An SEO Tip for Online Articles

What's a good SEO tip for online articles? One that's not hard to do, that doesn't take too much time, and that can make a real difference to article views and earnings.

Many writers have hundreds of online articles working away in the background and earning passive income for them each month. If this is true of you, have you found yourself wondering if there is anything more you can do to make your articles work harder for you?

With revenues plummeting in the wake a Panda adjustments and with ad revenues dropping, there is no better time to work with what you already have to make it that much stronger.

Today, I'm going to mention an easy-to-implement SEO tip that outlines a step you can take in relation to your online articles that will help you to increase your article traffic and ultimately your earnings.

At certain sites, writers are allowed to include a description right after their title. This no longer applies at many sites but there are still revenue sharing platforms out there that allow and encourage this feature. An article description serves as a teaser and, more importantly, it shows up in search engine results.

You all know the old saying: you only have once to make a first impression . . .

SEO Tip
It's a good idea to spend a few minutes each day revamping your article descriptions. (And if you haven't been working to tighten and improve your existing articles, you all should be!) You can bump up your article SEO by adding more keywords and making your description far more interesting. Your article title and description are the first thing that searchers see when results come up, so it pays to SEO them to best advantage. Makes sense, doesn't it?

I've been doing this with my articles at sites that allow inclusion of a description as a teaser that leads into the article body. I realize now, in hindsight, that some of my early descriptions were terse snippets that in reality did little to entice readers to click through and read the information in my articles. My mindset in those days was publish, publish, publish and earn, earn, earn.

We are constantly told to craft a good keyword title and that advice is still relevant today but we should also add a full keyword-rich description so that our article presents the best face to searchers who see a portion of that description in search engine results.

Now, some will say that keywords no longer matter. I don't agree. Articles and descriptions that are optimized with keywords still do well. I have proof of this because many of my articles remain on the front page in search results. The main kahuna with Google is that content has to be of good quality and offer something solid to the reader. If you already have a solid offering in your article body, it certainly doesn't hurt to make your description stronger.

Applying this SEO tip can tip the scales, as it were, in relation to attracting readers and earning greater revenue.

Money-Making Tip: Tweak your description so that it offers searchers more information and incorporates your keywords.

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Article Marketing Automation and HowToee

This month I decided to take advantage of HowToee's article marketing automation capability and create a 2500-word pillar article.

What do I mean when I use the term "article marketing automation" and how does it apply to pillar articles on the Howtoee site?

Howtoee has a built-in system whereby those who get in on the ground floor and submit pillar articles win certain keywords. What this means, in real terms, is that all other articles on the Howtoee site,  containing those same keywords, will link back to the original pillar article, thus driving traffic and generating profit for the writer endlessly. What an innovative marketing idea!

As "Howtoee Guy" writes in his article Howtoee Pillar Article Contest is an Exceptional Opportunity for You:

 "Now, here’s where things get really exciting: your pillar articles will be linked from all the other on-topic articles at HowToee whether they’ve been posted in the past or they become posted in future. This is something you never see on other websites such as the article directories."

Article Marketing Automation
Howtoee.com is a cut above other content sites because of the way it has been designed to help contributors earn money from their content. Those who create substantial pillar articles will see concrete results and, on top of that, because writer bios appear at the foot of each article on the Howtoee site, with one link permitted to the writer's website or blog, this will also send a flood of traffic to same for years to come.

So, I rolled up my sleeves and set about creating a substantial pillar article: How to Write a Killer Pillar Article that Outperforms the Competition. When I checked my word count, it came in at 2500-words. Whew! Now, while admittedly, writing a pillar of this length is an undertaking--certainly not for the faint of heart--I decided to give it a whirl. It took me close to a week to bring my pillar article up to publishable standards--the proof reading alone! But I kept myself motivated with the thought of Howtoee's article marketing automation capability and how that would spell endless article earnings down the road. I never have trouble with the actual writing part, the lion's share of my time is spent in proofreading and tweaking once an article has been created.

