Sabtu, 29 Desember 2012

Six Writing Traits for Success

Writing Traits - This article is based on an article in "Teaching That Makes Sense." Although the article was geared for teaching students, the tips that are included are great for bloggers and adult writers as well.

I am an avid blogger and write at least three posts a day. My style is rapid involves rapid communication of ideas. Because, I am such an analytical person, I find myself self censoring quite a bit. I find that rapid writing (what I call power blogging) allows me to get out my best ideas before my analytical mind shuts down the creative process.

However, there are challenges with this style because it puts me at risk of not communicating ideas succinctly or in a way where an audience will be able to easily identify what is being communicated. You may be a rapid writer or a methodical writer and there are pros and cons to each style.

The tips listed below will provide a general guideline of what you should look for in your writing and the writing of others.

Ideas that are interesting and important. Ideas are the heart of the piece - what the writer is writing about and the information he or she chooses to write about it.

Organization that is logical and effective. Organization refers to the order of ideas and the way the writer moves from one idea to the next.

Voice that is individual and appropriate. Voice is how the writing feels to someone when they read it. Is it formal or casual? Is it friendly and inviting or reserved and standoffish? Voice is the expression of the writer's personality through words.

Word Choice that is specific and memorable. Good writing uses just the right words to say just the right things.

Sentence Fluency that is smooth and expressive. Fluent sentences are easy to understand and fun to read with expression.

Conventions that are correct and communicative. Conventions are the ways we all agree to use punctuation, spelling, grammar, and other things that make writing consistent and easy to read.

Now like anything else, you can focus on these traits while you are planning your writing and in the review process. I would suggest reading through the traits before you start each writing session. Do not worry about committing it to memory.

You can even verbalize the traits and say something like - During this writing session, my writing will include the following traits. After a while, your subconscious mind will actually take over and start improving your writing to include these traits.

After your writing is done, when you can detach from the writing, go through and rank yourself based on each of the traits. The rankings do not need to be perfect but if you commit them to paper, you can see which areas may need more attention and which areas are improving over a period of time. This will allow for an objective evaluation of what you are writing.

Work on improving on the six writing traits that are listed and you will find that you are getting a much greater response to what you are committing to paper.

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Conquering Essay Writing To Pass Your Praxis II Test!

The Praxis II test has a reputation among future teachers as being a tough test to pass. And for many, the part that is the toughest is the essay part. The essay section in the Praxis II test is meant to test your writing skills. You have only around one hour in which you have to write a grammatically correct and informative essay.

When it comes to essay writing, there isn't anything much that you can study for. However there definitely are some tips that you can use to prepare yourself to score big on your Praxis II essay section. These simple techniques have been taught by Praxis II test experts to countless test candidates and so far these techniques have not let anyone down. Read on to learn them.

Four Steps To Score On Your Praxis II Essay Section

Here are four main steps that you should take if you want to write a good, informative essay:

1. First, make sure you understand the topic given to you.

2. Create the main theme of your essay.

3. Write the outline of your essay down.

4. Finally, you're ready to write your essay.

Understanding your essay topic is the most important step to take before you start writing. If you don't know what your essay should be about, you'll end up writing an essay with a different theme altogether. So take a few minutes to read the topic given to you and understand it. This shouldn't take more than three to four minutes as the Praxis II essay questions are usually easy to understand.

After you've read and grasped the topic of your essay, it's now time to think of your theme. It's also known as the main argument or the thesis statement; however you want to call it. This is important because your main theme is the foundation of your essay. This should also take a short time only if you've understood your essay topic well.

In writing an essay, you'll need to write down your outline for the essay. This should just take around five minutes as you only need to write down what is your main argument, an introduction to it, your supporting points and also your conclusion to further strengthen your argument. You are scored mostly on how well your supporting points strengthen your essay.

The only step left is to write your essay. You should have enough time to write a clear and grammatically correct essay if you have already a good outline. Also don't forget to read through your essay again to correct any mistakes if there are any.

With these steps, I'm sure you'll ace the essay part of your Praxis II test. Don't forget to practice your writing and do a lot of reading as well. All the best!

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Rabu, 26 Desember 2012

Breaking All of the Rules With Your Writing

This is about hanging out on the skinny branches with your writing and your writing efforts. Now, if you have spent anytime online you know that one of the best ways to get traffic is through search engine optimization.

