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Writer's Notes - By Jeanne Dininni

 
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Writer's Notes - July 2007



Shared Answers 2007 Banner


Laura Spencer, at Writing Thoughts, and Yvonne Russell, at Grow Your Writing Business, have gotten together to collaborate on a group writing project that should prove to be a fascinating one!

Shared Answers 2007, the details of which can be found at Laura's and Yvonne's blogs, will bring solution-oriented advice culled from the life experiences of a wide variety of bloggers from vastly disparate backgrounds. I, for one, anticipate a wealth of problem-solving insight from each pair of posts soon to be submitted by the project's participants, and I can hardly wait to read them!

There's a prize. (A $30 Amazon gift certificate will be given away to one lucky entrant in a random drawing.) There's also an opportunity for some major link-sharing along with the answer-sharing! So be sure to check it out!

The deadline for Shared Answers 2007 Group Writing Project entries is August 15th, so hurry on over to Laura's or Yvonne's blog to find out all the details you'll need to make your life experiences the catalyst that will help others make a similar move from problems to solutions--and pick up some major link love in the process!

I just know you'll be glad you did!

Blessings,
Jeanne


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Writing and Business: A Common Goal

As writers, we all share one ultimate goal: Whether we freelance, provide copy for our employers, donate our writing services to churches or other non-profits, share our hearts and/or insights through our blogs, or simply write for our own enjoyment, our dream is to be successful in our chosen area of endeavor. And, though each of us defines success in our own personal way, there's little question that our ultimate destination—at least our psychological one—is the same: to experience the sense of accomplishment that comes from knowing that we have succeeded in meeting our life goals. In this sense, our personal and/or business-related objectives are not very different from those of any business organization, and therefore, our means of achieving them will also be very much the same.

In the world of business, there are a number of very basic principles which, when correctly understood and applied, can arm employers and managers with the tools they need to create an environment that is conducive to employee success. At least one of these principles applies every bit as much to the individual entrepreneur—including the freelance writer—who seeks to succeed in making his or her dreams a reality.


Failure-Tolerant Leadership: The Principle

This principle is called Failure-Tolerant Leadership, and while generally applied (as mentioned above) only to those individuals who are in positions of authority within an organization, this valuable concept can be easily adapted to the endeavors of each of us as individuals.


Failure Is Only a Temporary Setback

Failure-Tolerant Leadership is the ability of an employer or manager to accept failure as nothing more than a temporary setback on the journey to eventual success. In the viewpoint of such a leader, present failure not only can, but when properly handled and used as a guide to future strategy, likely will become the very catalyst that will fuel future success.


Failure Should Be Viewed as an Opportunity

Failure-Tolerant Leaders not only have a knack for seeing the potential good that can come of failure, but they also possess the uncanny ability to convey their own optimistic, success-oriented vision to others. Rather than seeing and projecting the negative side of failure, as most people tend to do, they recognize that with every failure comes a corresponding opportunity—-an opportunity to take the insights gleaned through failure and use them to forge an entirely new strategy for successfully reaching either the original or a newly modified goal.


Every Attempt at Success Involves Risk

Failure-Tolerant Leaders recognize that whenever a momentous task is undertaken, there will always be a tremendous risk for failure. This potential for coming up short of the mark simply goes hand-in-hand with any attempt to reach it, and the Failure-Tolerant Leader knows this. This is one reason why the Failure-Tolerant Leader does not engage in personal criticism when an employee fails to meet a goal, but rather utilizes both objective review of the strategy used and balanced evaluation of where the plan may have gone off track and why.


Personal Criticism Is Counterproductive

Failure-Tolerant Leaders realize that personal attacks on employees for their errors, shortcomings, inexperience, lapses in judgment, or unwise decisions are counterproductive and only tend to guarantee that the pattern of failure will repeat itself in the future, as the employee becomes even more wary of taking risks. The Failure-Tolerant Leader, instead, projects to the employee the sense that they are both working together to find a solution to a shared problem—-one which both of them have an equal stake in.


Positive, Proactive Collaboration Creates Confidence

In this way, the Failure-Tolerant Leader invigorates his or her staff, infusing them with the confidence they need to go out and give it one more try, to be bold enough to think the situation through, explore new avenues, develop a superior strategy, and take another carefully calculated risk.


Failure Tolerance Equals Permission to Try Again

In short, Failure-Tolerant Leaders encourage their employees to adopt an attitude of daring—to dare to dream, to plan, to hope, to work toward a goal, and perhaps most importantly, to believe in their own ability to achieve it—if not this time, then maybe the next.


Failure-Tolerant Leadership and Freelance Writing: The Application

How does this translate into helpful advice for us as writers? Freelance writers—and any number of other individuals who are working toward a goal of any kind—can adopt the foregoing concepts, applying them to their own situation with incredibly positive results. How? Read on.


1. Determine to Become a Failure-Tolerant Self-Leader/Manager

Convince yourself, to your own satisfaction, that this principle is a valuable weapon in your self-improvement and writing success arsenal. Then, once convinced, determine to use it as a catalyst to positive change in your own situation.


2. Recognize that Failing at Something Doesn’t Make You a Failure

We are all human, we all make mistakes, and no matter how much we may hate to admit it, none of us is right 100% of the time! If failing at something at any given time made us failures, guess what every single one of us would be?


3. View Every Failure as an Opportunity

Failure gives us the chance to pause, take stock of ourselves and our situation, learn from our mistakes, gain wisdom, insight, and valuable experience, and grow in ways we never could have otherwise.


4. Give Yourself a Break

Don’t beat yourself up over your shortcomings. The best leaders in any field recognize their very human weaknesses and past failures, accept them, and move on. (This does not mean they are complacent or that they do not seek self-improvement, however.) The cream of the crop among leaders actually admit their past—and present—mistakes to others, as well as to themselves, providing others with a valuable opportunity to learn from their example.


5. Be Objective

Analyze the causes of the temporary setbacks you encounter in reaching your goals. Figure out exactly where things went off track and why, and incorporate that knowledge into building a new, superior strategy for future success. But recognize that, just as a house is built one brick at a time, so it is with your success. And, unless you are among the greatest of artisans and working under absolutely ideal conditions, your project will likely require regular doses of trial and error.


6. Never Give Up!

If you do, you’ll never know how close you may have come to phenomenal success!


Good luck!
Jeanne



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Rockin' Girl Blogger Button



My Rockin' Girl Blogger Award

After winning the award herself, Laura Spencer, over at Writing Thoughts has presented me with the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award. And I am very honored that Laura has chosen me as one of her ten recipients.


