I did it! I published my first squidoo lens today.
It was much easier than I expected, and it doesn't have to be perfect the first time. A lensmaster is free to tweak and change as often as he/she wishes.
Check it out. It's not completely done - needs more pictures and more personal experiences - but I had to start somewhere.
Germany's Best: The Black Forest
Copyright © Claudia Pate
Plug-in Profits, Start Writing Your Internet Success Story Today
Friday, March 30, 2007
I'm a bona fide lensmaster
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Soul Searching
I know it's been a month since I've posted to Common Sense Ebiz, but I've been doing some heavy soul searching and praying.
You see, once again I found myself going in a lot of different directions. Instead of concentrating on the two businesses I have going, I was looking for and downloading ebooks like crazy.
You won't believe this, but on my desktop right now I have two ebooks side by side. One is named "Do You Want Millions?" and the other is "I Want Pennies."
That is the absolute truth! This was not intentional; these are just two ebooks I happened to run across in the past month and thought they deserved a second look.
"Do You Want Millions" is about blogging and the "right" way to go about setting up blogs to make money. "I Want Pennies" has to do with PPC ads for discount coupons. If you would like information on how to get either one of these, email me and I will send the information to you. I am not making commissions on either of these, but will gladly send the link if you request it.
I have also been checking into squidoo.com. Do you Squidoo? If not, you should.
squidoo.com is a great place to write on or off topic and still be able to get money for affiliate programs. In the words (paraphrased) of the founder of Squidoo, Squidoo is not a destination, it is a beginning. This is not where you go to end your journey; it is where you go to start your journey.
In future posts I will write more about Squidoo. I am working on my first lens and will post the link here when I get done. I am a bit of a perfectionist, so it takes me a while to even get going for fear of not doing it right, but I have every intention to get started this week.
Why don't you take a peak at www.squidoo.com for yourself to get a feel for what I'm talking about.
Copyright © Claudia Pate
Plug-in Profits, Start Writing Your Internet Success Story Today
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
What You Say Can and Will Be Used - Either For You or Against You
Even before two interns to US Presidential candidate John Edwards were fired for posts found on their personal blogs, this topic was on my mind.
Article writing and blog posting have become a huge industry on the web and have become a way for many of us to be "who we are" to a faceless audience. Sometimes this anonymity can be intoxicating and we forget that there really are people out there who are going to read what we wrote and judge us on what they find.
In addition to these two girls who have lost their footing in a presidential campaign, I read recently of a number of people who have lost the race for new jobs because employers went online to find out more information about the candidate.
Information found in social networks, such as MySpace, are generally written to an entirely different audience from your employer, but employers and human resource personnel have just as much right and access to these writings as do your peers.
Be careful what you write, whether it is in an article or on your blog or on social networks such as MySpace. What you write will be available in cyberspace for years to come and you can bet that eventually it will be used - either for you or against you.
If you must let off steam, follow these simple rules
A piece of great advice I read one time is to "write down good news; speak bad news." The logic behind this is that what is written can be read and reread and will be remembered word for word. Bad news should not be conveyed in a way that will be remembered as bad news.
Good news, however, what you learned, how you have changed as a result, etc., should be remembered and therefore should be written down for yourself and for others.
You may want to let off steam now by writing an article or a post about your employer or your teacher or some other awful thing that has happened, but before you hit the "publish" button, think about the long-lasting impression your words will have for people in authority whom you one day will not want to alienate.
Copyright © Claudia Pate
Plug-in Profits, Start Writing Your Internet Success Story Today
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Snacks for the Spiders, a Feast for Your Customers
Search engine optimization (SEO) is on the minds of nearly all web masters. As a site is being built, the savvy web master is thinking constantly of how to optimize the site to gain the attention of the search engines.
To this end, web masters spend hours and hours working on keywords, title tags, description tags, and meta tags to act as spider food to get spiders to their site and return to their nest with a higher page rank for the site. In this quest, much time and effort is spent trying to think like a spider to attract attention.
While I do highly recommend that you learn how spiders work and what they are looking for (sign up for the free lessons from www.seoelite.com for a great overview of how to optimize your site), I further recommend that a site be built to attract and keep customers. While spiders, as they report back to home base and move your site up in the index, will help customers find your site, customers will not stay there or spend their money on your products if the site is not built for them as well as the spiders. In other words, provide snacks to attact spiders and a feast to keep customers.
To this end
Optimize your site for keywords that are relevant to your customers
Few things irritate me more than to search for "running shoes," for example, only to be met with shoe stores that sell everything but running shoes but had some web master that knew people would look for running shoes and might settle for black leather pumps instead. I don't know about you, but instead of deciding to buy dress shoes instead of running shoes, I move on from that site with a mental note not to return.
Write copy to tell customers what your site is about
Once a spider finds your site, it is looking for keywords that tell it what your site is all about. Guess what! Customers are looking for the same thing. Customers want to know, within a few seconds of landing on your site, if they will find what they are looking for within your pages. Use the pages of your site to inform both spiders and customers of your purpose for opening shop on the world wide web.
Provide the products customers came to find
As in the suggestion above, don't use keywords for products you do not provide. If you do not provide golf shoes, never have, never will, do not use the keyword "golf shoes" to rope customers into buying cowbody boots instead. People who are ready to buy from the internet know what they want and do not want to have their time wasted on sites that do not offer the products they are looking for. If, on the other hand, you do sell golf shoes but are temporarily out of stock, by all means use the keyword "golf shoes," but be honest with the customer to let them know that you will do your best to get the golf shoes back in stock as soon as possible and that you will let them know when they are available.
Make navigation easy for your customers
Spiders don't look at your site the same way people do. While spiders crawl a site in a set manner, right to left, top to bottom, site navigation must make sense to customers too. Make navigation buttons easy to find and simple to understand. Use words and menus that make sense to your customers.
Make the site attractive to people
Spiders don't look at anything but words. They don't see color, let alone pictures. While pictures and color can excite or turn off customers, a site is not indexed by the spider's report because it looks good. Read information on userability and site usage. Understand how people use the internet and what they are looking for in a site. Build your site to keep the attention of people, not just spiders.