The formula is pretty simple -

1. Create great content.

2. Create on page optimization.

3. Get links to your site.

4. Support people in commenting on your site.

However, this model is becoming less and less important as we move forward. The search engines are getting smarter and smarter and are picking up when people are gaming the system.

All that is going to matter in the future is 1 and 4, or at least that is where I am putting my money.

This article is not being typed by somebody that I paid and I have paid for a lot of articles in the past. You land on those articles and they are not only useless but they are also not real and are not created with care. This article comes from the heart.

The things that I share are things that matter to me and they are completely real and come from my perspective in the moment. Now, the truth of the matter is that I have no idea if this will work or if this will be worth reading.

Even if people read what I have to say, will it make a difference for them? I really do not know and am not sure. However, what I do believe is that natural expression always wins out in the end.

Now, the truth is that I will not read this article after it is written and I do not even know if the ideas in this article makes sense, but I am imagining the day where I can earn a fulltime living just sharing about the things that I care about.

You see, I can take other ideas and write on a keyword. However, I really do not enjoy doing and do not think that this will make a difference for me or for somebody else.

Who knows, this experiment could be a complete failure but if it is not a complete failure and is a success, then life as we know it will change.

All I do is pull out my laptop whenever I can and I start to rage on the keyboard. I get the sentences out as quickly as I can because there is always another one right behind that is great.

Could I slow down and think through what I am doing? I guess but I have spent too much time (or should I say) wasted too much time thinking.

I am not talking about the deep pondering that causes great results. I am talking about the thinking that takes in circles and back again. That stuff is not fun and really does not make a difference for people.

Break all of the rules with your writing. You may fail and you may not get what you want but you will know that you brought yourself to the game and that is what really matters in the end.

Please start to rage on your keyboard. We can play together.

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Senin, 24 Desember 2012

English Essay Writing

A few observations could be made on English essays and English essay writing. The first thing about the essay is that it is a literary work that is indefinable in nature. It is a definitely a type of literature, but it is not exactly possible to be analyzed, and that is the reason for which literary men and critics differ widely in their assessment of the nature of an essay. Secondly, an essay may be written on any subject irrespective of it being high or low, slight or great. The art of English essay-writing is dependent on the adequate treatment of the concerning subject. The third relevant issue is the importance of the manner in writing an essay. In fact, it is the very manner, as a customary practice, a few observations may be made on essay and not the subject itself that counts in the essay, which has to be impressive and attractive enough in expression. The mode or the pattern of writing is the fourth aspect in the essay. There are no golden rules in terms of the narrative, reflective, subjective and so on, and the essayist may have his own choice of method. The golden key to good English essay writing is freedom of writing.

The writer is given the liberty to choose his own technique in order to make his writing impressive and attractive at the same time. The final observation in English essay writing is that there the style of the essay writer that cannot grow under the fetters of instructions. The style with which the essayist writes is the product of his independent self and may differ from other essay writers. It is needless to mention that English essay writing is a distinct form of literary art, and needs a very creative spirit as well as well as a creative way of writing. A good English essay writing depends, too, like other successful literary form, on the right interpretation of the matter and the manner, of the content and the form. Informality and freedom are the qualities of an essay as distinguished from a dissertation. The want of an organic quality and the absence of that orderly and logical mode of procedure that we look for in the more ambitious kinds of literature may be reckoned among the most pronounced structural peculiarities of the English essay writing. Essay rose because men felt a desire to express through a vehicle in which they could enjoy something of a freedom of expression.

The well-marked tendency among modern English essayists towards greater logical regularity and consistency of structure is only one among many other signs of the evolution of the literary type of English essay writing in response to changing conditions. With Lamb, Hazlitt and De Quincy, the English essay writing became the popular form in which the mind roams independently, soars and sinks. The mantle has fallen on the modern essayists.

Lucas says:

"His body lies a-moldering in the grave

But his soul goes marching on"

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Minggu, 23 Desember 2012

Writer's Block Is a Scourge - How to Get Rid of It

In the world of writing, nothing seems to get in the way of a good writer. Everything they write is just flowing through their fingertips at the speed of light, and pure genius is born in the form of words!

Well that is not always the case when it comes to the dreaded writers block. If you're a writer that might be all to familiar to you.

Here are some tips for writing, to avoid that awful experience known as "the writer's block."

1. Let the Words Flow

Writing in general, is a long process that takes a couple of hours or more just to generate ideas. Sometimes it's a good idea just to let the words flow, whether on paper or on a keyboard. The best way to do this is to get a pencil and paper, and write down whatever comes to mind.