My Choices for the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award

In the spirit of passing the torch, I now nominate the following girl bloggers for the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award:

Melissa Garrett at The Silver Tongue

Sylvia C at Sylvia's Insight

Denise Grier at Freelancing Journey

Michi Beck at Content Done Better

Julia Temlyn at Mrs. Write Right, Word Therapist

Joanna Young at Confident Writing

Anne Wayman at The Golden Pencil

Ashley Sinatra at Savvy Writer

Deborah Ng at Freelance Writing Jobs

Liz Strauss at Successful Blog


To My Readers:

Let's celebrate the achievements of all ten of these Rockin' Girl Bloggers by visiting their blogs, reading their awesome posts, and leaving them lots of comments!


To the Ten Girl Bloggers Listed Above:

You rock! Please keep the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award going by choosing any number of other girl bloggers who you feel deserve to be recognized for the rockin' job they do for their readers!


Rock on!
Jeanne


P.S. Though Joanna Young and Anne Wayman were nominated for this award by Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business before my blog post went live, I've decided to go ahead and nominate them anyway, at Yvonne's suggestion, since my post was written before I found out about her choices.

Congratulations, ladies, on being nominated twice!



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Do You Need to Liven Up Your Prose?

Would you like to put more color, zip, and style into your writing, while adding clarity at the same time? If so, you'll definitely want to check out the following resources, which are loaded with gems of wisdom on the subject. Some are single articles, while others are entire lists of articles and other materials that can help you say what you want to say and say it well. Whether you write e-books, news, scholarly essays, business reports, how-to articles, or fiction, you'll find something of value here.


A Varied Collection of Articles, a Verb List, and a Rubric

Aside from the varied collection of articles, designed to help with almost any aspect of the writing craft, I've also included among these resources a list of 500 verbs that can help you hold your reader's interest by constructing more intriguing sentences, through eliminating the tired, worn, and overused verbs we often tend to gravitate toward when writing. I've also added a rubric against which you can judge your own work. Though the rubric is aimed at teachers for use in evaluating their students' writing, it can also be a great means for you to measure the degree to which you are meeting your goal of producing well-written material for your readers.


Some Resources that Can Help You Write With Color, Clarity, and Style :

Verbs With Verve

A Glossary of 500 Multiple-Syllable Verbs

Writer’s Resources Website: Articles Page

Accepted.Com (a business, medical, law, and college writing website)

Better Verbs (complete with several other writing-related articles)

Suggestions for Writers (more tips for scholars, though most are widely applicable)

Power of Description

Style and Clarity

Word Choice Rubric

Stock Language (writing tips for journalists)

Writing Resources (article list for better journalism)

Writing Strategies

Is It Good Writing? (focus is on journalism, but still some good advice for all writers)


These should keep you busy for a while!

Enjoy!
Jeanne



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Have you ever sat down to think about the value you get every time you use your public library? Too many of us, I fear, take this wonderful institution for granted—and yet where would we be without it?

Where else can we go to find, all in one place, most of the books we want to read, much of the music we enjoy listening to, many of the movies we’d like to see, a large selection of the magazines and newspapers from all over the country--if not the world--that might be of interest to us, virtually all the tax forms and information we’re likely to require to file our income taxes, and a hundred other kinds of help we use every day without even giving it a second thought?

Can you imagine how much it would cost us if we actually had to pay for all the resources and services we have free and easy access to at our local libraries? We’d be broke in no time!

If, every time we wanted to read a book we had to buy it—which isn’t to say tthat here aren’t many wonderful new books on the market that are well worth their purchase prices—I would venture to say that many of us would do far less reading!

If we were required to buy or rent every single music CD or movie DVD or video we wanted to enjoy on a relaxing evening at home, we might just as well pay to go to the movies! Even if we don’t mind doing that—and let’s face it, most of us enjoy going to the movies every so often—many of the movies we would like to see wouldn’t be showing at our local theaters. (This would be especially true for the classic movie buffs among us!)

And suppose we had to pay for the huge store of information of every description—on nearly any subject we could conceive—which is right at our fingertips at our friendly neighborhood public library? Where would we find the money to do that? The truth is that most of us wouldn’t. The majority would simply have to do without.

While it’s certainly true that the internet has opened up avenues of knowledge heretofore unknown and untapped—after all, they don’t call it the “information superhighway” for nothing—enabling us to do much of our research in the comfort of our own homes; it’s just as true that the personalized help and service, and the feeling of community we enjoy through our local libraries simply can’t be matched by the anonymous and impersonal world wide web!

Yet, for those of us to whose lives the internet has become indispensable, never fear! Our friendly neighborhood libraries are places where we can enjoy the best of both worlds! We can share the intimacy of our communal reading space and benefit from the expediency of our inexpensive local meeting place while simultaneously exploring the vast frontiers of cyberspace! Where else could one go to find such value?

Our public libraries bring the world to our doorstep—in many more ways than one!

So, the next time you check out a book, CD, or DVD, or use your library’s reference materials, take a moment to think about how much it would cost you to buy or rent them—and then give some serious thought to what you might do to help support your local public library!

Happy reading!
Jeanne



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How Much Is Your Blog Worth?

July 23rd 2007 07:00

Checking Out "The Good Blogs"

Today, I decided to visit a few of "The Good Blogs" to check them out and see what "The Good Bloggers" were up to. During my foray into this section of the blogosphere, I learned that there were indeed many interesting things happening and discovered a plethora of helpful information. (Check out some of these blogs, by clicking on the "miniblog" statements in "The Good Blogs" feed I've placed in my sidebar. I promise, you'll find some fascinating content!)


What's My Blog's Value?

One of the "interesting things" I found, posted by Arnie, at Critical Assumption, was this intriguing method of calculating the monetary value of your blog. Needless, to say, my curiosity got the better of me--and, of course, I headed right over to put Writer's Notes to the test! What would the results be? I worried. Oh, well, I was about to find out...


My Results

Well, a few short minutes later, I had my results, and they weren't bad at all--in fact, I was quite pleased. My blog turned out to be worth $22,017.06! Not too shabby! See for yourself:




My blog is worth $22,017.06.
How much is your blog worth?



A Little Background

Apparently, the method used to calculate the worth of the blogs we plug into this very nifty Technorati-powered tool is to assign a dollar value to each link to our sites. Self-described web guru Dane Carlson, of Dane Carlson's Business Opportunities, states the following about the tool he's created:

"Inspired by Tristan Louis's research into the value of each link to Weblogs Inc, I've created this little applet using Technorati's API which computes and displays your blog's worth using the same link to dollar ratio as the AOL-Weblogs Inc deal."

Why not plug in your own blog's URL and find out how much your blog is worth?

Happy calculating!
Jeanne


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Have You Ever Dreamed of Writing A Book?

Have you always dreamed of authoring a book? Do you envision yourself confidently penning a popular novel or sought-after self-help book? Perhaps you periodically glimpse yourself deftly assembling several decades of your most tantalizing recipes into a classic cookbook to share with the world. Or maybe your dream is to compile a collection of your best mystery, humor, or horror stories, or even your own personal poetry anthology.

