Teamwork Has Personal Benefits

In my 30 years of sales and marketing, I have probably heard -"There's no "I" in team! about a gazillion times. Well, any cotton-headed ninny muggins can see that! The thing that no one ever bothered to tell me is that teamwork can benefit every member of the team on a personal level - hence, putting the imaginary "I" in team.

Teamwork Brings Different Minds to the Same Problem

Do you agree that no two people's life experiences are the same? If so, that would mean that everything you have learned through your experiences is totally different from your coworkers. Collaborating on an issue not only solves the problem but also creates enthusiasm for learning new skills and ideas. These newly learned skills will benefit each team member for the rest of their careers.

Freelance Writing for Stay-at-Home Moms or Dads

Stay-at-home Moms and Dads make excellent freelance writers.

Do you love to write? Have you ever thought about being a freelance writer, but have let your busy life as a stay-at-home Mom or Dad get in the way of writing? You just may want to give your passion for writing a closer look.

 

Freelance writers earn extra cash at home

There are certainly many different ways to earn some extra money from home. Freelance writing has become a popular choice for those who enjoy writing and want to get better at it. Your goal may be to write a best-selling piece of fiction or write blog articles for the many different businesses who have outsourced all their web content writing. Either way, you should get started now and explore the many opportunities out there waiting.

 

Skills of a freelance writer

Many people hesitate to start a freelance writing career because they don't have a degree in journalism or some other writing field. As a Mom or Dad, you probably already possess the skills of persistence, time management,dedication and patience. All you need to do is to take these skills and apply them to your writing and you'll be one step closer to becoming a successful freelance writer.

Tools of a freelance writer

If you were to start a traditional home based business, more than likely you would be required to purchase training materials and inventory. To launch your career as a freelance writer, here's all you need:

• Computer

• Word Processor

• Internet connection

If you are like most people, you already have all the necessary tools to get started.

Optimize Blog Articles On Blogger

Optimizing blog articles on Blogger

Blogger is an excellent free blog writing platform provided by Google. The problem with Blogger is sometimes you have to get creative in applying different search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to improve search rankings.

The title of your blog article is probably the most important element, because it contains the focused keywords you want people to type in the search box to find your article. The templates used in Blogger, by default, place the title of your blog in front of your article title. Let's do a little exercise just to better show you what I'm talking about.

Step 1. Open a blog article on your blog.

Step 2. Right click on the page and select "View Page Source".

Step 3. Click anywhere on the page and then select "Ctrl + F" (You will now see a search box.)

Step 4. Type <title> in the search box and hit "Enter". You will now see the title tag highlighted.

Is Guest Blogging Still Important?

Guest blogging is OK as long as it isn't "Spam" blogging!

In January 2014, Matt Cutts, head of Google's Webspam team, made the statement -

 "So stick a fork in it: guest blogging is done; it’s just gotten too spammy." 

Many took this statement to mean that they should not submit a guest article or approve a guest writer under any circumstances. If you will read this entire article carefully, you will find that Mr. Cutts further clarified his comment:

"There are still many good reasons to do some guest blogging (exposure, branding, increased reach, community, etc.). Those reasons existed way before Google and they’ll continue into the future. "

So, what does all this mean to you?

New Blog Writing Course Just Released at Udemy

Learn to be a Professional Blog Writer [No Degree Required]

After spending over a decade writing blog articles for my own blogs and assisting other freelancers in their writing journey, I thought it was time for me to design an online blog writing course. I am excited to announce that I have just published my course, "Learn to be a Professional BlogWriter - No Degree Required" on Udemy.

Why people aren't blogging

Many people see the need for blogging and want to become successful blog writers, but they hesitate for many reasons, including:

• Don't know where to start
• Don't think people will read it
• Don't feel they are good writers
• Don't have a journalism degree
• Feel like what they would write about has already been done
• Don't have the time to post regularly

6 Blog Writing Mistakes That Can Sink Your Blog

Blog writing mistakes can affect search engine placement

It seems that everyone is talking about blogging. Businesses have turned to them as a highly effective marketing tool. A quality business blog can help you increase traffic to your website, establish your business, and allow you to speak directly to your customers. Successful blogging takes a lot of time, patience and commitment. Let's look at 6 common blog writing mistakes that can sink your blog.

Many blog writers assume everyone will read their posts

In this age of text messaging and social media, no one seems to communicate in complete sentences anymore. As a result, people have become scanners. They don't actually read an entire blog post, they scan for words or images to get an idea of what a particular article is about. Bolding key concepts of your post draws the readers attention to them. Eye-catching headings and subheadings makes it easier for your readers to understand the main ideas of your post.

Freelance Writing Just Got Better

Co-written by Ken Bradford & Dr. Deborah Bauers

It has been both a privilege and an adventure in co-writing "Writing Better Web Content" with my good friend and colleague, Dr. Deborah Bauers. This book consists of 14 chapters intended to help all writers at all levels to be better storytellers and learn how to better promote their work.

What makes this book different or better?

There are certainly enough books out there to tell us how to write better content, but most of the books I've read don't go into much detail about applying the lessons being taught to the actual everyday experiences and challenges of freelance writers.