In the areas that spiders see - words, glorious words - customers and spiders are looking for the same things: keywords that are relevant to your site, copy that tells what your site is about, and products they came to your site to find. Beyond that, make navigation intuitive for your customers and make the site attractive to people.
In the end, SEO must take into consideration both the customer and the spiders, and if it comes to a tie, break the tie in favor of the customer and the spiders will reward you in the end.
Copyright © Claudia Pate
Plug-in Profits, Start Writing Your Internet Success Story Today
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Article Writing , Blogging, and SEO - A Few of My Favorite Sites
Like you, I am bombarded with offers for all kinds of article writing, blogging, SEO, marketing, and social bookmarking sites among other things. For someone who is new to the internet, and even for some of us who have used it for years to find just about anything we are looking for, it is easy to get lost in a sea of information. It is also easy to spend a lot of money on the latest information that is "going to change the way you do business and make you a lot of money at the same time."
While those opportunities evidently do exist, I remain very skeptical of all get-rich-quick schemes, even those from people who have been around a while and still promote making $10,000.00 in a day and so on. Many people have done that, but for most of them it took years of putting in their time and trying different things before they reached that level.
Two parts of internet business that I am just now ready to get a handle on are article writing and blogging. Coming in a close third is SEO (search engine optimization). Not that I feel I have a handle on it, but it does not overwhelm me now just to think about it as it did in the past.
As you can tell if you've read my posts, article writing has quickly become a passion for me. I don't write an article a day as some folks do, but I am probably on task to write 3 a week on average. If all goes as planned, that will increase in coming months, and I look forward to the increase. Along with article writing, my blog is starting to get more attention and is becoming a hobby as well as a passion.
The other part of internet business that seems overwheling is SEO. All of us know that it needs to be done, but few of us feel capable of providing the best SEO for our own sites, let alone helping someone else do it.
In this post I am recommending a few of my favorite FREE sources for help with article writing, blogging, and SEO. Of course, I have provided quite a bit of information on article writing in my posts, but my passion for article writing started with a free resource from http://completeminisites.com. Bill Morin offers some ebooks here for sale, but you can get the 3-part course on article writing for free. I started there then ran across Steve at http://www.999articles.com. His series is a bit longer and will come over a period of days unless you pay for the course, but he gives very good information on the various parts of articles and how to write them for maximum impact.
For blogging I recommend starting with Jim DeSantis at Online Tribune Internet Marketing (http://on-line-tribune-internet-marketing.blogspot.com). Jim provides great information in his blogs and is more than willing to share what he knows.
On the SEO front, I recommend Brad Callen at SEO Elite http://www.seoelite.com you can buy the ebook or just take the free course through email. It is not an all-inclusive read, but it will give you some good ideas on what good SEO is and how to tell if it has been done correctly.
A man who has become near and dear to me is Tim at Traffic Slurp UK SEO Services, a UK based SEO firm. Tim published one of my articles and is working on SEO for me. He really knows his stuff. You can get some great "How to" information from Traffic Slurp or you can hire Tim and his staff to spearhead your SEO for higher search engine rankings.
One great tool Tim uses is his Competitor Link Analysis. Read my article on Increasing PageRank and you'll understand why this tool is so valuable. This tool will help you find out what authority sites are linking to your competitors and give you direction for seeking out these sites for yourself. It gives you this information and so much more. If you are interested in getting quality links for your site, this FREE tool is a must.
Copyright © Claudia Pate
Friday, February 16, 2007
How Your Blog Can Help Your Article Marketing Campaign and Vice Versa
It seems many of us have taken to article marketing for an unprecedented increase in traffic to our websites. To this end, we write maybe an article a day or three a week at minimum, post them to our blog (for even more exposure), and submit them to our ever-increasing list of article directories. We feel proud of ourselves for having accomplished this much in so short a time.
Then, one day, out of the clear blue, we read that there may be a problem with our system. Duplicate content - the problem of the search engines not being able to see that every article that bears my name was actually written by me no matter where it was found first, second, or last.
In order to avoid this, the suggestions abound. Maybe we shouldn't post the same article to more than one directory; maybe we can post a version of the same article to different directories, but it must be changed by at least 30% in order not to be banned by the indexers; maybe we can post to our blog first, ping it, wait 24 hours, then post to article directories; maybe none of it matters and we can post anything we want wherever we want.
In forums and blogs throughout the world, there is much discussion about duplicate content. But no one has the answer. Maybe not even Google, the top dog we are trying to impress in the first place. It seems that Yahoo has a handle on this, but Google can't quite get the math right.
No wonder. Have you ever looked at the algorithm used to figure PageRank? I used to work as a copy editor for a physics journal and these equations look a lot like the same ones used to work out problems of black holes and nuclear physics. There are so many summations, sigmas, fractions, matrices, and the like that one little sigma in place of an epsilon can cause the entire thing to blow up - and no I don't mean the world. I mean the PageRank algorithm. If this is how the PageRank algorithm is structured, I wonder how the duplicate content algorithm is structured?
With the ongoing marketing of such software as Article Submitter Pro that submits the same article to more than 300 directories, and individual directories making an article available to be used in ezines and blogs throughout the world, the biggest problem with duplicate content seems to be posting the same article on your own blog and in article directories. For some reason, this could be held against you.
In order to get around this problem, it was suggested by a few reliable sources that I post the article to my blog first, ping it, wait 24 hours, then submit to article directories. In the past few days, however, I've come up with perhaps a more conservative approach that has the potential to increase the exposure of both my content and my name, and thus the traffic to my site.
What is this new revelation?
I write freely and in a more "down to earth" manner in my blog then use the same content to write my article and submit it. Because articles are generally written in a more formal tone, though not stuffy, I take the words from my blog that are just written as they come to me and turn them into an article that is a bit more organized and maybe contains quotes and information from research.
In addition to providing the foundation for my article, the style of writing in my blog might appeal to a slightly different audience and be picked up from there rather than from an article directory.