Yet, despite these dreams, do you continue to cramp your personal style by confining yourself to shorter pieces, such as articles, blog posts, and other individual short works simply because of the time it would take to complete a work of great enough magnitude to be called a "book"--and the difficulty you anticipate in actually finding a publisher for it? Well, times certainly are changing.


E-Books, The Latest Book-Publishing Trend

The advent of the internet has drastically altered the publishing landscape, bringing easy-to-write, easy-to-publish, and easy-to-access electronic books (also called e-books) to the forefront of the modern publishing industry. What does this mean to you, the writer, who may still be seeking your chance to break into the book publishing market? It means that the job of getting your name before the public eye, as a writer of books, has recently become quite a bit easier--easier, in fact, than it's ever been.


TodayBooks.Com, Online E-Book Publisher

One online publisher of e-books, TodayBooks.Com, is, it turns out, actually seeking writers of short (10-50 page) e-books, which they will publish, market, and sell on their site for the writer. In return for their work, e-book authors receive 20% of the retail price of each book sold. Since the books are so short, they are also inexpensive, coming in at $4.99 each. This comes to a little under $1.00 per book sold as the author's cut.

I haven't personally researched the issue or compared this percentage to that of other e-book publishers, but, having come across this website during my internet travels, I thought I would put it out there for you to investigate further and determine whether it seems like an equitable deal to you. In future posts, as I come across further information related to the e-book publishing phenomenon, as well as the practices of other e-book publishers, I will be sure to fill you in on whatever I may learn.


TodayBooks' FAQ Page: Important Info for Authors

According to the TodayBooks.Com FAQ page, each e-book they publish receives its own ISBN number, in the same way that print books do at the time of publication.

About the author's cut, here's what the site has to say: "TodayBooks will pay the author 20% of retail sales (before tax if applicable) and occasionally may add bonuses if the author links from high ranking web pages to the TodayBooks site and/or the book on the site." They go on to state the following, in comparing their author's percentage, as well as the services they provide, with those of other publishers: "Traditional book deals are about 8%, the difference between us and other self-publishing web sites is that we market your book directly. Our largest percentage of sales (besides the credit card fees) is in marketing."

Regarding your book's design and formatting, they say, "Yes, we will even help you with layouts, book templates and other great tools to get your book going. We have excellent suggestions for authors regarding writing books. You may also qualify for our "E-Z write" template, please enquire for more information."


One More Prospective Market for Your Work

TodayBooks.Com can provide one more option among many for publishing your work. They are, no doubt, worth looking into; but always remember to go into any prospective publishing situation with your eyes wide open, with as few stars as possible in them to obscure your view, and without too many visions of dollar signs dancing in your head.

Do some comparison shopping, decide whether you believe their deal is worth it to you, and then, if you think so, go for it: write your book, say your piece, submit it to the site, and then wait and see what happens (while simultaneously moving on to your next writing project). If you make lots of money through the sale of your e-book, wonderful! Write another! If you don't, at least you won't have wasted hundreds of thousands of words of your precious creativity and expertise, as well as your limited physical energy and stamina, to find that out!

Wishing you e-book success!
Jeanne



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I've Been Tagged

Lillie Ammann, at A Writer's Words, An Editor's Eye, has tagged me for the Eight Random Things Meme.

Bloggers who have been tagged must write a post on their own blog in which they share eight things about themselves that their readers don’t know. They then tag eight other bloggers to keep the meme going.


Here are the Rules:

1. Each blogger must post these rules first.

2. Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about him/herself.

3. Bloggers who are tagged must write a post on their own blog about their eight things and must also include these rules in that post.

4. Tagged bloggers need to select eight other bloggers, whom they tag to keep the meme going, and they must list the names of the chosen bloggers at the end of their blog posts.

5. They then must leave each blogger a comment telling them that they’ve been tagged and that they should read the tagger's blog to learn more about the meme.


Ready? Here are Eight Random Facts About Jeanne:

1. Like Lillie Ammann, I enjoy serving God by serving my church. One way I do this is by writing a weekly sermon summary and discussion sheet for our small groups to use for study. I also serve on both the First Response Team, writing messages of encouragement, and the Prayer Team.

2. As a college re-entry student, I (finally!) completed my A.A. in General Studies at age 53, graduating from Cuesta College with High Honors in May, 2006.

3. I know quite a bit of American Sign Language (ASL), learned during two years of college study, but wish I were more fluent.

4. I am a permanent member of Alpha Gamma Sigma Honor Society and served as Treasurer of the Society's Gamma Gamma Chapter during the 2006/2007 academic year .

5. I am a Notary Public.

6. I am a freelance writer, and one of the venues through which I sell my work is the Constant Content website.

7. I generally prefer to write--and read--non-fiction, though I have written poetry, fiction, and humor, as well.

8. The ratio of males to females among my siblings is the exact opposite of the ratio of males to females among my children: I have one brother and three sisters, but three sons and one daughter.

Hope you've found these eight random facts to be of some small interest.


And, Here Are the Eight Bloggers I'm Tagging for This Meme:

1. Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business

2. Brad Shorr at Word Sell

3. Melissa Garrett at The Silver Tongue

4. Diogenes at Quasi Fictional

5. Sylvia C at Sylvia's Insight

6. Denise Grier at Freelancing Journey

7. Ken Cooper at Family WebWatch

8. Joanna Young at Confident Writing

I look forward to learning more about each and every one of these bloggers!

Thanks for reading!
Jeanne



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More Great Tests for You

In my last few posts, I presented a couple of tests for you to check out if you happen to be interested in finding out such things as your spelling and grammar skill level and your internet identity branding. I also mentioned a few other tests you might find enjoyable at Mingle2.Com.

Since we're already on the subject of quizzes and tests of our various skills, I thought I'd mention a couple of other fascinating tests I've discovered (and taken myself) that you might also like to try, which are found at Tickle.Com.


Two Terrific Tickle Tests

While Tickle also has quite a variety of different tests to strike your fancy, the two that I've personally focused on, since they are the ones that really captured my interest are The Brain Test and The Classic IQ Test, both of which I completed quite some time ago. Both tests are, as you might well imagine, somewhat more involved than the quicker, simpler ones found at Mingle2.Com. But, despite this fact--or perhaps because of it--you may actually find the results of these two tests more helpful overall.


The Brain Test

The first is The Brain Test, which contains 25 multiple-choice questions and is designed to determine whether you are left- or right-brain-dominant--also known as left- or right-brained. At the same time, it also tests your natural learning style (visual, auditory, or kinesthetic). According to Tickle, The Brain Test, like The Classic IQ Test, has been designed by PhDs. If you've ever been curious about which side of your brain is dominant, The Brain Test can help you find out. And, if you've ever wondered what your IQ range might be, The Classic IQ Test might just get you in the ballpark.


The Classic IQ Test

The Classic IQ Test contains 40 multiple-choice questions, and, in addition to giving you a final IQ score, tells you what your intellectual type is. (Mine is Visual Mathematician.) It also explains your test results for each of the four intelligence scales (Mathematical, Visual-Spatial, Linguistic, and Logical), including a description of each area and an analysis of the percentile in which your score falls for each area.