Times are changing and online writers do well to gauge trends and apply them in their writing. We all know that the old rule of thumb was that writers were best ahead of the game by creating short, easy-for-the-time-strapped-reader type of online articles; however, with Google's increasing and stringent policies about quality content, reader engagement, and the actual time readers spend on a page, that has now all but gone by the wayside. As writers, we have to step up to the plate to remain viable and generate income online.

I like the article marketing automation offered by Howtoee, as this built-in system seems far more competitive and a cut above what other content sites are offering to their contributors.

In his article Reader Challenge Round Up, popular blogger Pat Flynn offers his insights about pillar articles and why these are so effective in relation to marketing, traffic, building a brand and ultimately increasing earnings revenues across the board: "This kind of post is a deadly piece of ammunition in a blogger’s arsenal because it can drive massive traffic, easily become viral and drastically raise the value and authority of the blog and its owner."

Yaro Starak, in fact attributes pillars as contributing to his blogging success. He shares some fascinating insights in his article: The Secret of My Blog's Success--The Pillar Article.

Certainly, writing a pillar and harnessing the power of article marketing automation is a powerful approach as online writing becomes more competitive and thus more challenging.

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How to Earn One Hundred Dollars for Each Online Article

One hundred dollars for each online article . . . would that it were possible . . . it IS!

To beat the February blahs, I'm going to suggest a little experiment to all my readers. If you are struggling to earn real money from your online articles, I invite you to join with me this month in a planned maneuver to wring more from one of your online articles.

SEO: Step-by-Step = Higher Article Earnings

What we will be doing is utilizing proven SEO methods to generate higher article earnings. These SEO methods could be likened to steps that lead upward so that you reach your goal of earning one hundred dollars for your article.

We each will take just one article that has been published at an online site that shares revenue with its writers each month and apply specific SEO methods to the article so that it starts to earn more. In these days, post-Panda, we all could stand a boost, ie: an increase in our article earnings.

The goal is to bump up the article's earning capability. Now, you won't earn one hundred dollars for your chosen article in a month or two, what will happen is that you will see an increase in your article traffic and earnings, once you've used and applied the steps you'll be given below. Your increased traffic and earnings will continue in coming months.

Select a High-Performing Article

How to Earn One Hundred Dollars for Each Online Article

1. Select one of your top-performing articles at any online revenue sharing site you submit content to
2. Make a promise to yourself that each day you will do one thing to promote your article. Pick any of the steps I mention in the article below.
3. Read about the specific steps you can take to earn more from your chosen article. You will see an article link at the bottom of this post titled How to Earn One Hundred Dollars for Each Online Article. When you finish reading today's post, click on the link below, read through the article, and print it off or bookmark it for easy reference. The SEO methods (steps) you will find in this article will help you to earn more from your chosen article. While you will be working with just one article, these SEO strategies can, of course, be applied to any article you want to optimize for higher earnings.
4. In the coming weeks, plan to complete ALL THE SEO STEPS you'll learn.

Now, the article I'm going to be working on is shown below. I applied the SEO methods to this particular article some time ago and it passed the one hundred dollar mark--but just for fun, I'm going to do some additional promoting to bump up my earnings.

Here's a screen shot I took today of this article. I'm showing it here, to demonstrate that earning one hundred dollars for each online article is entirely possible. As the old saying goes, if one has either the right tools or the right knowledge, any task becomes that much easier to tackle and to successfully complete.

I'm going to give you the know-how but the rest is up to you. You'll need to be motivated to make each of your online articles earn more for you.

As can be seen, "SEOing" an article makes a big difference. This particular article sat pretty much lost in cyberspace for a long time, doing very little. I decide to roll up my sleeves and see if I could make it "earn its keep." My efforts paid off--and exceeded my expectations! My mindset was that most of the work had already been done (the actual writing part) and now I had time to improve the article so that it had greater earning capability.

Are you eager to learn how to earn one hundred dollars for each online article? Get started by clicking the link below:

SEO Tactics: How to Earn $100.00 for Each Triond Article. 

While the information pertains to a Triond article, the SEO methods mentioned therein can be used for any online article that has been published at a site that shares revenue. Remember, if you use these methods in relation to your article, it will reach the one hundred dollar mark and may even exceed that. It all depends on whether you are willing to work at it.

I'll post another screen shot and I will share what I did to further promote this article.