Beyond providing the foundation for an article, my blog gives a reader who clicks on a link in my article resource box more information than they found in the article. Blog posts can generally be as long as you want them to be, without losing your reader's attention. I can include website links and examples that either are not allowed in an article or just take up too much space.
And, on the flip side, if someone bookmarks my blog and finds a link back to my article or searches for my name, I get more exposure and the chance for my article to be picked up by ezines and blogs if they like the article style better.
Even if you aren't concerned about duplicate content between your blog and your articles, it's a win-win situation to write a blog post directed to your particular audience then modify it to appeal to an even wider audience through article directories.
If you just do not have the time to post to a blog and rewrite the post to submit to an article, at the very least post to your blog first, ping your blog, then wait 24 hours before submitting the article to an article directory. This should't cause too much trouble for the sigmas, summations, and epsilons in the algorithm.
Copyright © Claudia Pate
Plug-in Profits, Start Writing Your Internet Success Story Today
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Get Quality Backlinks to Increase PageRank Fast
What is PageRank?
The PageRank of a website in Google indicates the importance of the website in the eyes of Google. This is based on many factors, but should build over time as your site gains notariety, popularity, and traffic.
The Google PageRank, or number value Google places on a website, is largely based on the importance (popularity) of the site based on the PageRank of the sites linking back to it. A large part of your internet marketing campaign must focus on getting backlinks from sites with a PageRank higher than yours.
How do I find a PageRank?
You can find the PageRank of any website by downloading the Google toolbar. Just a little left of the center of the tool bar is an icon labeled "PageRank." When you visit any site, the bar will fill to indicate where that site stands on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest). You can hold your cursor over the bar without clicking on it to see the number value of the PageRank.
What are backlinks?
Backlinks are links that point back to your site. These can be links you have received from other sites in exchange or reciprocal linking agreements, one-way links placed on another site that leads to your site, or links placed strategically by you in forum posts, blogs, and the resource box of published articles. Backlinks are also achieved when you submit your website to article directories.
When exchanging links, posting in forums, or submitting articles, it is best to use keywords in the text of the link to "anchor" your text. By placing keywords in the text of the link instead of your website name or words such as "Click here," the keyword(s) are anchored to your url.
Example:
Use
Work at home opportunities
Instead of
Common Sense Ebiz
This not only creates a backlink to your site, it links your keywords to your site, thus enticing the spider with an extra morsel (spiders love keywords nearly as much as backlinks).
Do I really need backlinks?
Yes. You really need backlinks.
Backlinks are needed to get the attention of Googlebot as he spiders through the web seeking where to go next. While it is hard to imagine, a spider does not search the web in alphabetical order, scouring all the A's, then the B's, all the way through Z. Instead, spiders start with one site (which one, who knows?), scours the data there then is sent off through the links it finds on that site. If your site is found on that site, you get searched. If not, the spider doesn't even know you exist. If the spider finds you on another site, you get searched again, and the pattern continues until all sites have been searched and re-searched.
After the spider has seen your site over and over again, it begins to think, "This site must be important because so many other sites find it important." And this site is even more important if a lot of other "important" (quality) sites find it important.
It's like dating the football captain or the head cheerleader: your popularity goes up because you are with someone else who is more popular than you.
Backlinks also serve to help visitors find you. Links on a web page are like the directory at the mall. "If you didn't find what you were looking for here, maybe you can find what you are looking for'at "Ebiz for the Small Fry'." Click on this link and find out.
Backlinks on forum posts, blogs, and article resource boxes are also left behind to help readers, who don't even know you exist, find their way to your site.
You do need backlinks, but more importantly, you need quality backlinks.
Where do I get quality backlinks?
It is not enough to have a huge number of backlinks; in fact it is frowned upon to have too many. It is best to have a few quality backlinks than a bunch of backlinks that are not seen as "quality" links. So, you ask again, where do I get quality backlinks?
In their PageRank algorithm, Google has not hidden the fact that your mother was right: your reputation is only as good as the people you hang around with. If you strive to get good, quality backlinks, your reputation and presence on the internet will grow and will be felt throughout the world.
Get your free copy of Dotcomology today to find out more about starting your own online business or marketing a brick-and-mortar business online.
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Monday, February 12, 2007
Article Writing - Where to Submit Your Articles
As promised, the list of directories I submit articles to is below.
There a lot more. You can search for "article directories" to find more. You can search for more targeted article directories by adding your keyword terms to the search. For example, "wedding article directories," "dogs article directories," etc. You will be amazed at the number of directories from which to choose.
If you get tired of submitting articles manually, or you want to submit to many
directories at once, check into automatic submission software such as Article Marketer. Again, you can search for "automatic article submission" and choose one of the products available.
http://ezinearticles.com
http://www.articlemarketer.com
http://www.articlesfactory.com
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.articledashboard.com
http://www.ideamarketers.com
http://www.articlecity.com
http://getmyarticles.com
http://www.kokkada.com
http://www.amazines.com
http://www.easyarticles.com
http://www.articlesauce.com
http://www.free-articles-zone.com
http://www.sunwestnet.net
All of these directories are free and accept a wide variety of articles.
Take some time to read the editorial guidelines and set up your profile before you begin. After that, you can log in and submit your article.
Let me know if you have questions. Feel free to email me at support@commonsenseebiz.com
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Ready, Set, ... Hold on a Minute!
You have your article written and you broke it into the parts listed in my post "Writing Articles - The Elements of an Article." Congratulations!
Before I can let you submit an article, though, you must consider two very important parts of your article. Do you know what they are? Right. The beginning and the end, but not the introduction and the conclusion, I mean the very beginning and the very end: the title and the resource box.
Write a title that sells
While many people focus on 3 steps or 7 steps or even 100 steps or tips, I want you to
put your keyword(s) at the beginning of the title. Unlike browsing at a bookstore under a category for titles that catch your eye, people looking for an online article will type keywords into a search engine and see what comes up. By putting your keywords at the beginning of the title, you increase the chances of your article being found by the search engines.