Results Thoroughly Explained

If you are at all serious about learning where you stand in these critical areas of cognitive function, you'll appreciate the comprehensive analyses and explanations you'll receive about your various test results at Tickle.Com.

When I first visited the site and took the IQ test about a year ago, Tickle offered a more comprehensive and detailed report of individual test results for a modest fee and a more abbreviated and simplified version for those who didn't prefer to pay for the more detailed results. I'm not certain whether or not they still offer more comprehensive results for a fee, but I do know that the free results and explanations currently being given are more than sufficient for even those of us who are interested in gaining a real understanding of the whys and wherefores of our test results. In fact, I would go so far as to say that they now appear to be offering the more comprehensive results that they once charged for as part of their normal, average, everyday (i.e., free) test results.


A Test for Everyone

So, if you have any interest at all in finding out either your brain dominance and learning style or your IQ range and intellectual type, check out these two fascinating tests at Tickle.Com. And, when you're through testing yourself in these fairly weighty intellectual areas, you may also want to check out some of Tickle.Com's numerous other tests, such as the following:

~ What's Your Dream Job?
~ Do You Have a Balanced Lifestyle?
~ The Emotional IQ Test


Some other tests you'll also find at the site:

~ The 5-Factor IPIP Personality Test
~ What Drives You?
~ The Corporate Culture Test
~ Right Job/Wrong Job
~ What's Your Stress Style?
~ The Power Quotient


...And many more!


No Idle Minds at Tickle

If testing is your "cup of tea"--and no matter what type of tests you may be interested in--Tickle.Com appears to have more than enough to keep you busy for quite some time! At the very least, this site will help you exercise your mental muscles, keeping you intellectually fit and mentally prepared for your next big writing project!

And you might just have a little fun, while you're at it!

Enjoy!
Jeanne



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Yesterday, I mentioned the Blogger Spelling Test, which I learned about through Laura Spencer's Writing Thoughts blog. In the same post, from which I got the Blogger Spelling Test info--her Of Note post--which featured The Copywriting Maven blog, Laura mentioned the Online Identity Calculator from Career Distinction. (Laura had, herself, learned about both of the above from The Copywriting Maven blog posts, entitled Loose or Lose? The Blogger Spelling & Grammar Test and What's Your Online Identity Brand Score? Calculate It Here!

The Career Distinction Online Identity Calculator is a great way to get a fairly accurate idea of the extent to which your online identity branding is likely to benefit you over the long run by providing you with the positive exposure and name recognition you seek as an internet personage.

By entering your name into the Google Search box, checking your search results, and answering several pertinent questions, you'll be able to get a fairly good idea of where you stand in the online branding game.

This handy survey will help you find out just how far you may still need to go to in creating an influential internet image that will translate into an online presence that is both widely recognized and (hopefully!) highly sought after.

After completing the survey, myself, I was very pleased--and somewhat surprised--to see that I scored a 10! (My results are reproduced below.)


Online Identity Calculator (beta)
Your online identity score is 10 out of a possible score of 10.
Congratulations. You are digitally distinct. This is the nirvana of online identity. Keep up the good work, and remember that your Google results can change as fast as the weather in New England. So, regularly monitor your online identity. Read Chapter 11 of Career Distinction for more ideas on how to continue to build your brand online.


This perfect score is, however, no doubt partially attributable to the fact that my name is not an extremely common one--and it also shows that no generally applied survey can ever be either perfect or foolproof, since, if I really did rate a perfect 10, I should be relatively famous (which I'm not) and should have absolutely no need for improving my online branding strategy (which does, in fact, need work.)

According to the above results, my name should practically be a household word by now--which it definitely isn't! (In fact, my blog's Google page rank is still a big, fat Zero!) But, be that as it may, these results do, at least, make me feel as if there's hope, and for this I am grateful!

If you're at all curious about this survey, why not check the Career Distinction Online Identity Calculator and find out where you stand in online identity branding. It should give you some insight into what you may be doing right, what you may be doing wrong, and what built-in hurdles you may need to develop effective strategies to overcome (such as having a very common name).

If you don't like your results, you can always keep them under wraps!

Happy Googling!
Jeanne



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While visiting Laura Spencer's Writing Thoughts blog a few days ago, I came across this Blogger Spelling and Grammar Test in Laura's Of Note post for this week (which features The Copywriting Maven blog). Laura found the test in Copywriting Maven's Loose or Lose? The Blogger Spelling & Grammar Test post.

Always relishing a spelling and/or grammatical challenge, I decided to give the quiz a try. The following are my results. (Hurray!)

Mingle2 - Free Online Dating


If you're up for a spelling and grammar challenge, click on over and give it a go! If nothing else, you'll get a short refresher course on a few possibly long-forgotten spelling and grammar rules, which can go a long way toward improving your general writing and blogging skills!

And, while you're at it, check out the other fun quizzes and activities at Mingle2.Com, some of which are listed below:

How Addicted to Blogging Are You?
The Geek Quiz
What's My Blog's Film Rating?
The 2007 Internet Quiz - How Much Do You Know About the Internet?


Just a few little things to make blogging even more fun than it already is!

Happy testing!
Jeanne


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In my July 14th post, entitled, GCF LearnFree.Org: Free Online Computer Training and More, I included links to OpenOffice.Org's free alternatives to three of today's most popular software applications: MS-Word, MS-Excel, and MS-Powerpoint.

They were as follows:

~ OpenOffice.Org: Writer (word processing alternative to MS-Word)
~ OpenOffice.Org: Calc (spreadsheet alternative to MS-Excel)
~ OpenOffice.Org: Impress (presentation software alternative to MS-Powerpoint)

In my original post, the above links were provided for reference purposes, since GCF offers tutorials for all three of the corresponding alternative computer applications.

However, I now think it expedient to inform my readers of the other software applications also offered without charge by OpenOffice.Org--applications which have received excellent reviews and which are, truth be told, giving their competitors a run for their money--despite the fact that OpenOffice.Org isn't itself earning any.

The following free software and free software combination package are available for download from OpenOffice.Org, in addition to the three applications mentioned and linked to above. No charge is made for the software at the time of download; neither are any hidden charges foisted upon the unsuspecting user once he or she has become hooked on the program(s).

~ OpenOffice.Org: Draw, a powerful graphics package
~ OpenOffice.Org: Base, a database management program.
~ OpenOffice.Org: Math, an application that creates equations and mathematical formulas for your documents.
~ OpenOffice.Org: Suite, a suite of office applications that make up a complete office package containing the five major applications listed in this post (excluding OpenOffice.Org: Math).

While I have never personally tried any of the OpenOffice.Org computer programs, they appear to be high quality freeware versions of their more-widely known and distributed rival software applications.

