page it was impossible to navigate the blog. I have Amazon code, and I write book reviews and then link to the code. I also have code for my web hosting - a great webhost company that offers me server quality and size, for only $4.50 a month. This is all the affiliate I do.
I also don't try to use general code. If you go to my blog www.Historical-Novel.blogspot.com, you will notice that I have linked single book pictures and code.
www.wordpress.com is a great place for this because the blogs look professional and have credibility. I receive very few clicks from my www.writingup.com or www.bloggerparty.com blogs
HOW TO BLOG
Each blog should have similar topics, but not the same. If all the blogs have different topics then it will be too hard to make a living. The best bloggers write one article or post and then write 5 versions to put on five different blogs.
The content must be personal, conversational, based on your own experience, and link to references.
Write as if you are talking to a friend on the telephone. Do not preach or teach. Conversational language uses simple sentence structure and a grade nine vocabulary. All posts should be based on experience. Do not write a post 'how to make money.' Write 'How I make money.'
Reference links are important. 1. Google will use them to increase the rank of your blog. 2. Readers will know that you are not making the information up.
LINKING
This is as important as hits. The more incoming links the better. The best way to get dozens of inbound links is to write free articles with a link to your blog at the bottom.
NETWORKING
Post in other people's blogs. Reply to threads. Talk to people. This will attract readers to your blog.
You also need to promote your blog on Tecnorati and then go to www.pingoat.com and ping it 'AFTER EVERY' post.
For more information read www.writingup.com/gracepub There are more than 500 posts to help you learn to start a career as a work at home freelance writer.
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Data Saving - Work at Home Jobs
My laptop is off being fixed, but that made me think of something worthwhile to tell you. Do you use a data traveller? These are little UBS plug in things. They fit in the palm of your hand and cost $5 - $30.00.
Mine cost $30 and came from Kingston. I like it because I just plug it into a computer and it talks to the computer and sets everything up. Your computer will read this as a new hard drive.
I back up everything I do on Monday (sigh, should have done it Friday). I have a 1gig, and I can usually save my entire desktop on it. This is a fantastic tool. It does not use an operating system, so it cannot crash or corrupt.
It just fits onto any USB port. A window opens up. You copy your files into the window, and voila, your entire desktop is backed up.
This morning I transfered my desktop into a file on my new graphic arts computer, and I am working again.
If you will loose important work if your computer crashes, or if you pick up a virus, this little gadget will save your life.
Work At Home Jobs
I am going to start pasting more places to find work at home jobs. Of course, I don't get involved with every one and vouch for its validity. So, if you have complaints, please come back and post
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
Mine cost $30 and came from Kingston. I like it because I just plug it into a computer and it talks to the computer and sets everything up. Your computer will read this as a new hard drive.
I back up everything I do on Monday (sigh, should have done it Friday). I have a 1gig, and I can usually save my entire desktop on it. This is a fantastic tool. It does not use an operating system, so it cannot crash or corrupt.
It just fits onto any USB port. A window opens up. You copy your files into the window, and voila, your entire desktop is backed up.
This morning I transfered my desktop into a file on my new graphic arts computer, and I am working again.
If you will loose important work if your computer crashes, or if you pick up a virus, this little gadget will save your life.
Work At Home Jobs
I am going to start pasting more places to find work at home jobs. Of course, I don't get involved with every one and vouch for its validity. So, if you have complaints, please come back and post
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Learn to Write Free
Novel Writer Magazine
Writers Online Courses
Get Paid To Write
Thursday, August 09, 2007
You Can Generate Thousands of Hits to Your Blog
It always amazes me how people appreaciate good writing, whether it appears on a blog, in an article, or in a novel. The thing is, anyone can write well. You can write something that receives hundreds, even thousands of views. You can write a novel that sells thousands of copies. The secret is to write something that people want to read, by writing about life.
Take a look at two blog posts I wrote that received top hits, despite the fact they are on a blog community, www.communati.com, that has hundreds of great writers on the site.
My first article received almost 500 views in less than a few hours. Within 4 hours of being written, it was on the ‘most popular list.’ Gladiolas, Dahlias, Pear Trees and The Secrets of Life . This is nothing more than a look at a quiet summer afternoon that I spent with my family, and how it touched me, and also touched my readers. The writing is not literary and flowery. There is nothing poetic about it. I just wrote it in a way that made readers look into their own lives. This is the secret of great writing, making people look at their own lives instead of forcing them to see life through your eyes.
The second is a tutorial on saving time. I did not tell people to save time. Instead, I showed them how I save time. There is a big difference between talking about what to do and how to do. The world is full of tutorials that tell people what to do, but never gives them the tools to help them do it. How Much $$ Does Multitasking Costing You?
You’ll also notice that I made some great titles. Are titles important? Yes. They are so important that I have even returned to my blogs and changed titles. In some cases, the hits increased.
So, next time you write, don’t just put words on paper. Think about your readers. “Take care of your readers and they will take care of you.”
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Take a look at two blog posts I wrote that received top hits, despite the fact they are on a blog community, www.communati.com, that has hundreds of great writers on the site.
My first article received almost 500 views in less than a few hours. Within 4 hours of being written, it was on the ‘most popular list.’ Gladiolas, Dahlias, Pear Trees and The Secrets of Life . This is nothing more than a look at a quiet summer afternoon that I spent with my family, and how it touched me, and also touched my readers. The writing is not literary and flowery. There is nothing poetic about it. I just wrote it in a way that made readers look into their own lives. This is the secret of great writing, making people look at their own lives instead of forcing them to see life through your eyes.
The second is a tutorial on saving time. I did not tell people to save time. Instead, I showed them how I save time. There is a big difference between talking about what to do and how to do. The world is full of tutorials that tell people what to do, but never gives them the tools to help them do it. How Much $$ Does Multitasking Costing You?
You’ll also notice that I made some great titles. Are titles important? Yes. They are so important that I have even returned to my blogs and changed titles. In some cases, the hits increased.
So, next time you write, don’t just put words on paper. Think about your readers. “Take care of your readers and they will take care of you.”
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
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.
Subscribe to Inspired author by Email - Click Here
Learn How to Write a Novel, Work at Home, and Get Published
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.
Subscribe to Inspired author by Email - Click Here
Learn How to Write a Novel, Work at Home, and Get Published
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?
Subscribe to Inspired author by Email - Click Here
Learn How to Write a Novel, Work at Home, and Get Published
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?
Subscribe to Inspired author by Email - Click Here
Learn How to Write a Novel, Work at Home, and Get Published
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