For example, instead of writing "Top 10 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website," write "Increase Traffic to Your Website - Viral Marketing is the Key." If you can include two related keyword search terms in your title, two things will happen: 1) Your article can be found using either the term "increase traffic to your website" or "viral marketing," two very hot topics these days; and 2) it is more likely that a reader will read the article once it's found because they see two terms they are interested in - increasing traffic and viral marketing.
For a good article on writing titles, see Article Marketing and Copywriting Secret: How To Make Your Article TITLE Sell, by Christopher Knight.
Carefully consider and construct your article resource box
The author resource box is perhaps the most important part of the article as far as your marketing efforts go. Yes, it is important to write an attention-grabbing headline and make sure your content is good, but there are two goals of your resource box that you must know about: 1) it provides a backlink to your website, and 2) it gives readers an opportunity to visit your site, which in turn increases your traffic and eventually your page ranking.
Most of the directories I submit to allow href tags in the resource box, but be sure to check the guidelines of the directory you are submitting to before including the href tags.
The resource box should tell about who you are and compel the reader to click through to your website. Most of the time it pays to start out with your name, as in
Mary Smith is a self-made millionaire who helps people get out of debt and live debt-free. Get out of debt and become a millionaire at GetOutofDebtandStayThere.
Read the section How To Make A URL/Website Address "Linkable" in the article concerning HTML skills. My only change would be to insert the keywords as your target instead of re-entering your web address. For example, instead of
Mary Smith is a self-made millionaire who helps people get out of debt and live debt-free. Get out of debt and become a millionaire at
which results in
Mary Smith is a self-made millionaire who helps people get out of debt and live debt-free. Get out of debt and become a millionaire at GetOutofDebtandStayThere.
write:
Mary Smith is a self-made millionaire who helps people get out of debt and live debt-free.
which results in
Mary Smith is a self-made millionaire who helps people get out of debt and live debt-free. Get out of debt and become a millionaire at GetOutofDebtandStayThere.com.
This example puts the link around your keywords, rather than your web address.
Don't be overwhelmed
While even these two parts of the article might seem overwhelming, they don't have to be. Look at other examples of titles and resource boxes to get your footing then start working on them.
You can change your resource box for future articles, and I have changed mine as I learned more and saw how others wrote theirs. You will get better over time at writing and linking.
If you have any questions on how to write the best titles and resource box for your articles, leave a comment and I'll get back to with suggestions.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Get Started!
Now that you have the basics of article writing, my best advice is to start writing!
Be sure to read my previous posts on the essentials of an article and the basics of html. In a day or two I will give you the list of directories I use for submissions.
For now, choose one of your keywords, experiences, or interests and start writing!
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Article Writing - What Do I Write About?
I guess I got a little ahead of myself, didn't I? I moved on to writer's block when you might still be asking, "What do I write about?"
Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
If you have a website or product:
Choose keywords and use them as springboards. For example, if you have a website that specializes in carpeting, there are many aspects of carpeting your readers will be interested in: texture, style, quality, padding, color, installation, etc. Choose one of these keywords and start a list of keywords within that category. As you write your list of keywords, ideas for articles will form in your mind and you can easily put them into words.
Talk about the benefits of your product or service. While editors of article directories have the right to refuse publication of articles written purely for advertisement, they will likely publish articles that tell about the benefit of carpeting over wood flooring or vinyl. If you stick to the benefits of choosing quality carpeting and then include your web address in the resource box, you will likely have a publishable article.
Talk about the different uses for your product or service. Tell about the various rooms that are most suitable for carpeting or the best carpet to use in a bedroom versus a bathroom. If some rooms aren't suitable for carpet, in your opinion, write an article about that and explain why you have that opinion. Readers are looking for information, good or bad, and will be glad for another viewpoint that maybe they hadn't thought of.
Write about your experience in starting or buying your business. Many, many people are looking for business opportunites and are wondering if they are suited to starting or running their own business. Personal success stories are a great motivator for others to pursue their own dreams of owning or running their own business. Be honest about it. Don't try to make it all sound rosy if it wasn't. Readers are more interested in honesty than in being made to feel good.
If you do not have a website or business:
The world of article writing is open to everyone. If people are curious about it, there is a market for it. Article directories are not just for people who want to write about business or online pursuits.
Here are just a few topics that are available for article submission:
Business
Careers/Employment
Fundraising
Industrial Mechanical
Resumes/Cover Letters
Sales
Top 7 or 10 Tips
SEO
Search Engine Marketing
Debt Relief
Real Estate
Dating
Divorce
Marriage Wedding
Religion
Health and Fitness
Grief
Positive Attitude
Auto Racing
Basketball
Fishing
Travel and Leisure
Crafts Hobbies
Coffee
Arts and Entertainment
Music
Book Reviews
And literally hundreds more.
Start today. Make a list of keywords, write about the benefits and uses of your product, or your experience in building your business. If you don't have a business, write about anything that interests you. If you are interested in it, you can write about it.
Get your free copy of Dotcomology today to find out more about starting your own online business or marketing a brick-and-mortar business online.
Click Here to Discover "Dotcomology" Now!
Monday, February 5, 2007
Article Writing - More Ideas to Break Through Writer's Block
Here are some more ideas to help you break through writer's block.
- Write as though you are writing to your blog
- Keep a noteboodk handy
- Ask questions
- Change topic
Blog posts are often written in a more informal, friendly tone which often makes them easier to write than formal articles written for an audience. After the post is written, use the outline from your post to write an article for submission.
Some of my best, and the most questionable, ideas often surface when I wake up in the middle of the night or when I'm busy doing something else, like driving or cooking. Keep a notebook handy to jot down these ideas as they come to mind.
Recently a man who writes articles asked me what questions I had about writing and submitting articles. Instead of replying directly to my email, he wrote and submitted an article that answered my question. Ask questions of people who need your services. Use their questions as a springboard for writing. Chances are good that if one person had that question, many others will have the same question.
If your main business is decorating but you really want to write about the latest football or basketball game or TV show, do it. Just be aware that the audience you desire for your primary business may or may not read the article. Your goal of driving traffic to your site may not be fulfilled by this "off-topic" article, but write it anyway. The enjoyment you get from writing this article on a current event could spur you to get back on topic and reach your intended audience.