If you're looking for computer software that won't break the bank--or, for that matter, even touch it, you might just want to surf on over to OpenOffice.Org and do some comparison shopping.

One thing's certain: The price is right!


Happy "shopping"!
Jeanne



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The following article on effective writing is reprinted here with permission, in the hope that its timely tips will help you more precisely convey the points you desire to get across to your readers--whether in a magazine or journal article, on your blog, in an ad for your product or service, in a sales letter, or in your essay, report, poem, short story, novel, or non-fiction book.

This article is Copyright 2003 by Cathy Stucker, IdeaLady.com.


Words That Work

Do you sometimes agonize over choosing just the right word for your letter, brochure, ad or other written materials? Words have meaning, and choosing the right words is important.

Headlines and titles are especially important. You want to use words that will grab the attention of readers and encourage them to read more.

As they read more, you want to persuade them. This is true whether you are writing a sales letter or brochure, a how-to book, or a novel. Writing (good writing, anyway) is designed to convince the readers of something. You may be trying to sell them something, teach them something, or get them to believe in your story. In any case, the words you choose will directly affect your success.

First of all, be precise. Is it bi-monthly or semi-monthly? You may think they are the same thing, but they're not. Bi-monthly means every two months. Semi-monthly means twice a month. There is a big difference. Make sure your words have meanings that express what you mean.

To find just the right word, use a thesaurus. I like to use the thesaurus in my word processor, because I can quickly jump from one word to another.

When using a thesaurus, however, remember that the words you see listed will be similar in meaning to your original but not identical in meaning. Make sure you fully understand the meaning of any word you might use. Back when I was working in personnel, I received a resume that referred to the applicant's "promiscuous" experience. I don't think that's exactly what
they hoped to convey (at least, I hope that's not what they meant).

There is a wonderful book called, "Words That Sell" by Richard Bayan. It is like a thesaurus for marketing copywriters. For example, if you look up "Results" you get suggestions including fast-acting, never lets you down, performs, does the job, and many others. There are categories for many types of marketing messages.

Choose words which produce the emotional response you want. Words that get attention include new, secret, free, unknown, cash, insider, etc. These words give the impression that you are letting the reader in on something special.

Use alliteration. That means words that begin with the same sound. For example, Peter's Perfect Plan or Secrets of Super Success. Hard sounds (such as p, k or t) and the s sound are especially good. Say your line out loud to see how it sounds.

Watch for hidden meanings. Words may have acquired new meanings, and those new meanings may alter the effect of your sentence. Be aware of new slang usage. Your dictionary may not be current enough to help you. (Borrow a teenager for the most up-to-date information!)

Avoid jargon (most of the time). Don't assume your readers will understand what you mean when you use a technical term or bit of jargon. Use clearly understood language. If you must use jargon, explain it. One time you can use jargon is when you know your audience will understand it, and your use of jargon will mark you as one of "them". Jargon can identify you as someone who knows an industry.

Ask for input. Ask friends and potential customers to read what you've written. What do readers think of when they read or hear your words? Do they come across as friendly or abrupt? Do they seem believable? Do they properly convey your message? If so, congratulations! If not, keep working at it.

No matter how good your writing is, it can always be improved. So, keep reading, keep writing, keep testing and revising to make your writing as good as it can be.

You'll find lots of great information on growing your business and more at http://www.freearticles.biz/. Most articles may be freely reproduced at your web site or in your print or online newsletter.

**************

Hope this article will prove valuable to you in your quest to make your writing all that you'd like it to be!

Happy writing!
Jeanne


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Free Training

In my recent web browsings, I've come across a fascinating site called GCF LearnFree.Org, which offers free computer training through both online tutorials and online classes. Formerly known as GCF Global Learning, GCF LearnFree.Org features such tutorials as the following:

~Computer Basics
~Windows 98
~Windows XP
~Windows 95
~Internet Basics
~Email Basics
~Internet Safety
~Mozilla Firefox
~Microsoft Office*
~Microsoft Word* ^
~Microsoft Excel* ^
~Microsoft Powerpoint* ^
~Microsoft Access* ^
~Microsoft Outlook**



Tutorials

In addition to the above, GCF also offers tutorials for the free, or Open Source, alternatives to MS-Word, MS-Excel, and MS-Powerpoint:

~OpenOffice.Org: Writer (word processing alternative to MS-Word)
~OpenOffice.Org: Calc (spreadsheet alternative to MS-Excel)
~OpenOffice.Org: Impress (presentation software alternative to MS-Powerpoint)

To round out their site, the folks at GCF also provide tutorials that teach many of the skills necessary for both workplace competency and successful everyday living:

~Math Basics (ranging from addition through fractions, decimals, and percents)
~Money Basics (including budgeting, credit, managing a checking/savings account, etc.)
~Career Development (from determining a career goal to writing a resume, interviewing...)
~Workplace Development (time management, goal setting, organization, communication...)
~Everyday Life (an interactive literacy project to be implemented in Fall, 2007, to "help learners apply their basic literacy skills to real-world situations so they can gain the confidence and skills to be successful.")


Classes

GCF's online classes are somewhat more limited than their fairly extensive selection of tutorials. Classes listed on the site are as follows:

~MS-Access
~MS-Excel
~Math Basics
~MS-Powerpoint
~MS-Publisher 2003
~MS-Word


Those who live in or near either Raleigh, NC (USA) or Kitwe, Zambia, may also take advantage of onsite classes offered at one of these two GCF learning centers. (Information is available on the website.)

Both tutorials and classes are available only to registered members of the site. However, registration is free.


Just What the Doctor Ordered

Whether you are a writer (or non-writer), who would like to learn a new software application or brush up on one you've already learned; whether you need a little refresher--or first-time course--on career or workplace development; or whether you simply need to brush up on some basic math concepts or money management principles, the GCF site could be just the prescription for what ails you.

And the best part about this particular prescription is that it's absolutely free--a phenomenon rarely seen in this day and age!

Check out GCF LearnFree.Org, and see if you don't find something there that can help you improve your skills and move ahead in life!

Happy Learning!
Jeanne


* Tutorials are available for the following versions of this software application: 2003, 2002 (XP), & 2000.
** A tutorial is available for only the 2003 version of this software application.
^ A tutorial is also available for the 97 version of this software application.




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Today, I thought I would bring you this fascinating article on how to improve your Alexa ranking, compliments of Marketing Scoop. Check it out! You'll find some interesting strategies here!


7 Proven Strategies for Improving Your Alexa Ranking

By Michael Fleischner | Marketing Expert | Internet Marketing Secrets*

After spending two years building my own website, I was very disappointed that my Alexa ranking was still higher than one million. Alexa ranks each website based on the number of visitors it receives. The top ranked website, Yahoo! has an Alexa rating of 1 or 2. Less popular sites could be ranked up to 5,000,000.