2. Make an Outline

Starting off with a plan can be helpful. Making an outline is a good way get the main ideas of your paper, such as characters, plot twist, and a general idea of what the main theme of the paper is going be (this can be very helpful for science fiction writers).

3. Research Your Favorite Book

Inspiration can come at any time, even reading. Try taking notes of your favorite books and get a general idea of how it was constructed. For instance, if you're a science fiction writer, try reading your favorite Steven King novel to generate some ideas.

4. Local Library

What better place to go for books then the library. You can find books on the subject you are most passionate about. Books even on the subject of writing. The library also contains a wide verity of periodicals, and research material for any writer writing on subjects like history, science. For non-fiction writers, the library is a good place to start.

5. Take a Break

It's a good idea to just take a break from writing. Try another activity; take at least a 10 minutes to do something else or relax. If you have been working an hour take a break.

Remember writing takes time, concentration, and everything in between. Don't let writers block discourage you! If you have to, go outside and write about trees, write about how they look. Go with what you know, do a basic free-write. Like any profession, writing takes time and dedication.

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Rabu, 19 Desember 2012

Creative Writing Prompts - 5 Top Ways To Fuel Your Creative Writing With Prompts

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Tips To Faster Writing

One thing to keep in mind when writing articles is that only about 10% of it is the actual content on your main points and the other 90% is filler words. So essentially in a 400 word article about 40 words are the main or essential points. The other 360 are filler words. Knowing the main points will put you at about having 90% of your article already written. The only work that generally needs to be done is to find and research your main and supporting points. Everything else will be to "fill in the gaps." Even with practice researching your topic you can be done in about 5 or 10 minutes.

How Do You Research a Topic

Well there are any some ways to finding a topic to write about but from my research the best way is to pull your topic and supporting points from multiple sites. You can do this by, heading to any search engine typing in an idea you want to write about, attempt to grab the first 3 or 4 results you get from your search and pull your main and supporting points from there. Once your finished, your about 90% percent finished with your research, the rest is just creating a template that you can use for future use, find 90% percent of filler words and your article is complete. The hardest part of this is getting started and disciplining yourself to write from a template as oppose to all from conscious thought. Mastering this will allow you to write an article in 5 minutes instead of spending hours trying to write your next "compelling" article.

Why People Struggle To Write

For most experienced and novice writers, we often hear the phrase "writers block." It's a state of mind in which we mentally block ourselves from writing because the information we want to put on paper is not there. The best way to get over writers block is to simply write. Write about anything that comes to mind even if it doesn't make sense. Why you ask? Because what will begin to happen is that you'll start to realize that as writers we can't completely depend on conscious thought alone to write. We have to use our intuition and then can we truly have the ability to write compelling articles in about half the time which will save us hours of frustration and it can produce work that we are proud of.

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Sabtu, 15 Desember 2012

When to Edit, and When to Proofread

One of the biggest frustrations I hear from editors and book layout people is that authors don't understand what proofreading means.

As a simple definition, proofreading is reading an already finished and polished manuscript to look for any last errors that might have been missed when editing. If a manuscript is ready for proofreading, then the errors found should be fairly minor and probably not more than one per page, hopefully far less. Proofreading does not include editing or rewriting.

Many an editor has had an author approach him with a manuscript that is said to need proofreading but really needs editing. Editing is far more substantial than proofreading-it can involve rewriting sentences, deleting unnecessary content, writing in new content, moving around sentences, paragraphs, and even chapters, and also fixing grammatical and punctuation errors. Many editors will differentiate between copyediting, developmental editing, or other types of editing. A good editor hopefully will do all of them for you, but remember that not all editors are the same. You might find a great editor who can do a developmental edit to improve your book's content, to develop your characters or help to strengthen your plot, but he might not be so great at knowing comma rules, how to catch split infinitives, or at fixing subject-pronoun agreement issues.

Every book needs editing. If an author says a book needs proofreading, it most likely needs editing unless the author has already had someone else edit the book, and even then, only if that person is qualified as an editor.

Most editors will do a free sample edit of a few pages of a manuscript so the author can see what needs to be done in terms of editing-sentence structure, organization, grammar, and punctuation-and after the sample edit is done, the author will generally agree it is editing, not simply proofreading that needs to be done, if the editor knows what he's doing. It doesn't hurt to get a few editing samples before choosing an editor to make sure you find an editor who will give the book the full attention to detail that it needs.

