LinkedIn Groups - Why should I join 50 LinkedIn Groups?

LinkedIn Groups - Why should I join 50 LinkedIn Groups?

MarketHive may be the next Big Thing in Social Networking for Entrepreneurs!

MarketHive may very well be the next generation of Social Network to change the way business is done on the Internet.  Every few years now on the Internet, there are companies that develop new innovative ways of marketing and communication.

It is likely that MarketHive will be that kind of disruptive company that breaks the rules or status quo. on the Internet. MarketHive may become the social network of the year in 2015.

You may ask why I would say that.  If we look merely from the viewpoint of authors, (who are really entrepreneurs in today's digital publishing marketplace), MarketHive seems to have hit a sweet spot.

Did you know that Amazon's catalogue, or inventory of ebooks went from two million titles at the beginning of 2014 to over 3 million titles at the beginning of 2015. This is simply a phenomenal increaese of historical proportions!  It is no wonder that individual authors in most cases, have seen falling revenues for their ebooks. It is a simple case of supply and demand.

So what does MarketHive have to do with authors?  In order to get a publishing contract these days, or to be successful as a self-publisher, you need to have a following of readers. If you are trying to sell your books on Facebook, unless you are a very knowledgeable and experienced marketer, you are unlikely to have great success.  If you have a big marketing budget, you might be able to buy an audience on Facebook, but there are substantial risks as well.  On MarketHive you will have a much, much easier time to find readers and gain a following.

Supposing Facebook gave you a link and said that anyone who joins Facebook from this link will automatically become your Facebook friend, instead of requiring someone to track you down on Facebook, ask to become a friend, etc,

Would that be something valuable?  You can bet on it!  Or if you could set up a group and automatically have your new friends become members of that group.  Would that also be desirable? Of course it would be. Or if you could have a free autoresponder to communicate with your friends and group members.  What would that be worth!

This is just the beginning of what MarketHive offers for entrepreneurs. Membership in MarketHive is completely free, but right now you can join by invitation only.  I expect sometime in March it will be open to the general public.

You can learn more about MarketHive at Goldfinch Digital Marketing my main blog.

There is also a growing amount of information available on the Internet now, including on YouTube.    You can also visit the MarketHive Blog. Good Luck in all your endeavors and God Bless!

Waterhole on the Granite Plateau Creek, Mawson Plateau, South Australia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here is quite an unusual post I ran across on Stumbleupon.  (Where else would you find such an ephemeral blog post)?

I must admit I had only heard of one or two of these words before.  What do you think of them?

www.highexistence.com/theres-a-word-for-that-25-expressions-you-should-have-in-your-vocabulary/1/

Just cut and paste the URL above.  What do you think about these words?  You would certainly surprise your friends by using them in conversation, n'est-ce pas?

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The Incomplete List of Internet Resources for Writers

A neon sign (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Resource List for Writers

(The incomplete, yet beneficial list of Internet Writer Resources)

Although this list is of course, not a comprehensive one, I believe it is helpful for writers to have a list of resources in a single location.  

A few words of caution are needed. If you click on any of the links below, you may find that hours may pass unnoticed. You may be late for your appointments, or miss them entirely. 

The author of this post is in no way responsible for hours lost at work, or for any loss of productivity resulting from time spent to click on the links below. 

Caveat Emptor applies here, even though no purchase may have been made.  

The reader is wholly responsible for his or her own time, and the writer assumes no responsibility for your total immersion in the content found on the following websites.

Immerse away, and please enjoy!

http://thewritelife.com/100-best-websites-for-writers-2014/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/06/28/50-free-resources-that-will-improve-your-writing-skills/

http://www.forwriters.com/references.html

http://www.writersdigest.com/writersresources

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/bookbiz/writers.htm

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/category/writer-resources

http://www.writerswrite.com/

http://blog.emilysuess.com/resources-writers/

http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Writers_Resources/

http://www4.uwm.edu/writingcenter/writers-resources.cfm

http://aalbc.com/writers/

http://www.internet-resources.com/writers/

http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/cla/departments/english/wrl/

http://library.wwu.edu/wc_resources

http://www.poewar.com/

http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/links.html

http://writingcenters.org/resources/

http://www.literary-liaisons.com/resources.html

http://www.writingassist.com/resources/links/

http://writersresourcedirectory.com/

http://education-portal.com/articles/40_of_the_Best_Websites_for_Young_Writers.html

http://lynettebentonwriting.com/2014/01/the-100-best-websites-for-writers-2014/

http://www.freelancewritersonline.com/the-best-websites-for-writers/

http://www.dailyblogtips.com/top-resource-100-sites-writers/

http://www.slideshare.net/gordonowen1/i-go-20182552

https://www.pinterest.com/kamigarcia/websites-apps-for-writers/

http://www.writing.com/

http://www.collipsis.com/index.php/awards/awards-collipsis-won/256-14th-annual-101-best-websites-for-writers

http://www.writerscafe.org/

http://www.christymossburg.com/14-best-websites-writers/

http://drosophiliac.com/2012/10/writing-better-than-you-normally-do.html

http://thejohnfox.com/2012/09/the-ultimate-guide-to-writing-better-than-you-normally-do/

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/34-writing-tips-that-will-make-you-a-better-writer/

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Project Blogger (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

OK, this blog is getting a bit lonely, so I wanted to add a discussion of a blog post that I found thoroughly entertaining.  I could easily spend an hour or more on it. Let me know if you feel the same.