In order to improve my Alexa rating, I spent about three weeks combing the web to find tips, secrets, and proven strategies for increasing my Alexa ranking. Unfortunately, many of the sites offering advice didn’t even have a high ranking themselves. Finally I discovered a number of sites ranked within the top 100,000 that were all applying the same “Alexa techniques” to improve their ranking. I’ve begun implementing a number of these techniques and have improved my Alexa ranking by 250,000 spots in just one week.

Here’s what you need to know. The basis for many of these techniques is the fact that your Alexa ranking is based reach and page views. However it only counts those who visit your site and have already downloaded the Alexa toolbar. Anyone can download the toolbar for free which is automatically added to your browser and tracks the sites you’re visiting. Increasing visits from those who do not have the Alexa toolbar installed will not help your Alexa ranking.

I’ve summarized the 7 strategies that I’ve discovered and applied to my own website to increase my Alexa ranking. Apply these strategies to your own website and see your ranking climb towards the top.

1. Download the Alexa toolbar and use it every day to visit your own website. Alexa even gives you the ability to co-brand the toolbar with your own logo and give it away. You can download the toolbar here: http://www.alexa.com/site/devcorner/associate_toolbar.

2. Use Alexa redirection whenever you can. No matter when or where you provide a link to your website, be sure to use the equivalent Alexa redirect URL. For example, when providing a link to my website, I use http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?marketingscoop.com/. If you copy this URL into your browser, it will take you to MarketingScoop.com. To use this technique, simply replace the name of my website (marketingscoop) with yours.

3. Encourage your website visitors to add their positive testimonials on Alexa’s detailed listings page for your website. This can be done by placing a link to the appropriate Alexa page on your website and asking visitors to “Click here to rate this website”. You can find your detailed Alexa page here: http://www.alexa.com/data/details/?url=marketingscoop.com. Again, just replace the name of my website (marketingscoop) with yours. By clicking on the URL, visitors will be able to reach your detailed rating page and write a review using the review link located on the left hand side of the page.

4. Write your own site reviews on the top 100 rated Alexa sites and include your redirect URL. The top 500 domains, according to Alexa can be found at http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_500. When you write a review, be sure to use the redirection URL we discussed in number 2 above specifically for your website [http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?marketingscoop.com].

5. Download the Alexa ranking button, traffic history graph, info links, and other traffic counters onto the page of your website that receives the most traffic. For example, at the bottom of my home page http://www.marketingscoop.com, I’ve added the Alexa ranking box. You can do the same for your own site by visiting http://www.alexa.com/site/site_stats/signup. You’ll notice that I haven’t added the traffic history graph. This is because it wouldn’t look appropriate on my home page and because Alexa is only providing detailed history on the top 100,000 sites. So if you’re not in the top 100,000, site stats would not be available.

6. Take an inexpensive advertisement out on the ExactSeek search directory for only a few dollars per month at ExactSeek.com. Search engine results are directly correlated with Alexa rankings. You’ll notice that if a website is highly ranked on ExactSeek, chances are that it will be highly ranked on Alexa.

7. Get listed on as many search engines as possible by placing a free listing in DMOZ. This is the largest human edited directory on the web and is co-branded among hundreds of thousands of sites. Be patient though, it often takes up to 5 months before you see your website listed after submission. Even though it takes longer than it should, you have little say in the matter because it’s so widely used across the Internet.

These simple Alexa strategies are easy to implement and will make a huge difference in your Alexa ranking. Ultimately you want visitors to do more than visit your home page, you want them to interact with your site. Be sure to optimize your home page for SEO purposes, ease of use, and interaction. Creating a positive user experience will get visitors to return again and again.

*Michael Fleischner is a marketing expert and the president of MarketingScoop.com. Visit today for free marketing information and marketing blog directory. Michael has more than 12 years of marketing experience and had appeared on The TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media. Visit his marketing blog for further details.

**************

The above article is reprinted, with permission, from the Marketing Scoop website. Hope you find it helpful!

Happy Alexa-tising!
Jeanne


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Just in case you fiction writers out there need a bit of inspiration to sit down and pen a tale--particularly a suspenseful crime tale, I will share with you my flash fiction piece, Confession. This short story won a recent writing contest at Iron Pyramid Publications (out of 64 entries) and is currently ranked #1 out of 52 stories about "The Other Woman" on Helium.Com. (Though the rankings at Helium can change daily, Confession has so far held the #1 slot since its posting in January 2007.) It's quite suspenseful--or so I'm told.

Read on--and then sharpen your pencils, fire up your computers, get creative, and start writing!


Confession
A Wife Lets Her Unfaithful Husband in On a Murderous Little Secret

Hello, Darling.

You'd better sit down. I have something to tell you.

I went for a walk tonight...to your mistress's house. Yes, Darling, I've known about her for weeks. And, you know, it wasn't as difficult as I'd imagined it would be.

She didn't utter a sound when it hit. I hadn't really expected her to. Her eyes merely took on a fleeting expression of...shock--as if she couldn't comprehend what was happening and was absolutely petrified by it all--and then...it was over.

All it took was one shot. It was what a pro might call "a real clean job," though now I know that pros don't mean the same thing when they say "clean" as we amateurs are likely to think.

Actually, it was quite messy. You know, Darling, people like me--average, everyday folks, who've never had occasion to handle firearms (previously, that is)--tend to think of them as instruments that drill neat little holes into people and that's that. For some reason we visualize no blood; we imagine no gore. How naive we are, Darling!

That's not at all the way it is! In fact, it's terribly shocking the first time you look down at that...corpse...covered in real, red, blood--the kind you could never stand the sight of--and staring, like something out of a horror movie, at...nothing. And it's eerie the way it lies so still, exactly the way it fell. You keep expecting it to move, to look up at you and say something...but it doesn't. It just lies there...staring.

Well, Darling, I stood there looking down at her...at it...for a while--a few minutes, perhaps--to be sure that she was dead. But, no, that wasn't the reason. I knew she was dead. I suppose I simply couldn't draw myself away. After all, I'd never seen a...corpse...before.

You must understand, Darling. I hadn't wanted to kill her. As they say: In other circumstances, we might have been the best of friends. But try to imagine what it must be like to lose the one you love most in life, the one who supplies the little sunshine there is in your drab existence, the only one you've ever trusted! Have you any idea how it feels to have that trust betrayed? But how could you, Darling? You've never had the misfortune to experience it. If you had, you'd understand that the act was committed in desperation. You'd see why I had to do it.

I freely admit that I went to her house for the express purpose of killing her. But I wasn't responsible for my actions. You've no idea how the hatred and jealousy seethed in me as I left the house earlier this evening. The emotions were beyond my control; they'd grown and multiplied since the first day I learned of your affair, until I simply had no choice but to satisfy them. They drove me to an act I would never even have contemplated before they dominated my life.

I did it because I loved you, Darling. But, you know what's funny? Tonight I discovered something infinitely more satisfying than love. Can you guess what it is, Darling?

Yes, that's right--revenge!