Money-Making Tip: use proven SEO methods to bump up article earnings.

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How to Create Static Pages in Blogger

If you have a Blogger blog, you may be wondering how to create static pages.

You will have seen on many websites and blogs, tabs to stand-alone pages. These tabs appear at the top of blogs or along the side in the sidebar.

You'll notice, at Write and Earn a Living, I've created static pages and their related tabs along the top of this blog where you see: Home, About--My Blogger Experiment,  How to Create a Free Blogger Blog, Writing/Editing Services, and so on.

Static pages are a wonderful feature because bloggers can include these pages to parts of their site that they want all visitors to see. Basically, creating a static page means that your important content isn't buried. It is always in front of site visitors. Better still, you can use your static pages to link to other pages on your site, which helps to generate traffic and visitor engagement. (You have most likely happened upon this page because you saw the tab up top entitled, How to Create a Free Blogger blog, then you visited the static page, scrolled through the sections and clicked on the link embedded in the How to Create Static pages that appeared towards the top of the page in the bulleted section.)

This is all well and good but how do you actually get those tabs and their related pages to appear where you want them to? You cannot simply create a new post because when you do, that post displays where your usual blog content appears.

This is a newer feature and while warmly welcomed by most "Bloggers" it is one that can leave newer and even more experienced bloggers scratching their heads.

Follow the steps below and within minutes, you will have added static page functionality to your Blogger blog. 

How to Create a Static Page 

1. Sign in to Blogger
2.  Select Design. A new page will open: Add and Arrange Page Elements
3. You want to find a capsule entitled Add a Gadget. Now, choose one of these capsules either up top or one on the sidebar and this will determine where your static pages will appear.
4. Click on Add a Gadget and when the page opens, go to the fourth section titled Pages.
5. A new page will open called Configure Page List.
6. Make sure you click on Save. Once you do, your static pages function will have been created and you can now start adding static pages to your blog. If you go to View Blog, you will see that Home has been added to your blog.

How to Create Your First Static Page
Once you've enabled static pages, you will be ready to create your first static page. Blogger bloggers are allowed up to 20 static/stand-alone pages.

1. Sign into your Blogger Dashboard
2. Under your Blog name, select, Edit Posts.
3. Now, up top to the left, you'll see: Posting, Comments, Settings, Design, Monetize, Stats
4. Underneath that are three sections: New Post, Edit Posts, Edit Pages. It's that last one you want to select.
5. When the page opens, you will see a blue button entitled New Page. This is where you create your stand-alone static pages. Select that, key in the title of your static page and create your first static page. Make sure to save your work. When you return to your blog, you will see your newly created static page.

If you have trouble please watch the video below for a visual tutorial.

How to Create a Static Page in Blogger

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One Critical Feature Triond Offers That Other Sites Do Not

If you've been writing articles and submitting them to content sites, in an effort to generate passive monthly income, sooner or later, you'll wish there was a way to track which articles earn you the most.

This type of information is invaluable. While some sites offer views of each article and you can get an idea that a given article is performing reasonably well--or, if you are particularly motivated, you can master Google Analytics and set things up so that you can monitor, at least, AdSense earnings per article--still, one feature that many revenue sharing sites lack is a Total Earnings function that allows you to actually see which articles are earning the most for you.

Triond has been criticized as a "lightweight" writing site for amateurs. Whether or not that is an accurate assessment is neither here nor there in relation to the point I'm about to bring to your attention.

One Critical Feature Triond Offers That Other Sites Do Not
One feature, I absolutely love at Triond is the Total Earnings column and more importantly the "button" that sits at the top of the column. Why is this one of the best features at Triond?

One way to become successful at creating passive monthly income is by studying the results you are achieving and then enlarging on your efforts. The Total Earnings column helps you to see what you are earning per article but, even better, by clicking on Total Earnings, your articles arrange so that the highest earning articles show at the top. In one click, you now can see which articles are earning you the very most!