After the editor finishes editing the manuscript and the author is happy with the edits, it's important to find a third party who is really good at proofreading to go through the manuscript to catch those few errors the author and editor did not catch; your editor might proofread for you, but a third set of eyes is never a bad idea. Just make sure the person is a qualified proofread-your wife or best friend are most likely not.

Once the proofreading is finished, the manuscript is done and ready for layout. Here is where "proofreading" again becomes a term that authors fail to understand and that can frustrate both the editor/proofreader and the layout person.

It's been said many times that no book is ever finished. We simply choose at some point to abandon it-which often means we believe it is ready for publication. No book that has ever been written has been perfect, and no book has ever suited everyone's tastes. You might produce a beautifully written, grammatically correct, perfectly punctuated book, but it could still have some rewriting done to make it better. The problem is, once the book is sent to the layout person, the author must restrain himself from rewriting. An author should be absolutely confident that the book is ready for publication when it is sent to the layout person. If it's not, then keep editing and proofreading. Just don't do it after the book is laid out.

Layout people do not read the books they lay out; they are not editors or proofreaders, and they will not fix your typos and other errors unless you find them and ask for them to be fixed.

The layout process includes converting the manuscript into a new program. Today, authors generally write books in Microsoft Word or some other word processing program, and editors will edit the book in the same program. But when the book goes to the layout person, the text is converted into a design file, such as InDesign, a program made specifically to design a book.

The layout person will send the proofs-the completed laid out book in pdf format (or occasionally paper)-to the author to approve. At this point, only proofreading should be done. The pdf is not the book but a copy of the book, and it cannot be edited directly. I know many editors and layout people who have been extremely frustrated with authors who decide at this point that they need to insert sentences and paragraphs, reword phrases, and flip around chapters. Once the author receives the proofs, whether as a pdf or in paper form, the author should only look for typos, and every change should be deemed absolutely necessary. Only the layout person, not the editor, can make any changes the author wants, although any changes should be run by the editor to make sure grammatical errors, of which the author might be unaware, will not be introduced into the text.

It can be very time-consuming for everyone involved if the author decides to make changes to the proofs beyond fixing a few typos; a paper printout of the laid out book must be marked up, or a separate document created in which are written down all the requested changes with page number and page placement for easy reference. The more corrections requested and more extensive they are, the more likelihood that further errors will be introduced into the book. Stylistic preferences do not count as corrections and should not be made at this point-only the correction of serious errors. In short, after the book is laid out is not the time to rewrite.

Many layout people, and especially the print-on-demand subsidy publishing houses, will charge authors for any changes they make to the book because so many authors have failed to understand that once a book is laid out, rewriting is not appropriate. Other layout people will allow a set number, such as twenty-five or fifty, corrections for free, and anything over that will be charged by the hour or by the individual correction. Some layout people will even request the author make the changes in the Word document if major rewriting is needed, and then the book will need to be laid out again, and the author will be charged accordingly since it may well be less time-consuming for the layout person to lay out the entire book again than individually have to insert a couple of hundred small changes-and again, don't forget that each correction made has the potential for introducing a new typo.

Authors, make your life easier and your layout person and editor's lives easier. Learn the difference between proofreading and editing and when one or the other is needed. When you sign off on that manuscript as finished and send it to the layout person, make sure it is as perfect as it's going to be to save everyone time, money, and frustration. Then the last stage of the book's production will go easily and the book can quickly be sent to the printer.

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Jumat, 14 Desember 2012

Creative Writing Prompts - Learn How to Develop Creative Writing Abilities

Creative writing prompts are something that can help you develop creative writing abilities in you. You can develop your inherent talent of writing in a better manner using writing prompts.

Develop Your Writing Abilities:

Not everybody is capable of writing creative stuff. It is something that one is born with. However, you can develop your talent if you think that you have got that potentiality in you. With right exercise or training, you can develop your aspect of creative writing and nothing can serve this purpose better than writing prompts.

What is the Writing Prompt All About?

If you are not familiar with the term "writing prompt", then you will think that what it is all about. Well, it is simply an idea or a phrase you can use as a starting point to write your stuff. In other words, it is a technique or a way to get started with to let your innate creativity unfold. If you are not sure that you are having some kind of writing ability, then these prompts can help you bring out your latent or potentiality.

How Do Writing Prompts work?