Jon Morrow, is an accomplished blogger, and blogger trainer. I'm not sure I agree with his proposition that you should spend upwards of 20 hours on your blog posts.  (I confess to have spent more than an hour on a single post - which I feel is probably excessive, given my time contraints).  In any event, Morrow's latest post is filled with links to some extraordinarily interesting blogs that should not be missed.

Jon Morrow is not just a blogger.  He has turned blogging into a craft, over which he is a master.

101 Writing Resources That'll Take You From Stuck to Unstoppable.

This is the triumph of the Internet! I am recommending his blog post mainly because of his links.  I'm not saying his prose is not worthly of attention, but his links .....  wow!  I hope you feel the same way, and let me know if you do, or do not.

(Actually, I have one more confession, I have not yet visited all the links on the post).  It is sort of a work in process, but I wanted to let readers know about this resource as soon as possible.  Everything is for the benefit of the reader on this blog, "everyone knows that".  (Like in the Geico commercials). Note:  the preceding was a non-commercial non-endorsement of a known trademarked brand name.

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Intro to Kindle Publishing

Amazon Kindle (Photo credit: agirregabiria)

Why would any writer want to avoid the large publishing  companies, (were all the big money is), and publish on the Amazon Kindle platform?  That has to be crazy talk, right?

Crazy like a fox, I think.  Amazon's Kindle Publishing platform may be the best opportunity for writers that has come along, well, since writing was invented, many thousands of years ago.  You just have to abide by their rules, (most of which are simply common sense).

You will not have to endure the endless waiting game and frustration, of sending your manuscript to publishers, only to receive a politely worded response that your book does not fit what they are looking for.  They never really explain exactly what they are looking for, do they?

There are some technical issues you will have to understand, such as formatting for electronic distribution.  It is not as simple as uploading your text from Word, but with a little research, you can overcome this obstacle. You will also have to find a way to get your own book cover art designed, but this is not as big a problem as you might think.

Unfortunately, there is one huge obstacle that writers need to understand, and it may not be an easy thing to digest.  When you write an ebook, you are not just a writer any more, like it or not, you are a now a writer/co-publisher.  This means if you want to be successful, you will have to think like a publisher and learn to market your books as well as write them.

Note:  if this seems distasteful to you, maybe you need to question how much you really want to be successful.  It  is simply a matter of learning a new skill.  It just might be something you enjoy, so go ahead and taste the green eggs.  Welcome to the new world of digital self-publishing!

Note to those who would like to comment on this blog.  Recently there has been a flood of comments to this post in particular.  Please do not try to post comments using the name Anonymous.  Use your real name or a nickname that you are using on the Internet.  

Any constructive comment on topic will be published.  If you are merely trying to promote your own website or products, this is not a very effective way to gain links.  It will not be a very effective strategy for your search engine optimization efforts to link back your website though a simple comment.  I cannot encourage this kind of tactic, or technique.  Google appreciates a wide variety of different types of links and various types of links through keywords, and phrases in their rankings.  Please visit seomoz.org for a thorough understanding of effective link building.

Thank you for your understanding.  

John  Lombaerde


Note:  if you are interested in blogging for personal or professional reasons.  I run a group called Practical WordPress group at MarketHive.  At the moment, it is a private Social Networking site for Entrepreneurs, but in February it will open to the public and it will be completely free to join.  You can find out everything you need to know on my blog at Goldfinch Digital Publishing LLC

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How to write and publish on Kindle

Amazon Kindle eBook Reader (Photo credit: goXunuReviews)

Note to all blog writers.  I recommend that you install Zemanta for Firefox, or for Chrome.  It is a great aid in blogging.  You can not only choose images that are freely available from the public domain, but you can get suggested links for recently written blog posts, and tags that are similar to your blog posts.

If you look at some of my previous posts here, you will see examples of this.  It not only adds some "spice" but improves the content of the blog as well.

Drop a comment below, if you would like additional information on how to use Zemanta.  Thanks.

PS - (Shhh!!!) This blog will soon have some content on how to write for Amazon Kindle.  I am now in the  process of investigation into the publishing and marketing possibilities.  .....  Maybe a blog isn't the best way to keep it a secret. Ok, the cat is out of the bag.  I will be soon releasing my first Kindle Book.

Look for a link to appear here, hopefully within the next 2 weeks.  In the meantime, check out the links below.

Thanks.  Happy Writing !

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