For personal guidance on writing articles, contact me at support@commonsenseebiz.com. I'll be glad to help you with any questions you may have.
Claudia
Start writing your own internet success story with Plug-in Profits, a 3-Step Plan that includes a free website and a 30 Day Guide to Success.
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Thursday, February 1, 2007
Article Writing - Break Through Writer's Block
On this first day of February, with a dusting of snow on the ground, I am reminded that this might be the month that you are stuck indoors and can spend some time writing by the fireplace while the wind howls outside.
If you have not written and submitted one article yet, go back and read through the posts I made in January to find out why it is important to write articles and some of the essentials of how to do it, then come back here to get started.
If you have started writing articles, you might run into what is know as "writer's block."
Writer's block hits almost all writers at some point in their career. You might have flown through the first five or ten or more articles then suddenly run out of things to say. If this has happened to you, follow these tips to get started again.
If you have been sitting at your computer, staring at a blank screen, pulling your hair out to get a new idea to write about, get up and move a little. The mere movement away from your computer to get some blood flowing will help to jumpstart your creative juices. If you haven't come up an idea for writing just by staring at the screen, continued staring will not change anything for you, except to give you a headache.
By reading today's headlines or your favorite blog, your mind will reconnect with words and ideas again. It might take just one sentence or one article for your mind to come up with a new idea. If you don't come up with any new ideas after the first headline or the first blog, try, try again. If still nothing comes to your mind, at least you have kept up with the news and seeds have been planted in your brain that might surface hours or days later.
Read through some of your own articles to find an article that was written from a broad angle and pick it apart to come up with more articles on narrower topics.
In a typical article, as you were taught in school, you probably made three points that supported your main point. You can write an article on one of these three points and support it with three more points that can be used in later articles, then these three points can be used in three more articles and so on. See where I'm going? Until you get down to the article that tells about the components of paint, you can keep writing articles just on sprucing up your walls with paint for days to come.
Start with just a list of words associated with your business or area of interest that you want to write about. If your website is about decorating on a budget, list the rooms in your house or the techniques, such as paint, wallpaper, stenciling, etc., that can be used to spruce up your walls. Start with just words then move up to phrases if those come to mind.
From this list you can choose one of the words or topics and write an article about that or you can choose one area, such as walls, and write a series of articles on the different ways to change the look of a room by changing the walls.
More ideas on writer's block will be presented in future posts. Choose one of these, take a break, read the headlines or a blog, read your previous articles, or make a list of words and expect that writer's block to be gone before you have to add another log to the fire.
If this article was helpful to you or you have another idea to share with others about breaking through writer's block, leave a comment below.
Start writing your own internet success story with Plug-in Profits, a 3-Step Plan that includes a free website and a 30 Day Guide to Success.
Sign up for my free Common Sense Ebiz newsletter and learn more about home business opportunities at www.CommonSenseEbiz.com
Also, see my online store The Anniversary Shop for gifts for wedding anniversaries and every gift giving occasion.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Article Writing - Essential HTML Skills For Article Authors - 7 Tips
This article by Christopher Knight will give you the basics of HTML that you can use to spruce up the articles you submit for publication. Contact me if you have any questions.
Leave a comment if this article was helpful to you.
-----------------------------------
Essential HTML Skills For Article Authors - 7 Tips
By Christopher Knight
Many successful authors close their mind to learning HTML because they figure they don't need to know it. I've been in technology, marketing and writing on the Internet for a decade+ now and I too shut my mind to learning HTML... until earlier this year. My thinking was that HTML coders only make $8-$10/hr and why would I want to learn a skill that I can outsource to someone who specializes in HTML coding?
Guess what? You don't have to learn more than 15 minutes of HTML knowledge to significantly improve the quality of your articles. In today's issue, I'm going to show you the top 7 easy-to-learn essential HTML skills that can help any article author make better looking articles before the day is over.
The 7 HTML "MUST KNOW" article author skills include how to format a URL or an email address, how to enhance your text with BOLD, ITALICS, or the UNDERLINE font attribute and how to set up a bullet or numbered list in HTML.
How To Make A URL/Website Address "Linkable":
This:
Just substitute your website address from the above code and now you know how to "link" up a website address. Some like to create anchor text links. Here is the code to create links out of keywords:
One Note: Use anchor text links *sparingly* when submitting articles to directories as some have limitations on the number of times the same URL can be linked up. For example, with EzineArticles.com, you are only allowed to have one URL in a given article that is the same and your article could be rejected if you have two links to the same URL regardless as to whether you linked it up like the first and/or second example above.
How To Make Your Email Address "Linkable":
This:
One Note: It is never a good idea to put your email address in your article because your email address will get harvested by spammers who use web email extractor bots to scour the Internet. Better to put a link to your contact information if you must.
How To Make Something BOLD:
This:
How To Make Something ITALICS:
This:
How To Make Something UNDERLINED:
This:
How To Make A Bullet Point List:
This:
This:
By opening up your mind to allow yourself to learn the above 7 essential HTML tips for article authors, you can improve the quality of your articles immediately.
About The Author:
Christopher M. Knight invites you to submit your best articles for massive exposure to the high-traffic http://EzineArticles.com/ directory. When you submit your articles to EzineArticles.com, your articles will be picked up by ezine publishers who will reprint your articles with your content and links intact giving you traffic surges to help you increase your sales. To submit your article, setup a membership account today: http://EzineArticles.com/submit/
Copyright 2005 - Christopher M. Knight. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, give author name credit and follow all of the EzineArticles terms of service for Publishers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Knight
http://EzineArticles.com/?Essential-HTML-Skills-For-Article-Authors---7-Tips&id=7185
Start writing your own internet success story with Plug-in Profits, a 3-Step Plan that includes a free website and a 30 Day Guide to Success.