Writing prompts are not something that will tell you how to write and what type of words you should employ into your writing. All depends on you how to translate your ideas, thoughts and feelings into creative writing. The prompts just provide you with a starting point to expressing your imagination. They are a great help especially when you are feeling blocked or empty of inspiration. When you use prompts, your mind will learn to anticipate what the prompt might have been, and it helps in filling in the gaps.

Reflecting on Your Past Writing:

It is very crucial to have confidence in you that you are capable to write creatively. And for that reason, you should reflect on your past writing. Find out some of your past writing stuff and assess them which will help you learn that the creativity you are talking about, you are capable of. Even from your immature works, you can learn the instances of your creative potentiality.

Believe in You and Start Writing!

Once you realize that there is a creative writing potentiality in you, you can start writing straightforward. You can develop your ability slowly and gradually. You can also read some pieces of creative writing to get the ideas. But using creative writing prompts, you can give your writing a brilliant head start!

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Selasa, 11 Desember 2012

How to Start Freelancing in 2012

I've been Freelancing. Yes I have. I mentioned this several days ago in my post Ah, Here we Go Again, that I have begun to write stuffs for moneys. For years I've wanted to know to do this; I've searched through writing forums, read books, and queried, queried, queried! For a nineteen year old with no Freelance credits behind me-the path wasn't even. I've found that there are 5 necessary things for the aspiring freelance writer to do in order to secure some job offers and further build their portfolio.

Warning! I am not a super rich professional nor am I someone who has built up a massive portfolio- I have been freelancing for the past month and have secured several clients throwing a couple hundred bucks in my bank. Here we go!)

1. Assemble your Resume'

Before I began to look up job offers I knew within myself that I needed to have something to show. I had one or two publishing credits, but I knew this wouldn't matter and I had a resume`, but I bet that wouldn't do either. I started from scratch. I assembled a resume` listing my blogging experience, my current degree pursuit in college (Creative Writing), and an article I had published at Bookkus Publishing and a guest post. I tooted my own horn at my blog and it's audience, picked a sweet template from Google Docs (I guess Google Drive now bleh), and saved it as a.doc file ready to send it out to any one I thought would be a good fit.

2. Samples of Your Work

This is the one step that troubled me when I first started. How can I send samples of my work if I've never written any content for a client? See the general rules of thumb for samples of your work are broad: I generally use a nice guest post I've written, or a single article on publishing I've written, or even some of my better blog posts. Granted each of these gets a fresh edit and is assembled at its finest. Granted for a themed publication, the best bet is to show work on something similar, but I've noticed that some just wish to see your ability to write. If they require a link rather than an attachment direct them to your blog or even E-zine Articles. Remember the prize is in the pudding.

3. Finding the Gigs

Where do you find these gigs? Below I'll leave a list of places where the majority of work may be found, but remember this is a business. You may find prospective clients on the internet, at your local coffee shop, or through friends and family.

Elance (High paying jobs, but you will be competing with top notch professionals)
Guru (Same as Elance. Just remember persistence is key).
Text Broker (Just started using this, seems promising; haven't landed a client yet).
Craigslist (Some may find it slightly sketchy, but I've landed 3 clients and one ongoing one $$)
Loads and loads of others! Just Google it!
Remember that if something seems odd, don't continue. This is the internet and of course, sometimes people don't have your best interest in mind.

4. Research your Assignments

For my ongoing client I write about online slot games and occasionally I review online casinos. Now prior to this gig I had no idea about this! I can't even legally gamble! However, through loads and loads and loads of research I have become quite knowledgeable in this field and I knock out assignments with ease. To make things easier for myself I use Evernote to clip information from the web and then I refer to that throughout my writing. Trust me- this will save you tons of time and frustration!

5. Stick to a Deadline

Remember time is money and so is each of your assignments. Upon receiving your assignments get to work! Nothing is worse than being dropped by your client because you can't stick to deadline. Of course things in life come up and a well placed email can easily ask for more time and if applicable you may just as well receive that! As of right now I have three assignments sitting in my mailbox and will get to work on them the second this post is published. Don't hesitate. Your best bet is to set a side a certain part of the day to complete your assignments- mine is in the morning after my daily walk and as I drink down my coffee. Sticking to deadline will relieve stress and assure you complete your assignments. Remember this is business.

Well here are just five tips to get you Freelancing in 2012. Depending on how this post does and how you readers like this, I will post more on freelancing.

Farewell everyone and good.