This is such a valuable resource for writers. By having access to this information you can:

• Promote your highest earning articles.
• Go back in and include links to your other related articles (Triond allows this, even post-Panda) so that your highest performing articles work for you to generate higher article earnings overall. You are basically harnessing the power of your best articles.
• Know which of your articles is worth promoting--a biggy, especially if you are planning on writing articles at other sites and creating inbound links to your high-earner articles--something you should do if you are serious about earnings.
• Study these "top earners" to identify why they are generating higher revenue: was it the keywords? Did they contain photos and, if so, how many? How long were these articles? Did these articles include videos?

As can be seen, this information is invaluable and Triond is one step ahead of the game by offering this type of information to its writers.

For a site that is considered lightweight, Triond has nailed one of the areas of most concern to writers: which articles are earning them the most.

Recap: under your Content tab at Triond, you can 1. see how much each of your articles earns and 2. you can click the Total Earnings tab so that your articles rearrange to show the highest earning articles at the top of the column.

Money-Making Tips:

1. Use the Total Earnings feature to work with your top performing articles to increase traffic levels to any related articles by including links to these in your article body or at the bottom of your articles.
2. Add additional content (keywords inclusive) to make your top earners even stronger ad more relevant.
3. Create inbound links to these top articles.

By completing the steps above you stand to earn more from your top earning articles and from any related articles you link to.

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How to Get Your Own Domain Name for Your Blogger Blog

If you've registered for a new blog at Blogger.com, you can also get a domain name right here at Blogger. This is an incredibly convenient offering that makes the whole process that much easier--especially for someone who may have never purchased a domain name before.

You don't have to worry about any technical wizardry. Blogger and thus Google have partnered with domain name registrars (eNom and GoDadddy) so that this process is a seamless integration. Your new domain will be pre-configured to work with Google Apps so that you do not have to worry about manually modifying your DNS settings.

While you can just publish under blogspot.com, I would suggest you get your own domain name. There are a couple of good reasons for this. Hands down, having your own .com simply looks better. Contrast a blog name, say, for example: artsncrafts.blogspot.com as compared to artsncrafts.com. Which looks better to you? Which would be easier for someone to type?

• A .com is easier for people to remember
• You can and should include keywords in your domain name, which can help in relation to traffic to your site
• A domain purchased through Blogger is very affordable. It will cost you $10.00 for one year.

Okay, if you are new to Blogger and want to get your domain name, how do you do this? It's actually very easy. 

How to Get Your Own Domain Name

1. Sign in to Blogger
2. You will see the Dashboard
3. Go to Settings
4. You next want to click on the Publishing tab

You should see a page that informs you that you are publishing on Blogspot.com., Blogger's free hosting service. Right beneath that it will say: "Switch to Custom Domain. Click on that. Another page will open which instructs: "Buy a Custom Domain." Type your chosen name into the box and check to see if it is available.

Once you find a name that you are free to use, complete the Captcha code and fill out the requested information with your payment details.

That's it. You're done. You now have your domain name. It usually takes a couple of days before everything is changed over. During this time, you can still access your blog using your blogspot URL. and you won't lose any readers during the transition.

If you are having difficulty, please see the video below, so that you have a visual guide to walk you through getting your own domain on Blogger.

Got a question about Blogger? Check out How to Create a Free Blogger Blog. This page is the starting point, a master listing with links to tutorials that will walk you through how to do just about anything at Blogger.

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Why Pillar Articles are Powerful Business-Building Tools

Pillar articles are emerging as powerful business-building tools. Those looking to create buzz and build their brand and who hope to generate backlinks and increase their website traffic (which attracts prospective clients and leads to sales conversions), do well to consider the sheer power of pillar articles.

Pillar articles have come into their own. Gone or almost gone are the days of low-quality content, slapped up on webpages to turn a quick profit. One Frankensteinian face of this was the spun article. Most of us will remember coming across such articles. You know what I mean: articles that were unintelligible because they had been spun into multiple versions from one primary article, produced by means of an article spinner. Almost as fast as netpreneurs harnessed the power of the written word, search engines became ever more adept at hunting down and targeting low-quality/repetitive content (think: Panda) that added nothing new under the sun. No one wanted to read gibberish; why would search engines index it? Just as clutter soon fills a home, without adding any real value to the building, so too, repetitive, poorly crafted articles cluttered cyberspace.