Sign up for my free Common Sense Ebiz newsletter and learn more about home business opportunities at www.CommonSenseEbiz.com
Also, see my online store The Anniversary Shop for gifts for wedding anniversaries and every gift giving occasion.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Article Writing - The Elements of an Article
Now that you're committed to writing articles, writing at least one article a week, and not giving up too soon. The elements outlined here are required by each article directory to which you submit your articles once they are written.
I write my articles in Notepad following this "template" then copy and paste the elements into boxes for each element on the article directory's submission page.
Title
What title will you use for your article? Sometimes I come up with a "working title" to get me started but will change it or improve it slightly before submission.
While many writers use headings like "Ten Ways to Increase Internet Traffic," it is best to use your keyword(s) at the beginning of the title rather than the end. This title would then be changed to: "Increase Internet Traffic - Ten Methods You Can Use Today." This title places the keyword(s) "Increase Internet Traffic" at the beginning of the title while calling the reader to action - to start using these methods today.
Article summary
The article summary is generally 2 or 3 lines that tell the gist of the article you are submitting. This should include your keyword(s) along with a call to action or what the reader will find if he/she reads the article in its entirety. Readers who are looking for information or for articles to include on their own sites will read the title and the summary before choosing whether or not to read the entire article. The article summary should be short and to the point while compelling the reader to read the entire article and possibly include it on their own site, thus increasing the exposure of your article.
Keywords
The keywords to include here are the words that a web surfer would search for to find the information in your article. An article on increasing traffic might use the keywords "increase traffic," "work at home," "marketing tools," and other keywords that you use as your ten steps.
There is usually a limit on the number of keywords that you can include, so be sure to insert your most important keywords first.
The article
Now you add the body of your article. Again, check that your article does not exceed the maximum number of words or characters allowed by the directory. If you exceed the maximum number, your article may be automatically rejected without any notification.
Some directories allow html in the body while others do not. A great article on the basics of html will be posted in a day or two. Html is not difficult once you understand the basics. In article writing, the main html tags you will use will be to make text bold or italic, include numbered or bulleted lists, and to include web addresses in your posts. There will be little need to use anything beyond these basics, but their use will give your article a little more pizzazz and readability.
About the Author
Often this is called your signature or author bio. Whatever it is called, this part is where you tell about yourself and provide links to the places you want the reader to visit, whether it's your online business or your blog or some other site.
I suggest reading other articles to find out what other authors have included and decide how you want to represent yourself. Also, most directories provide guidelines that you must follow when including your web or email addresses. Some of them do not allow affiliate links in the author bio, so be sure not to include these or your article might be rejected without notice.
In addition to the elements included here, you must read each directory's guidelines to ensure that you are adhering to their policy. Directories are not obligated to publish your article. Even if your content is good, they will most probably reject your article if their guidelines concerning html, word or character length, and other items are not followed.
As mentioned earlier, you can save yourself time and effort in article submission if you type your article in Notepad and include the title, the article summary, keywords, the body of the article, and your author bio to cut and paste into the element boxes on the directory's website.
Start writing your own internet success story with Plug-in Profits, a 3-Step Plan that includes a free website and a 30 Day Guide to Success.
Sign up for my free Common Sense Ebiz newsletter and learn more about home business opportunities at www.CommonSenseEbiz.com
Also, see my online store The Anniversary Shop for gifts for wedding anniversaries and every gift giving occasion.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Article Writing - Choose to Write Consistently and Stick With It
As one of the hottest forms of marketing today, article writing and submission must be part of your marketing effort whether your business is online, brick-and-mortar, or both.
I will address several parts of article writing over the next few days. The first of which is the 3 major mistakes people make in writing articles for publication.
1. Choosing not to write articles
2. Not writing enough articles
3. Giving up too soon
The first major mistake is choosing not to write articles. If you read my post from January 18 "Article Writing - You Have What it Takes," you know that article writing has the potential to bring hundreds or thousands of new visitors to your website for years to come. With just a computer, a passion, basic grammar skills, and some time, your articles can be spread throughout the world to an audience who wants to hear what you have to say. If you do not write articles for publication, this outlet is lost along with the hundreds or thousands of new visitors who could increase your sales daily.
The second major mistake is not writing enough articles. While it is not necessary to write an article every day or even every other day, the more articles you write the more potential you have for exposure. One man I read said that he writes 100 articles a month; another man writes 30 a month. If just writing one article sounds overwhelming to you, start there with a plan to write another one next week, another the following week, and so on. Once you start writing, you might be surprised at the knowledge that you have and find that you enjoy writing. If you write one article per week, you will have 52 articles spread throughout the world in a year. Keep in mind that writing just one article probably won't increase your exposure enough that you will notice, but a number of articles written over time will bring a stream of traffic to your door.
The third major mistake is giving up too soon. As stated previously, writing one article probably won't increase your exposure enough for you to see much difference in traffic to your site. However, repeated articles spread throughout the world by others who pick up your article have the potential of putting hundreds or thousands of dollars in your pocket. Your first article might not get much attention right away, but imagine that, as your writing skills and knowldge improve over time, subsequent articles receive attention and are picked up by more and more bloggers and ezine publishers. As your name becomes recognized, peole who have enjoyed and learned from your articles will return to the internet and search for articles that you have written. Even if your first article isn't widely distributed at first, it could receive exposure months later when you are seen as an expert in your field. Remember, the internet is living and breathing and nothing is ever truly lost if it has become a part of the worlwide web.
Much more is to come on article writing. Future posts will focus on what you need to know about html, writing killer titles, article submission, and other aspects of article writing that will make you an expert in your field in no time.
Start writing today and avoid the three major mistakes that others make in using article writing as part of their marketing effort: choosing not to write articles, not writing enough articles, and giving up too soon.
Start writing your own internet success story with Plug-in Profits, a 3-Step Plan that includes a free website and a 30 Day Guide to Success.
Sign up for my free Common Sense Ebiz newsletter and learn more about home business opportunities at www.CommonSenseEbiz.com
Also, see my online store The Anniversary Shop for gifts for wedding anniversaries and every gift giving occasion.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Article Writing - You Have What It Takes
If you have done any research on internet marketing, you know that article writing and publishing is the hottest topic today. This marketing method takes little more than a computer, a passion, basic grammar skills, and some of your time, yet it has the potential to bring hundreds or thousands of new people to your site every day.
