Writing as a Business

Image by B1gJ4k3 via Flickr

Here is a good article on setting yourself up in the writing business, regardless of whether you want to write full or part time.  Useful info for sure. 

http://lifehacker.com/5602287/how-to-set-up-your-writing-as-a-real-business.


Lifehacker is a great site for useful information on a wide variety of topics, by the way.

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What are the key elements to an effective Online Promotion ?

As of March 2009, Google reports that their index contains over 25 Billion web pages. In addition, Google engineers have discovered over 1 trillion unique Internet addresses. The Internet is truly a vast, (and rapidly growing), repository of the world's information.

There are approximately 6.7 billion people in the world today. Currently, only a fraction, or about about 1.5 Billion have access to the Internet. The distribution favors Asia, with 657 million, Europe with 393 million, North America with 251 million, Latin America with 173 million, and the rest of the world with a little over 100 million.

Although Asia has the largest number of users, the percentage of users with access to the Internet is also the lowest. Only 17% of the population of Asia is online. Japan (72%), and Korea (74%), have high percentages of their population on the Internet, but China and India both lag far behind. In Europe the percentage is nearly 50%, and in North America it is over 75%. Asia is clearly the area with the most potential for growth.

Certainly the size of the web at 25 billion is impressive, but more importantly, how can your customers find your web site on the Internet out of the billions of web pages that exist ? Regardless of whether you are promoting a book, a product, or a service on the Internet, the principles of online promotion are the same.

It doesn't matter how big the Internet grows, your customers will probably find your web site using one of the major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask.com, etc.

The most popular search engine on the Internet is Google, by quite a wide margin. Over 63 % of Internet searches are made through Google, according to recent information.

If you want to get good search results on Google, the basis of any online promotion should first consider the keywords by which your site can be found. This is one of the most important things to investigate. It is worthwhile to carefully consider the keywords you select when an online promotion is created.

Think of it in terms of advertising. Every word, every image in advertising is carefully crafted to create an impression in the minds of potential prospects. The "impression" on Google is not based on image, or on aesthetics, or clever ad copy, but solely on quality content using keywords. That is the critical importance of keywords on Google and the other search engines.

Do the keywords that you plan to target generate a significant amount of monthly traffic on Google ? Obscure keywords will not generate significant traffic for your web site.

Another key component is to use these keywords to create original written content. You may not feel that you are a professional writer, but you do not need to be one. Believe it or not, there is no ranking on Google that gives credit for writing ability. In reality, if you own your own business, who can create content in your own unique way for your particular product better than you can ?

Quality content sprinkled with keywords is the fertilizer that will grow good results on Google searches. Since spring has now arrived, it is definitely the time to plant some good keyword seeds for your business on the Internet.

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Also try any of these free classified ad sites for your online promotion

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http://jonlomb.1-family.com/Employment.shtml

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http://jonlomb.1-family.com/Hobbies.shtml

http://jonlomb.1-family.com/Jewelry.shtml

http://jonlomb.1-family.com/Misc.shtml

http://jonlomb.1-family.com/Misc.shtml

http://jonlomb.1-family.com/Pets.shtml

http://jonlomb.1-family.com/RealEstate.shtml

http://jonlomb.1-family.com/ServicesNeeded.shtml

http://jonlomb.1-family.com/ServicesOffered.shtml

http://jonlomb.1-family.com/Sports.shtml

http://jonlomb.1-family.com/Travel.shtml

http://jonlomb.1-family.com/Video.shtml

http://www.lulu.com/content/5548827

http://blogfather.net/blog.php?FID=6103

The Spirited Goldfinch - Links for Writers

Hello all.
Do you like this map of NJ ? I thought I would add an image to the blog, just to see how it looks.


Here are a few web sites that might help in your writing.

This website updates it's main page twice weekly. This week's article is on the 10 most important web resources for writers. www.writetodone.com

http://www.languageisavirus.com/ you may find interesting. There is a section on how to overcome writer's block. Another entry is a character name generator, if you are looking for an appropriate name for one of your characters.

Also see:

http://preciseedit.com

http://www.planetebook.com/

http://www.triond.com/ - get paid (small amounts), for writing articles.


http://www.oneword.com/


http://www.webook.com/911writersblock

http://www.webook.com/WritingTips/index

By the way. Whenever you post anything on-line, regardless of whether it is on a blog, forum post, web site, etc., don't forget to include the following line:

http://www.lulu.com/content/5548827

and The Spirited Goldfinch, NJ Writer's Group, as well.


Happy Writing !

John Lombaerde

The Spirited Goldfinch

Dear Friends,

It's been quite a while since anyone has posted something here, but it doesn't mean we haven't been busy. We've continued our biweekly meetings, hopping from home to home, getting to know each other and sharing each other's works. Now we have something to show for all our efforts. Our so-called anthology has just been published in the form of a literary journal, going by the name of "The Spirited Goldfinch," named after the state bird of our fair Garden State (that's New Jersey, for the uninformed). One hundred and twenty-one pages in length, it contains 8 works of both fiction and nonfiction written by six of our group's members. Rather than say more, let me just post here the introduction to what we hope will be a continuing periodical:

In December 2006 a circle of literary-minded friends began meeting on a bi-weekly basis in Little Falls, New Jersey. They shared a common passion for writing and a desire to use their creative skills to engage America in re-examining her role in the world as a nation of goodness.

Month after month, members of the group have been meeting in each other’s homes, sharing their literary efforts and exposing their work to one another’s constructive criticism. We encouraged each other to express his or her vision as a spiritual artist and to showcase his or her unique “song”. When enough material was generated, we decided to launch the first volume of a literary digest.

Being New Jersey-based, the Writers’ Haven, as the group decided to call itself, chose to name its first publication The Spirited Goldfinch. This conjures up the image of the New Jersey state bird singing a passionate song of the soul. Our first work is an anthology of writings from the group’s members with their diverse literary interests. In these pages the reader will find short story fiction, semi-autobiographical material, literary analysis, biblical exegesis and reflective essays on various topics.

For all the diversity of this collection, the group shares certain fundamental values that bind the material together. We believe in:

1. God – There is a benevolent, all-encompassing and all-loving Creator to whom we are beholden as children. Our status as God’s children makes us brothers and sisters to one another. We are one human family under God.

2. Spirituality – There is a spiritual reality and a need for spiritual insights in this age. We believe in an afterlife that reflects the quality of our life on earth.

3. Marriage and Family – Marriage between a man and a woman is the basic building block and most fundamental unit of society. Marriage is precious, holy, and the only fitting place for the expression of human sexuality. As such, marriage should not be easily abrogated. The families that result from marriage are human beings’ schools of love and a foundation for relating to others throughout one’s lifetime.

4. Service – Those who consider and live for the benefit of others bring joy to God, their fellow human beings, and themselves.

5. Unity – Because we are one human family under God, any distinctions based upon race, ethnicity, religion or nationality, are ultimately inconsequential in the light of our fundamental identity as sons and daughters of God and should not divide us or affect our essential unity.

We hope that the reader will find this introductory volume interesting, thought-provoking, inspiring, and illuminating. We invite others to join with us as we work to create a more heavenly culture.

Please feel free to contact us at http://njwritersgroup.blogspot.com/.

Well, that's where you are right now, so you needn't go any further. We invite interested parties to go to www.lulu.com to order a copy of The Spirited Goldfinch and check it out for yourself. We hope you will find it inspiring and uplifting. We invite you to contact us and give us your thoughts on the book.

Our plan is to come out with a second issue this summer. All aspiring or already successful writers are welcome to submit their work, be it fiction, nonfiction or poetry for review.

God bless you all until next time.