In these days, post-Panda, some of the old rules no longer apply. The online world is changing and those seeking to build their businesses are wise to pay heed to emerging trends.

The old maxim was that Internet readers wanted quick information in compact bites. Content writers complied by writing short, easy-to-read articles. And the World Wide Web became flooded with these articles. While readers admittedly have short attention spans and shorter articles served that end (and still have their place), for serious business-building, however, whether one has a product, a website, or is trying to expand on their efforts online, pillar articles are effective and powerful business-building tools.

Shorter Articles vs Pillar Articles

We could liken this to "lightweight" and "heavyweight." Short articles could be considered lightweight, and for someone looking to be entertained, catch up on news, or who is looking for general information, shorter articles may be perfectly suited to this end. Short articles still are a good medium to inform, entertain, answer questions, solve a problem, etc.

On the other hand, pillar articles could be said to be heavyweight. For serious readers, they offer highly detailed information. Readers who spend time reading pillar articles usually have a serious interest in the subject and are willing to invest the necessary time to read these longer, informative articles. Because pillar articles are comprehensive they are usually far more effective for business-building purposes. 

• Pillar articles tend to be trusted as a credible source of information and thus online readers turn to these for specific information.
• These articles are shared across social networks.
• Pillar articles gain a foothold and they spread out across the World Wide Web.
• In concert with this, search engines, in their efforts to return relevant results, tend to index/rank pillar articles more highly. 

And therein lies the inherent power of pillar articles: a higher ranking has terrific clout in relation to business building online. If a page is ranked highly, where does it appear? At the top of the results and on the front page, thus it is seen by a much wider audience. 

Outsourcing Pillar Articles
As if this weren't enough, enterprising entrepreneurs can outsource this work and purchase a long pillar article to build their business and, in one further step, can then use this purchased article to create an additional source of revenue. What do I mean by this? In sum, their pillar article helps them grow their business, which translates into profit--but even further, the pillar article itself becomes an income generator. When you consider the formula: pillar article = increased traffic = greater profit + an extra income stream, you can see why pillar articles are excellent business-building tools. 

Money-making tip: create or purchase a powerful pillar article and increase your profit margin, then place your pillar article at a site such as Howtoee that has a built-in system to actually drive traffic to your your pillar article so that you actually earn from it.

Have a writing question? Check out Online Resources for Writers for the answers.

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HowToee Writing Site Looks Promising

Writing for HowToee.com

After writing about How To or HowToee.com the other day, I decided to give it a whirl. I normally do not join new revenue sharing sites these days because my writing schedule is so full already, but after checking it out further and emailing back and forth with HowToee admin, Peter, I jumped in.

The site uses WordPress, so it is easy to create a how-to article and publish it. The only "bug" at this point is that you cannot go back in and edit your article, once it's been published. What to do if you discover your article contains errors or you want to change the wording? Peter indicated that if you need to make changes, you can contact HowToeeadmin and they will make the changes for you.

Pros
It's great that you can make changes to your articles and that HowToee staff is willing to do this for you.

Cons
This is a bit more cumbersome than being able to edit your articles on-site; however, as the site grows, this method may see changes. It's early days yet and as indicated on the site, HowToee will evolve over time.

Peter indicated there are reasons for these safeguards:

We have disabled the editing feature after an article is published just to prevent any kind of misusing and adding links...

Editing your Articles at HowToee Prior to Publication
However, that said, this morning I submitted an article for publication and discovered that while it was still pending, I could Preview it and more importantly Edit it. This gives writers a chance to see how their article will look on-site and they can go back in and make any changes before it is published.

I would suggest that as soon as you submit an article for review, select the Preview option to see how it will appear at HowToee. Often a published piece looks different from the rough draft and while you may have checked for errors in your online editor, you may spot other errors you missed, once you see your how your articles would look when published.

What I like about Howtooee.com:Link Building
A good feature of howtoee is that you can include a link to your website or blog in your profile bio information, which appears automatically at the bottom of each of your articles. This means that you 

are getting that link out there each time you publish a page.

To learn more about HowToee, see their writer's guidelines: Write and Make Money!

Get the leg-up on writing how-to articles for HowToee. Use the pointers in the articles below to create compelling how-to articles that catch readers' attention.