When you log onto your computer, what are you looking for? Email from family and friends, maybe the latest seasonal item from your favorite catalog, and information, lots and lots of information.
You see, the internet thrives on information, especially new information. Who is able to
plan their life around the 6:00 news or take the time to read the newspaper when the kids have soccer practice, mom has a business meeting, and dad is cooking dinner?
Fortunately, you can get the latest news and tips delivered to your door with the click of a button - the switch to your computer. With your computer, your passion, basic grammer skills, and your time, you too can add new and exciting news and tips to the internet by writing and publishing articles.
1) A computer
If you are reading this, you have access to a computer. Any computer will do. One that has Notepad or some other text editor program will work.
Note: You may use programs such as Microsoft Word, but be aware that some characters, double quotation marks and dashes, for example, will not appear properly on some websites. If you choose to use Word, be sure to check that characters are displayed properly when published.
2) A passion
What are you passionate about that others are interested in knowing? If you have a website, you are obviously passionate about that and have done the research to know that you have a niche market that others are passionate about as well. Write about what you are doing in your business, how you got where you are, and what you have learned along the way. Help others learn from what you have already done.
3) Basic grammar skills
No matter how passionate you are about a topic, no one wants to read copy that is littered with typographical errors and mistakes in grammar. If you have lost some of the grammar skills you learned in school, go to the library or book store or search online to find books or articles that can help you get your skills back on track. Until you are confident in your own skills, find a friend or family member who has these skills and ask them to help you. Chances are good that someone you know will be glad to help.
4) Your time
Article writing and submission takes time. It takes time to come up with ideas that you want to write about, and it takes more time to actually write the article. However, if you are writing about something you enjoy, something you are passionate about, you will find out that the time you spend writing articles is time well spent.
Article submission can also take time if you choose to submit articles manually. If this turns out to take too much of your time, there are plenty of services and software available to help automate this task.
If your time is very limited, you may want to consider cutting something else out a few hours a week to give you time to write. The time you spend writing and submitting articles can result in hundreds of new visitors to your website and turn your time into money.
Remember, writing articles and getting them published in online article directories is one of the most profitable methods used today to market your internet business. With a computer, a passion, basic grammar skills, and some of your time, you can join the ranks of millions of others who are contributing to the latest news and tips available worldwide on the internet.
Start writing your own internet success story with Plug-in Profits, a 3-Step Plan that includes a free website and a 30 Day Guide to Success.
Sign up for my free Common Sense Ebiz newsletter and learn more about home business opportunities at www.CommonSenseEbiz.com
The Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on The Internet - Product Review
"Discover how to start or grow your Product Review: "The Insider Secrets To Marketing Your Business on The Internet" You may not realize it, but you already know who Derek Gehl is. Along with the late Cory Rudl, he helped create one of the most successful businesses on the internet: The Internet Marketing Center. Derek Gehl's newly revised and updated "bible" for profiting on the Internet, "The Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet - Version 2006," contains over 1,300 pages of the *exact* test results, case studies, and strategies that Derek used to grow a $25 investment to over $54,700,000 in online sales! In "Insider Secrets," you'll discover...
These strategies will work for ANYONE, no matter WHAT stage you're at with your Internet business -- or even if you haven't started one yet at all! Derek's system is perfect for YOU if...
It comes complete with two 8" x 11" full-color three ring binders containing 8 steps, broken down into 70 lessons with step-by-step instructions included for every promotion and strategy...  ... Plus five resource CDs and one audio CD with additional lessons, examples, audio interviews, and articles, as well as timesaving software and invaluable resource files."Insider Secrets" gets a perfect 10! It contains the exact step-by-step blueprint you need to follow to get a profitable Internet business online, or turn an existing web business into a profit-making machine! I suggest you click here to check it our right away! |
Read More......
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Your Signature - An Internet Marketing Goldmine
One of the biggest challenges in internet marketing is getting traffic to your site. One proven method of getting traffic to your site is through external links. Reciprocal links are generally obtained either through companies that provide a list of their members that are willing to offer a link to your website in exchange for a link to theirs or by spending hours looking for companies that would be a good fit with your product or service without being a competitor. Once these links are placed on a page, anyone who views that page has the opportunity to click the link and be taken to someone else's website.
While reciprocal links are good, there is some talk that search engines see these reciprocal links as “canceling each other out” because I have linked to you just because you linked to me. Because of this it appears that
one-way external links are much more valuable than reciprocal external links.
Did you know that hundreds of external links to your site can be generated with little or no effort just by including your signature, your web address, in these three places?
1) Outgoing email
How many email messages do you send in a day 10? 20? 100? More? Each of these outgoing messages has the potential to bring in hundreds of dollars. Imagine sending an email to inquire about tickets for the Boston Pops concert only to find out that the person reading your email was curious enough to click on your web address and find your business or company. If your web address had not been included, you would have received a response that included your name and the price of the best seats in the house. Instead, you received this information AND a sale. Does it get any easier than that?
2) Signature file in forum posts
Forums are the hot place to exchange business and niche ideas. If you are not involved in forums, get involved today. You will find great information from people who are in the same industry or situation that you are in while cultivating relationships that are invaluable. In addition to the exchange of knowledge, every time you make a post in a forum you can (and should) include a signature file that includes a link to your website(s). These links will remain on the web indefinitely and provide years and years of inbound links to your site(s) just by setting up your signature file one time. Generally it is as easy as editing your profile to include a little bit of html code. Most forums will offer guidance on setting up your signature file. The minute you spend getting your signature file set up will be rewarded over and over again as your links are propagated throughout the world wide web.
3) Add your signature to every article you submit
Similar to signature files in forum posts, information about you and your website(s) can and should be added to every article that you submit. Like forum posts, articles are living, breathing organisms that have the potential to live on in cyberspace indefinitely. An article you write today may be picked up by someone months from now and generate a sale for you.