Good-bye, Darling...
**************

Now, you try it! Then, check out the second Relate This Post listing at the end of this blog entry for some info on a possible market for your crime-related masterpiece. (To learn more about Helium.Com, check out the first Relate This Post link.)

Happy writing!
Jeanne


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Yvonne Russell, at Grow Your Writing Business, mentioned Blog Carnival in a recent post. Thanks to Yvonne, I checked out this site and found many fascinating opportunities there for bloggers who enjoy writing about almost any topic. So, I thought I'd pass on some info about this site to my readers, so you'll have the opportunity to participate in upcoming--or ongoing--blog carnivals currently being hosted on a number of different blogs.

The above Blog Carnival link should help you keep abreast of the latest carnivals happening around the blogosphere at any given time. So, check the site often, if you'd like to participate in any of these community- and traffic-building projects hosted by various blogs. You may choose the blog carnival categories and topics you prefer to blog, or write, or simply submit previously published posts about, of which there are quite a few different categories. (And, yes, writing is one of them.)

Some of the carnivals listed on this site are outdated, as is so often the case on any site, with the speed of change occurring on the internet today. But many appear to be valid and either current and/or ongoing and have the potential to provide fascinating vehicles through which our creative energies may be channeled, our fondest interests indulged, and our literary labors of love recognized by other likeminded individuals--which sounds like a fairly good deal for all concerned!

Hope you'll find some blog carnivals here that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

Happy hunting!
Jeanne


P.S. If you scroll down a bit in my blog's sidebar, you'll find a feed listing some of the recent blog carnivals that can be found on the website. (Blog categories in the feed are random.) NOTE: FEED HAS SINCE BEEN MOVED OUT OF SIDEBAR AND INTO POST ENTITLED BLOG CARNIVAL FEED: FIND BLOG CARNIVALS HERE.



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We're Now Up and Running!

July 9th 2007 02:16

Thanks to Jon, one of the fantastic technicians here at Orble, we are back up and running! Hurray! I'd like to thank each and every one of my loyal readers for your patience while we waited, for what seemed like ages, for my blog to come back up. If you stopped by hoping to read some interesting content and found nothing but blue screen where my blog should have been, I truly apologize! This bothered me, too--probably more than it did you. It was very difficult for me to wait so many hours for the problem to be corrected; but now that it has been, I'm breathing a big sigh of relief!

Now, I can begin thinking about an interesting topic for my next blog post--instead of sitting here wasting my creative energy panicking, obsessing over, and attempting to bring back the blog that went AWOL when I least expected it!

With intense relief,
Jeanne


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My blog is currently experiencing technical difficulties--It won't display properly. Please bear with me while I attempt to get this problem corrected! Thanks!
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We writers are crafters of language. We continually manipulate words, seeking the perfect one to use in expressing a precise thought, feeling, or idea. Our thesaurus is our close acquaintance. Our dictionary is our intimate friend and indispensable companion! Without quick, easy, and efficient access to the correct definitions and proper usages of the words we weave into our written masterpieces, we could never create written works that express our thoughts appropriately and effectively. For this reason, we must always be on the lookout for the best resources we can find that will cut down on the time required for word research and provide the needed information quickly and efficiently so that we can get on with the actual process of writing!
.
While browsing for online dictionaries one day recently, I came across a great resource--one that's better than a dictionary, because it's actually an entire collection of dictionaries. One Look Dictionary Search is a comparative index of dictionary websites which indexes "8,853,196 words in 937 dictionaries"--all of them online. That's a lot of words--and a lot of dictionaries! (There are both general and specialized dictionaries in this index. Some encyclopedias are included in the list, as well.)

This site gives you three search options: Find Definitions, Find Translations, and Search All Dictionaries. When Find Definitions is chosen, and a word (or phrase) is searched for via the site's search box, a list of dictionaries (and encyclopedias) that contain the word in their definitions is generated. At the same time, an instant definition is also generated in the "Quick Definitions" box on the right side of the page. This is a great feature when a quick, basic definition is needed.

The name of each reference site, as well as a link to its home page and an info link about the site can be found at the end of each single-line listing. Each listing also has a direct link to the definition of the searched-for word in the particular dictionary. These links are great for quick and easy comparison of sites, definitions, word etymology, etc.

Find Translations will generate a search of various language dictionaries, including multi-lingual dictionaries and foreign language dictionaries built around specialized topics--a boon to those who need to research non-English words.

The Search Dictionaries option generates a list of specialized dictionaries (in the English language), which follow the general dictionary definitions of the term, allowing the searcher to access such resources as dictionaries of Medicine, Religion, Science, and even Slang. This option could definitely come in handy for more in-depth research of a word or topic.

Wildcards may also be used to find either specific or numerous forms of a root word. And, amazingly enough, the site also features a handy reverse dictionary, which allows you to find a word when you already know its definition. It also offers a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, which addresses issues about which its readers may be uncertain.

One Look Dictionary Search is definitely your one-stop word shop! Check it out--and find all your definitions in one place! You'll save time, energy, and effort that would better be directed toward crafting your next literary masterpiece.


Happy Research!
Jeanne



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If you're looking for a site with tons of valuable information for freelance writers, you'll want to check out Writers-Editors Network. This site is also the home of Cassell Network of Writers (CNW) and Florida Freelance Writers Association (FFWA).

While both of the aforementioned writers associations charge varying fees for membership, the Writers-Editors Network website contains a great deal of free information, in the form of articles filled with advice on writing, getting writing assignments, negotiating fees for your work, and many other aspects of freelancing.

In addition, the site offers a Contest Tip Sheet, with great advice that can help you become "a contender" in any writing contest you may decide to enter. They also offer a list of current writing contests, as well as info on their own contest, and an FAQ page which answers many questions that writers may have about the writing/marketing process. They also list a few job opportunities, as well as "Talks, Seminars, and Conferences of Interest" to writers and/or editors.

If you are serious about writing--and about selling your writing--there's a lot of great information here that would undoubtedly be worthy of your time. So, check it out, and see if you don't find something here that will help you along the road to writing success.


Here's to your success!
Jeanne



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The iReply Revolution: Join it

July 3rd 2007 15:33


You Comment, I Reply Logo



You may have noticed that I've recently added the new iReply logo to my sidebar. I thought it provided a nice touch--a nice way of letting you, my readers, know that I value you and appreciate your input, and that you can expect a reply whenever you decide to grace my blog's pages with your valuable opinions and thoughtful responses.

If you'd like to acquire this logo for your own blog, to let your readers know that you, too, reply to comments, you may get it from Blog About Your Blog.

If you appreciate your blog's readers and want to let them know it, visit Blog About Your Blog and join the iReply Revolution!


And don't forget to comment!
Jeanne



P.S. While you could simply copy the iReply logo from my blog, you'll have your choice of a white or black background if you visit Blog About Your Blog. You'll also find many other things of interest there during your visit.