• How to Write and Effective and Catchy How-To Article Title That Hooks Readers--turn things up a notch and catch reader's attention, Can you spell . . . benefits?
  

• How to Write an Effective Online How-To Article --how-to articles are are a good choice when creating online articles because as long as humans look for direction to complete tasks on their own, they will seek out how-to-type information.

• How to Write on HowToee.com--stuck on what to write about? This article gives some pointers to help you to get started writing for How Toee.com.

• What Kind of Articles Receive the Highest Amount of Traffic?--why you should write pillar articles to earn the most at HowToee.com.

Recent HowToee Articles
I've included the articles below to help readers to see what others are writing about at HowToee.

• How to Get Started Writing Online: Steps to Take to Receive Payments, Earn Greater Revenue
• How to Use Viral Video Marketing  
• How to Get Rid of That Double Chin and Look Better in Record Time
• How to Buy and Sell Online
• How to Organize Your Bedroom, Fast!
• How to Make Friends in a New Place
• How to Use Science to Improve Fitness
• How to Cut Down on Walking Distance When Grocery Shopping
• How to Brand Your Blog
• How to Make Your Christmas Special
• How to Succeed As Senior Virtual Darlings
• How to Take Care of an Infant?
• How to Speed Up Your Computer
• How to Set Up a New Computer  
• How to Make the Best Use of Social Media Marketing
• How to View Private FaceBook Profiles
• How to Back Up Your Files
• How to Set up a Wireless Router
• How to Use Email Marketing To Make a Profit
• How to Test a Smoke Detector
• How to Stay More Awake Naturally
• How to Create a Registry
• How to Track Inventory for Free
• How to Make a Simple Movie
• How to Lose Weight Naturally
• How to Unfreeze a Computer  
• How to Set up a Home Surveillance System
• How to Connect a Laptop to a Projector
• How to Clean a Keyboard and Mouse
• How to Create a 3D Model for Free
• How to Properly Use Search Engines
• How to Get Found in Search Engines
• How to Transfer Files between Computers
• How to Change an Ink Cartridge
• How to Use Excel to Balance Your Checkbook
• How to Correct Photos for Free
• How to Recover Your Files After a Crash
• How to Create a Free Website
• How to Avoid an Abusive Relationship
• How to Food Shop through the Recession
• How to Specifically Store YouTube Videos on Your PC
• How to Create a Facebook Account
• How to Start an Internet Business
• How to Create a Profitable Blog
• How to Train for Your First Triathlon
• How to Download YouTube Videos to MP3
• How to Choose a Good Desk Computer or Laptop

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Why I Love my Laptop

Some musings as to why I love my laptop . . .

I remember back in the "good old days" when I sat squirreled away in my upstairs office. It was my cozy get-away, my quiet corner to write . . . until, in August, it got so hot up there that working became unbearable. I basically had to wait it out until the weather cooperated.

Even in those early days, I liked the concept of a laptop computer. The thought of NOT being tied to a computer chair for hours on end was so tempting. Now, I'll admit I had a fondness for my trusty desktop computer. What writer doesn't, towards that particular tool of the trade? But still . . . I dreamed of a laptop. For anyone who has sat alone working in an office, you also know that this can be a tad isolating. Flash forward a couple of years  . . .

I finally got a laptop and, for those who are considering moving up to one, I'm offering my insights, as to why I consider it the computer of choice for writers

Advantages of a Laptop as Compared to a Desktop Model

Moving a Desktop Computer
Have you ever had to move your desktop computer to a different room? What comes to mind? Endless wires, multiple parts and heavy pieces of equipment. And that's not counting having to move your computer desk. It can be quite the undertaking. With a laptop, you simply grab it and plug it in.

Moving to a Different Residence
I know that if I ever have to move to a different residence, moving my computer will be the least of my worries. I'll simply place it into its case and viola, it's a done deal. No lugging all the assorted parts of a desktop set-up.

Virtual Communication
If any of you talk on Skype, you know that you need a web-cam, a microphone and/or a headset. But, with a laptop, you have a built-in camera and speaker. At least the two laptops I've owned have ahd this capability. This was something I didn't even consider but later discovered was part-and-parcel of using a laptop. I can conference with my publisher or anyone else and I don't have to worry about a microphone, a web camera or a head-set. This is just so  much easier overall.

