4 Things you must do before hit publish!

Creative writing class-fine arts center (40269...

It’s all about the readers!

I’ve not been one to say this much, but if your read my blog you know I care about my readers.  I’m not saying that I will make your jaw drop most of the time but there are times that I think a blog post and want to help others when it comes to writing your own.  In this article we will discuss some basic writing ideas that I’ve come to realize and want to share with you.  I’m sure others have said something similar but I’m hoping to make it more understandable for the common reader and writer.

Before we can start talking about writing and blogging which to me are the same exact thing, some others might think of them differently.   I wanted to at least ask you some questions that we will be exploring in this article.

  • Why are you blogging?
  • How to come up with a topic!
  • Know your Audience
  • Is there a Length limit?
  • What are you trying to accomplish?

Who Influences YOU?

FOCUS ON ONE QUALITY BLOG!(Affiliate Link)
Guest post on related high quality blogs.
Collaborate with social-media savvy bloggers.

In all things you do FOCUS on RELATED collaborations!

Quantity Equals Failure. Success Focuses on Quality!


When you started blogging did you think you should have more than one blog, I did. I even tried that in the last year but I found that I didn’t get any more money than when I was blogging by myself.  I love to read what Gail writes about on her blog when she does because I get the most insight into how to blog just a little more.  I must admit, I need to start having more RSS feeds and expand my reading to even more blogs.  I have started to create a bigger list of blogs that I think I will enjoy to read on a weekly basis and this is my hope that I become a better blogger for you and others.

Writing Topics

Having been blogging for a few years, I’ve come to understand that if you don’t use the right topic, no one will come to visit your blog or read your blog post because it just doesn’t interest them to click.   Some bloggers have done some great topics Like Shevonne, who writes about her new phase of life.   She tries to get the reader involved and make them see that their is more to her than just about blog posts.    If you read her blog post you will see that she actually does a great job at drawing the reader and making them think about their own life and what phase they are in.   It is more engaging to the reader to actually have something to relate to whether it be on a blog or in person.  Find a Topic and start typing, it really doesn’t have to be a big blog post but it helps if you let your mind wander and keep it coming.

Try to limit the Length of Post!

 250 is enough
A long post is easier to forget and harder to get into. A short post is the opposite. 

Problogger

This isn’t always going to work when it comes to writing those blog posts.   I usually like to keep it under 1,000 words per post but I’ve found that sometimes, the more you write about a subject the more you will want to add to it.  Sometimes, you need to experiment and see what your readers will read and what comments you get from them.  I’ve even tried that with some of my latest blog posts but that isn’t always going to work for you and you should figure out what the sweet spot is for your blog.

Be Youself!

Trying to imitate someone is nice, and some may consider that flattery.  I don’t know if it is me or if your here just to because your found this article interesting.   Nothing can change who you are and who you will become, so just writing about a subject without at least adding your own flair of personality will not get you any where in getting people involved.   People want to connect with you and see your flaws and your personality more than they want to read a HOW TO or reviewing an product.   I’ve found this to be very true, if all your doing is just reviewing products, you may never see the true potential of revenue but if your connect with your readers in a blog post they will come back again, and again just because they want to see what else that makes you human!

Summary of the Post!

I’ve given you a lot to think about when you write a blog post and I am sure this isn’t going to be a
n easy article to digest but if your follow these rules then you will become a better writer and thus you will have people come to your blog more and more.   After all, if your writing about anything, you are wanting to connect with your readers in one way or another and that is the main reason for blogging for me at least.   Topics are only one way to engage the reader to come back time and time again.  I write to connect with my readers and If you liked this blog post please feel free to share it with your friends and family.   I’d love to hear your stories and comments because that helps me find out what I am doing wrong or what I am doing right.

If you like this post, feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed or Subscribe to my Email list.   I send one out every time I publish a blog post, so you can keep up to date on what is going on my website.

Paul Sylvester

Why I use Google Affiliate Network!

Google Affiliate Network Summit 045 Google Affiliate Network Summit 045 (Photo credit: Affiliate)

There’s More than one way to skin a cat!

When all said is done, you have a big selection of affiliate networks that you can choose from.   You might even wonder which affiliate network is the best for your situation.   In this blog post, we will talk about some of the things that you can do to choose which one might be the best for your situation.   Not all Affiliate networks will be the same but this will at least let you understand which ones are right for you.

An affiliate network acts as an intermediary between publishers (affiliates) and merchant affiliate programs. It allows website publishers to more easily find and participate in affiliate programs which are suitable for their website (and thus generate income from those programs)

[Wikipedia]

Finding what works for you!

There are so many different networks you can use that you may have trouble knowing which one will work for you.  I will say before we go on that I do not know every single affiliate network but I have tried all the major affiliate networks and I will give you my opinions on each of them.

 Google Affiliate Network — I’ve been using this network from the get go, I will say that I’ve had some modest luck with this network.  I’ve made some money with network because of Glasses USA (Affiliate link).   I’ve always got paid for my commissions and they do actually care about your website and helping you get your commissions.

Commission Junction — I’ve tried this network and gotten some commissions from this network but it hasn’t really been a good relationship for me.  I didn’t really feel like they had my own website in mind.  I had to apply for all the merchants and never really had any luck with merchants wanting to have their advertising on my site.

Linkshare — Another good network that I didn’t have any luck with.   I know they have a wide variety of things that might be good for you but I really didn’t find anything that fit well with my website.  It always seemed to be more about page views then commissions.   They would always be someone wanting to be on my site that was unrelated to my blog.   I really didn’t feel that was a good fit for my website.

Linkconnector — I recently signed up to find out which programs they have on this site.  I haven’t been on their long and have already been offered to be part of merchants that are unrelated to my blog again.   These sites that were offered are nice for blogs or advertisers who is related in one way or another.   I bet these guys don’t even check the website they are offering to.