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Another blog I ran across at BlogCave (via MyBlogLog), which looks as if it might prove pretty helpful to bloggers is called Blog Smart Resources. With posts on free backlink builder script, trackback tools, Blogsvertise, various social networking sites and different SEO tools, info on the 2007 Blogging to Fame Awards, and more, there's a great deal that's of interest to bloggers here.

If you're a blogger, you'll want to make it a point to visit this blog when you have a bit of time to check out the many resources it offers to help make your blogging experience an easier, happier, and more productive one.


Happy reading!
Jeanne



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Avoid Online Scams: Scamtypes.Com

July 3rd 2007 07:39

I've just discovered a blog that appears to have quite a bit of helpful information for avoiding internet scams of many different types. While browsing MyBlogLog, I decided to check out BlogCave and found this blog listed among the membership of that blogging community. It's a blog that could prove very beneficial to those of us who seek opportunities of various types online, so just thought I'd pass on the link to my readers.

The blog is called Scamtypes, and it covers such scams as Internet, Lottery, Work at Home, Charity, Link Trade, and Affiliate Marketing scams, as well as many other types of fraudulent activities. Click on over and take a look! The hide you save may be your own!


Stay safe!
Jeanne



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I visited my friend Laura Spencer's Writing Thoughts blog again today and decided to check out her new blog, OpinionMom, which she launched recently.

While I was there, I came across a post describing a handy blog rating tool that can be used to determine what sort of rating your blog would receive based on its content. Since I am very interested in producing a family-friendly blog, I decided to give it a try.

My blog came back with a G-rating, which is exactly what I'd hoped! (I couldn't be totally positive what my blog's rating would be, since the titles and posts of other Orble blogs are listed in the sidebar next to my own posts; so, needless to say, I was relieved to see that my blog had passed muster.)

Despite the fact that other bloggers' material does appear in my blog's sidebar, I do my very best to keep all other blog and post titles in an unobtrusive part of my blog, for the simple reason that any questionable material will be less likely to be noticed by those who visit my blog. I'm a firm believer that people should be allowed to decide for themselves whether or not they are interested in reading such content--before they are faced with it--rather than being accosted by it at every turn.

Orble has also recently asked its bloggers to use the "Mature Content" flag on any posts with titles that contain profanity, in order to prevent those titles from appearing in the "Popular Posts" list in the sidebar of all Orble blogs. (Thanks, Orble!) So this should help with some of the more blatant occurrences of profanity that had previously found their way into our blogs' sidebars.

Still, though, as I previously mentioned, I am not taking any chances. I have relegated the lists of other Orble blogs, as well as the "Popular Posts" and "Breaking Posts" lists, into the deepest reaches of my blog's sidebar, at the very end of a number of rather lengthy lists of other, more acceptable, material, to keep them well-hidden from casual and unintentional public view.

Here's the blog rating tool. Feel free to use it to check the rating of your own blog!


Online Dating


Thanks, Laura, for letting us know about this great tool!

Please be sure to visit Laura Spencer's Writing Thoughts blog for some great info and resources on the writing craft; and, if you're a mom, as well as a writer, you might just enjoy checking out her Opinion Mom blog, as well. (Links to both of Laura's blogs can be found in the opening paragraph of this post.)


Happy rating!
Jeanne


P.S. I hope it isn't infelicitous of me to use the above blog rating tool in this post--since it's offered by an online dating website! That does seem rather ironic. But, be that as it may, I felt the tool itself was valuable.

Note: Infelicitous was the Word of the Day for June 3rd on Melissa Garrett's blog, The Silver Tongue. Melissa challenges other bloggers to use her Words of the Day in their own blog posts; and, to be honest, I have been planning for quite a while to use this one. I love this word!



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I've just learned, through my friend Laura Spencer's Writing Thoughts blog, that Brad Shorr, at Word Sell is sponsoring a Group Writing Project through which he is seeking blog entries describing the blogger's favorite business book.

(I apologize that I'm a bit late in mentioning this project. I've been somewhat out of the blogging "loop" lately, since my new job has caused me to get a bit behind in my visits to my favorite blogs--not to mention in my posts to my own blog--for which I also apologize!)

However, I find the business book topic most intriguing--as I hope many of my readers will, as well--and I do have a business book (or, actually, two) that I, personally, have found helpful and worthy of recommending to others.

The first is a business classic, called Tested Sentences that Sell, by Elmer Wheeler. This is the book that popularized the motto, "Don't sell the steak--sell the sizzle!" This book is full of gems such as that one, which can help us learn just what it is that actually induces people to buy something--whether it be a vacuum cleaner, an insurance policy, a magazine article, or even an idea.

I read this book several years ago (though I still own an aging, fading copy), and it has helped me to understand that there is so much more to "salesmanship"--both in business and in life--than merely pointing out the actual (or factual) features of the "item" in question; there is the intangible, yet equally critical, emotional reward--the perceived benefit--that comes from receiving value, convenience, protection, comfort, enjoyment, prestige, or fun from ownership of the product--and this is the dimension that must be stressed if we hope to effectively influence our prospect to "buy" whatever it is we may be selling.

(This isn't to imply that the product itself needn't be of high quality. It would be difficult, at best, to generate "sizzle" over an inferior product. It is simply that the effective salesperson is the one who can help the potential customer envision the ways in which his or her life, happiness, or peace of mind would be simplified, improved, or increased by accepting ownership of the "product.")

Another timeless "sales" principle presented in this book is "Don't ask if--ask which!" A number of years ago, I was fortunate enough to see this principle in action, as I witnessed a co-worker, who was a "natural born" salesman, work his "magic" on his sales prospects each day. I hadn't yet read the book at the time; but I was nonetheless both amazed and impressed by this young salesman, who seemed the epitome of persuasive self-confidence. Years later, after I'd finally read the book, I recognized that young salesman's incredibly smooth, self-assured, and confident delivery as adeptness at this particular sales technique.

This book is a fascinating study of the various factors that combine to influence a customer to make the decision to buy. It is loaded with principles such as those already mentioned--in addition to a number of others which can give the business person a revealing glimpse into the inner motivations that--when properly handled and nurtured--will, often as not, induce the customer to buy.

Another business book that I have found to be quite insightful is Lions Don't Need to Roar, by D.A. (Debra) Benton. This is a newer book, published in 1992, which I also read a few years ago and which explains all the important principles for making and maintaining a favorable impression, properly relating to others, developing and communicating competence, and making it to the top in business. This volume is filled with gems of wisdom for creating success both in business and in life.

It's difficult to say precisely how much of an effect these books have had on my career; but I am certain that both have had an impact, helping me to understand a great deal more about the way the world of business works and enabling me to be better prepared for the challenges I face as I seek to fulfill my responsibilities with excellence.

If you are able to acquire either--or, better still, both--of these books, give them a read. You'll learn some timeless principles which will stand you in good stead in almost any area of endeavor!

Happy reading!
Jeanne


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