Wireless
I opted for wireless so that I could work in any part of my home. This means I am close to the kitchen and can stop for tea, coffee or a snack at any time.
 
Working in Comfort
Here's the best part of owning a laptop: I work in my front room in total comfort. I can recline against my soft coach pillows with my feet propped up. This has eased my back and shoulder strain considerably. I've even had times when my bedroom became my office. That's right, I've nursed a soar throat while working from my comfortable bed.

Portability Means Taking Your Work With You
One of the best things about owning a laptop, by far, is the portability factor. When I go away, I never leave my computer behind. My laptop goes everywhere I go, so I'm on top of email and work-related matters.

Now, that I've owned and worked on a laptop, I would never go back to a desktop. What are your thoughts?

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Make Money Writing for HowToee.com

Today, I came across another revenue share site that offers writers the chance to make money by submitting 400-word how-to articles. The site is aptly named How to or HowToee.com

Earning Revenue at HowToee.com
Writers stand to earn 50% revenue on their pages. A website link is allowed in the bio at the bottom of each article, which is good for promotional purposes, re: outbound and thus inbound site links.

As indicated at HowToee, additional monetization methods will be implemented in future.

HowToee.com Open to Canadians
I contacted HowToee today to see if this opportunity is open to Canadians and found out that it is. Canadian writers have long wanted a site similar to eHow, where they could submit easy-to-write how-to articles and make money doing so. I'm a fan of the how-to article format because these articles are so easy to create.

Pros & Cons of HowToee.com
Ownership of Articles--A drawback I can see with the HowToee site is that, once submitted, your articles become the property of HowToee. This policy of holding onto articles is similar to that found at Helium. I'm personally not a fan of sites that claim ownership of writers' articles because sooner or later, you may want to remove and place theses articles elsewhere--and are then not free to do so. If this is not a problem for you, then HowToee may be a good fit.

Newer Site--From the look of things, HowToee appears to be a newer site but it may attract traffic over time. Again, this may mean that the site doesn't yet attract enough visitors for writers to generate any real earnings; conversely, some writers have gotten in at the ground floor at newer sites and have found success writing for these. When I inquired about this, I was given the following information:

Those who establish a good position on this site, will be winners, because we will automatically link to all of the fundamental and initial articles. Learn more: What Kind of Articles Receive the Highest Amount of Traffic.

Make Money Writing for Howtoee.com--Tips

• Write 400-word how-to articles.
• Include links within your article body to your other related HowToee articles to increase article traffic.
• Add your website URL in the bio box that appears at the foot of all articles. This can be done via the Profile section, using applicable HTML tags.
• Write content-rich, longer pillar articles as outlined via the link above. These type of articles are assigned relevance with the search engines and tend to do better over the longterm.
  

It will be interesting to see how the site will evolve and if writers will make money writing for HowToee.com--and if so, how much.

*How To can also be found at Facebook as Howtoee.com. 

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Squarespace Offers Hosting Solutions for Blogger Blogs

If you have an established Blogger blog and are considering having it hosted, Squarespace may be the perfect fit.

Why Squarespace?
If you've investigated hosting options, you may have found that transferring your Blogger blog to a hosting provider is not possible or it's tricky, at best: you may have been told that you might lose some blog elements/media or you might have been instructed to manually copy/paste all your posts . . . right.

Squarespace offers hassle-free transfer of your intact Blogger blog. No-fuss, no-muss, no guesswork. All your hard work doesn't go down the drain and you have peace of mind knowing that your site is protected by means of secure hosting.

Many bloggers start out with a free site to test whether their chosen niche will attract enough visitors to make blogging about it lucrative down the road. When a site becomes established, has a high traffic volume and is earning money, bloggers, at that point, may consider moving up to paid hosting.

Seamless Blog Transfer
As stated at Squarespace:
Squarespace is the only blogging platform on the web with a custom importing system designed to attack the nasty details of seamlessly and completely moving your blog . . . Square Space doesn't just move blog posts and comments -- we ensure that all your media is moved over, URLs remain working, and that all of your data comes with you . . .