 Mal-Advertising!

Malware Advertising is something that I have come to understand just a little more and thus it is always going to be a problem for the affiliate networks because someone will come along and offer a service but are rarely understood because of the nature of advertising.   I am not saying that every time you sign up for a new advertiser that you are going always going to have one when you sign up but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least do your research before you start using their ads.   I’ve been happy with my selection of using Google Affiliate networks but I would love to hear which ones you use and why.   Just leave a comment and tell me and others who you recommend.

Paul Sylvester

No SOPA for me thanks!

SOPA = Less Liberty and more Robo-Justice For All Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

Stop Online Piracy Act!

If you’ve been living under a rock lately, then your probably haven’t heard about SOPA(Stop Online Piracy Act) and it just worries me.   It is like we would be living in China and that would mean less liberty for us bloggers and people who are the ones who may accidently infringe on copyrights.

SOPA(Stop Online Piracy Act) expands the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.

[Wikipedia]

I don’t like that you will not be “Innocent until proven guilty” but you will be “Guilty” with having a chance to fix the problem.

I will be Protesting January 18th!

On the 18th, I will be blacking out my website, and you will see a screen on how you can help.  This is an attempt to show Congress that I am not happy with this bill.   I will support any website that wants to join me in t his.  I believe this bill will not make piracy go away and thus this bill will do more damage then good.   Some of the websites that will be doing this are:

  • Reddit
  • Cheezburger sites
  • MLG(majorleaguegaming.com)
  • and more

What will you do on the 18th?

I am showing my support and would love to hear what you i will do on the eighteenth.   Will you do your site like others and black it out or will be talking about it all day?

Paul Sylvester

 

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Pay it forward Friday (January)!

English: Portrait of Walt Disney, 1 January 19... Image via Wikipedia

Pay it forward Friday!

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

Walt Disney

It is times like this that I am really feeling blessed.  I thought this would be something that I wanted to inspire people.   If you’e not heard the saying, I’ll explain it to you.

Pay it Forward” used to describe the concept of asking that a good turn be repaid by having it done to others instead.

Wikipedia

It really is something that I would like to explain why I am asking people to help make someones day a little nicer.   I’ll explain why later on in this post.   I thought this was a good idea when I had something that just made me believe there are good people in the world after all.

 Acts of Random Kindness

Those of us who have fallen on hard times know how hard it is to get some of the basic things in life.   I am not saying that it isn’t always going to be easy but I do know that a lot has happened in my last few months and if it wasn’t for the support of my family, I don’t know where I’d be or what I would be doing.    That be said, I do have a small story I’d like to share with you to demonstrate just how much people need to help others right now.

Driving along in my small car, nothing says economy like a manual transmission car, I happen to stop to get a hair cut.   After 3 months of not having a hair cut, I knew it was about time.   My hair was constantly in my face and nothing I could do to it was to get it out of my way.  I decided to go to a nice little out of the way Barber shop and get my hair cut, but unbeknownst to me was the price of the hair cut.    I really thought I had enough money for the hair cut but when I walked into the shop, I found that I only had ten dollars and the hair cut was twelve dollars.

I tell the owner I don’t have enough money to pay him the twelve dollars, after all this out of the way shop doesn’t accept anything but cash.   One of the patrons told me relax and sit down, he’d probably not take the whole ten dollars.   I didn’t know if I could believe him but I sat down.   After the patron that told me to sit down was done, I was next and the next thing I knew he gave me a ten dollar bill, saying here this will help you today with your hair cut.

I only had to pay two dollars for the hair cut directly.   I know I’m blessed but I also believe that others should profit in his actions.   So I thought about asking people to do something good for a friend or relative.

Have you done something Good Today?

If you feel like sharing this post, I made it really easy to share. Just tell them to go to:

http://bit.ly/pttpiff

Paul Sylvester

 

 

How I buy a Prepaid Cellular Phone without worrying!

English: Cut-away cell phone Image via Wikipedia

“Will this matter a year from now?”Richard Carlson

Let’s face it, sometimes I often wonder if buying a cell phone will survive a couple of years.   You really don’t want to have to replace every year and thus you try to find that one cell phone that will stand the test of time.

You walk into any phone store or grocery store and you will find either phones or cards to put more money on the account.   That makes me worry how effective the cell phones are going to last and the quality.

Buying prepaid cell phones can be even more hassle because of not knowing which network they are on or the capabilities of the cell phone.   If you been looking at their online store say for instants Cricket Wireless, you will see that there are many phones but yet no important information.    It’s is like they left stuff out intentionally that should be there.

Looking Under the Hood!

Sometimes when I am looking for a cell phone to buy, I start my process off going to a wide range of sites like:

Let’s face it, if you know the phone you are most likely wanting to buy then you will at least know the model number and thus you can use that to find the information your looking for.  Although that will provide the significant amount of the information, there will still be a few things that they will be able to tell you.    Which Network is that Phone one?

Network Usability

Most carriers have a limited amount of coverage around the US and the World and thus can be quite confusing going to their website and trying to determine if you are under their coverage area.   Why do they make it so hard?   I can’t answer that but I know how I solve that problem for me.    I’ll share a trick that probably no one else has thought of.   Just let your fingers do the walking.   Is this some kind of Joke?

I’ve found that just calling the local providers let’s you know if they are reliable or not, if your really search savvy you can find out what others are saying about that carrier your local area.   This can be a great tool to judge if that phone or carrier is going to be a head ache or a really jewel.    Most times carriers will try to hide some of this so you may have to dig down deep to get to the good stuff.

What are your steps to buying a Prepaid Cell phone?

Paul Sylvester

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