Some article submission sites allow you to set up a signature file that will automatically be included with your article. Others have a special box for you to include your signature with your article. Either way, be sure to follow the instructions for including html and/or web addresses to get the maximum use of your signature. If you aren't sure what information to include in your “About the author” section, study some of the other posts first and craft a signature that is unique yet informative and includes your most important website(s).
Including your signature, your websites, in email messages, forum posts, and articles has the potential to put hundreds or thousands of dollars in your pocket over the lifetime of your website. Take a few minutes now to set these up and reap the rewards over and over again.
Start writing your own internet success story with Plug-in Profits, a 3-Step Plan that includes a free website and a 30 Day Guide to Success.
Sign up for my free Common Sense Ebiz newsletter and learn more about home business opportunities at www.CommonSenseEbiz.com
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Do You Have What It Takes?
Do you have what it takes to be an e-entrepreneur?
Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy
Author of "Dotcomology - The Science of Making Money Online"
These days, it seems like everyone wants to work from home and make money on the Internet. But before you even turn on your computer, the first question you have to ask yourself is whether you’re cut out for this kind of work.
The fact is, building a home-based business isn’t for everyone. Some people like the commute. They really do enjoy having a boss who tells them what to do, and they like the routine of working nine-to-five for an ordinary salary that can barely pay the mortgage. Personally, I think they’re nuts.
More reasonably, there are people who are concerned about
the risk of starting up their own business. They’re not sure it’s worth the investment of time and money, and they’re scared of the responsibility that comes with running their own company. They wonder if there is another way to escape the rat race.
I’m sure there is. You could win the lottery or wait for your Aunt Sue to keel over and leave you her condo. Or maybe you could sit down with a pen and paper and draw the blueprint for "The Next Big Thing". Anything can happen... Right?
For me, what happened was creating a successful, self-running Internet marketing system. It didn’t happen without effort. It didn’t happen without at least some initial investment of both time and money and, of course, it doesn’t happen now without me making sure that the taxes are filed and the paperwork is done. But it happened.
I’m my own boss. I work from home according to my own schedule and I get to pocket all the cash my business makes. If you’re prepared to give an e-business the time, the work and the money it needs to get started and get growing, it can happen for you too.
Article excerpted from "Dotcomology":Don't Pay A Dime For Any Ebook, MarketingCourse, Software Program Or Anything Else UntilYou've Read This Groundbreaking Document...Click Here to Discover "Dotcomology" Now!
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Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz GuyAll rights reserved.19009 Preston Road, Suite 215-209Dallas, TX 75252
Monday, January 15, 2007
Start or Grow Your At-Home Business - As Easy as PIE
For 13½ years I worked with some of the best IT guys in the world. I mean it. These guys were top-notch. No matter what I asked for, no matter what I needed, these guys could make it work – and fast.
Then there was John. John wasn't just as good as the other guys, he was better. Not better in what he could do by way of programming, but better in that he could see where IT was going in the future and he wanted to be the first to get there. I don't know where he kept it, but somewhere in that office full of papers, magazines, and programming ideas, John must have had a crystal ball.
Every now and then, though,
we knew that the future might be rosy but getting there was trouble, at least for the moment. When things got rough, when programs weren't running smoothly, or there were hardware problems, John could be heard saying, “Why don't we just make pies. It can't be too hard to make pies.”
With all due respect to Mrs. Smith and Marie Callender, we would sit quietly for a moment as we envisioned ourselves in chef's coats and hats with nothing to worry about but getting the right mixture of flour and water and setting the oven at the right temperature. Then reality would hit and back to work we would go.
If you are interested in or in the thick of creating your own at-home business, you know that it is hard. There are probably a lot of terms you don't know and a lot more you've not even heard of, but it's important to remember the principles of PIE.
Plan
If you are new to working at home, plan how you will add this new career to your existing work, play, and relationships. Plan what hours you will devote and where your home office will be. Plan how to include your family in this venture, even if it is just to make a deal with them that you will work as hard as you can through the week and take weekends off for family activities. Think about how much money you are willing to invest and plan how to make that work.
If you are experienced in working at home, plan your next step. Focus on one thing you want to do to improve your product, your customer or downline support, or website. Plan how you will accomplish that one task. Don't get caught up in all the latest programs available to you. Concentrate on just one change and plan how you will put that into action.
Investigate
Again, if you are new to working at home, investigate the possibilities that are out there. Do you want to be involved in affiliate marketing or start your own online business? What programs offer guidance to you either in the form of written materials or someone who will be your sponsor who can help you achieve your goals and keep it all in perspective? How much time and money will it really take? Where can you go for help?
If you are experienced in working at home, investigate ways to achieve the task you identified in the planning stage. If you need more traffic, investigate SEO, blogging, ezine articles, and solo ads, just to name a few. If you identified brand identity, investigate the tactics used by successful companies that are familiar to a wide audience. If you identified overwork, investigate getting help through virtual assistants, automated email responders, and your state's laws on hiring office help.
Whatever you identified as the goal you want to achieve, investigate at least three ways to accomplish that goal.
Emulate
You have heard it said that the best way to be successful is to duplicate success. Find someone who has achieved the goal you are striving for. Ask them questions, follow them around for a while, be annoying. Ok, don't be annoying, but you know what I mean. Find someone who knows the ropes and learn from them. This does not have to take the form of someone you know personally. There are plenty of men and women who are successful in their at-home business, but you have to get to know them even if you can only do it virtually. Search for their names and their products. Search for the person or product by name and the term “scam” behind it to see if there are forums out there where people are talking about being scammed by these people or the products they are selling.
Look for someone that will walk you through the process, not just take your money. Don't be fooled by “get rich quick” advertisement. There are some who have made thousands of dollars in a few days, but there are truly only a handful of those. If a person or product is worth investing in, they will be around for a long time and their products and service will get better with age.
You can achieve your dream of working at something you love and working at it on your own terms if you just remember that it really is as easy as PIE – Plan, Investigate, Emulate.
Copyright © Claudia Pate http://www.CommonSenseEBiz.com
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