Squarespace can move Blogger and WordPress blogs, as well as Movable type and TypePad. Read more about Squarespace advanced blog importing.

I don't know about the rest of you but I feel this is an offering that's time has come. Finally, hosting that makes blog transfer painless. Create Your Own Blog


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January Musings

Well, I must say, January slipped by in a wink. The month was spent optimizing and restructuring my sites.

So many of us are trying to regroup in the wake of Panda and, with a new year in front of us, assessing what to do to continue to forge ahead online.

Moved Bedbug Books Back to Blogger
I moved Bedbug Books back to Blogger and am so pleased I did so. The new Blogger templates/features have made Blogger far more competitive in my books and the "new" site has received lots of views in the two weeks its been up and running. Quite the undertaking to move all but worth it from the look of things. I created a Store Page on a static page and I've installed PayPal and Buy Now buttons.

Write and Earn a Living Job Board & New Facebook Page
I added feeds to the left sidebar to help readers who are trying to scare up writing jobs and I created a Write and Earn a Living Facebook Page, where I post daily tips, job leads, and links to applicable writing resources for those trying to earn a living online. It's incredibly handy to have pages at Facebook for quick updates, which would not necessarily be long enough to post here. With this site synced to post to the Facebook page, everything is interrelated.

And On the Home Front . . .
The drywall dust is settling around here and I'm relieved to finally have the old landing sealed so that no more heat escapes up to the attic. The house feels much warmer in the aftermath. Between writing, I'm trying to seal up any cold spots--a project I've been working on for the last couple of years.

I'm hoping spring will come early to this corner of Canada!

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Suite 101 Group at Facebook

I have to say, I'm really enjoying this one! The new Suite 101 group at Facebook is so darned convenient. While I'm at Facebook, I pop in and read posts from other Suitees. It just doesn't get any easier.

I'm finding of late that I'm using Facebook as a sort of Twitter. I drop in and add short updates to my pages. It's so convenient having it all at Facebook. And now, with this new Suite 101 group, networking and discussing Suite 101 writing stuff is easier than ever. We've all gotten to know each other via the Suite 101 forums but the new Facebook group makes this even better.

If you write for Suite 101, you can touch bases with other Suite writers at Facebook: Suite 101 Writers, Past and Present.

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How to Use the Job Board for Article Writing and Blogging Job Leads

I've added a number of writing and blogging job feeds to the left sidebar. These feeds update continually so you'll see when writing and blogging jobs become available. These feeds provide the latest info. about writing and blogging jobs that have been posted across job sites.

Now, one thing I've done is to set the visited link color, so if you are scrolling down the column and notice certain links that stand out and you are wondering why they are thusly colored, this feature has been set so that you can see what jobs others are interested in and checking out. I thought this would prove helpful for those searching for writing or blogging jobs.

Make sure to check back daily because the job feeds offer a wealth of writing, blogging, article writing and content writer jobs

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Blogger Has Gotten Better Than Ever

With a host of new features Blogger is becoming a serious contender in the blogosphere. You can monetize and tweak, tweak, tweak!

Blogger has seen some exciting changes, of late, which have taken it to a whole new level and made it far more competitive.

Because Blogger was and is free, it garnered a bad rap, in some cases. Opinions were varied but the consensus was that because it was a free platform, it was not to be taken seriously.

Personally, I love the ease of use with Blogger. You can set up a blog or website in minutes, you can get a domain name right here at Blogger, you can even install PayPal and Buy it Now buttons . . . but more importantly, you can study your traffic and see where your visitors are coming from and what posts have garnered the most views and you can check your earnings--all right here at Blogger, without having to sign into a different site to access that information. It just does not get any easier.

If you check your Stats, you can track:

• Pageviews by country
• Referring Sites and Urls
• Keywords that generated the most searches
• You can track your posts and see which were the most popular and page views for these
• You can track your static pages and see page views for these
• You can select "Design" and then "Monetize" to see daily, weekly, monthly or all-time earnings

Add in all the new customizable templates and the incredible range of backgrounds and dynamic views and you can see how  Blogger has taken things up a notch.


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