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Sabtu, 08 Desember 2012

Creative Writing Prompts Can Help You Get Started - Re-started & Finished In Your Writing Projects

Whether you've been struggling for ideas for new creative writing projects, getting stuck with where to take existing work, or trying to find the best ways to finish off your writing, using writing prompts can help.

A writing prompt is just a phrase or idea that gives your imagination a little boost to get going, and sets you off in a new direction, that you may not have thought of yourself. Think of writing prompts as a squirt of fuel on the fading embers of your writing that you thought were were about to die out for good.

Here's how prompts can help at each of the following stages of a writing project:

Getting Started

As writers we often complain of a lack of ideas, having nothing to get us going. How to have more ideas is a topic for another article, and in the mean time, a great way to get your creative juices flowing again is to use a writing prompt.

It's best to be spontaneous and go with what inspires you at the time, so scan through a few prompts you've found, or compiled yourself, and go with the first one that grabs your attention. Then start writing. The important part is to get going, don't worry about where your writing is heading, focus just on enjoying the story and ideas that are unfolding before you.

Getting Re-Started

There will always be writing projects you've begun that have come to a standstill for some reason. Sometimes they've reached a natural conclusion, but often you'll know that there's more potential there to explore. Which is where creative writing prompts come in.

Re-read the last section of your writing, then browse through a few prompts and take the first one that interests or inspires you. Just start writing. You don't have to begin from the precise point where your writing project ended. As you set off on your new piece of writing, because your unfinished piece is fresh in your mind, you'll naturally find ways of connecting the two. It may take 10 words, it may take a few hundred, but the energy inspired by the writing prompt will connect with the point where your writing project paused, and you'll be off again.

Getting Finished

Maybe you're someone who finds it easier to begin writing projects than to end them? This is the case with many other writers, you're far from alone. Again you can use a creative writing prompt to help you, but in this scenario it's a little back to front.

Familiarize yourself with how your current piece of writing ended. With this fresh in your thoughts, pick a writing prompt that catches your interest. Now imagine this prompt being the final sentence or point where your writing will end. How can bridge you the gap between where your writing finished and where the prompt is? Just asking this question will spur your creative mind into action. Try this with a few different prompts and you build up plenty of possible endings for your writing. Then go with what feels best.

Creative writing prompts are a very valuable tool for any writer, and can help whichever stage of a writing project you're at.

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Jumat, 07 Desember 2012

How To Write a Product Review

The reviews for products are a major part of internet writing, as webmasters and other internet investors are always looking to sell something. For this, product reviews are needed. In a land-based store, the client could actually see the characteristics of a product, but in the online world, the same user would want to examine the photos of the product, to read the reviews made by other people, and to compare it with other similar products. For this, the internet article writing services produce reviews for their clients, reviews that are now common even on Amazon or eBay.

Internet writing for products

If you want to write a good product review, you should put yourself in the shoes of the reader. What would you expect from the product? What are its advantages or disadvantages? Would you buy it? Is the price affordable? By answering those questions for you, it is also possible to answer those questions for the reader, and you will have a good article in your hands.

However, the majority of article writing jobs for product reviews are requested by clients which want positive reviews about the respective products, and they want it written from the perspective of a person that have already used the product. If you don't want to cheat the reader, you can refuse the project, bout you should know that many of the reviews on the internet are made in the same way, and that the internet article writing business for product reviews is strongly developed now.

You can also read the reviews made by other users of the same product. This way, you will be able to determine the positive and negative characteristics of the product. A product review that talks only with superlatives for the respective item can't be trusted, and even if a client asks for positive reviews from the article writing service, the writing company must be able to write some articles where the disadvantages of the item are presented a little, but not so much. Usually, a negative opinion must contain a "But".

"It is true that this MP3 player is a little more expensive than other players on the market, BUT the characteristics of this product recommend it as a good acquisition".

Good internet writing means to put the product in a favorable light, but most importantly, to present the negative aspects of a product as being good, or at least negligible.

If you are looking for article writing jobs, you will have to know how to write product reviews, as an important part of the job of the article writing services is composed of reviews. We are also talking about relatively cheap articles, as those are not creative, therefore they can be written by writers with less experience.

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Senin, 03 Desember 2012

A Guide in Writing 5 Articles A Day

The art of writing online articles is certainly effective to market your products and services on the internet. Well, while this may seem simple, there are a few important aspects. For instance, it is imperative to create quality and rich content daily. Many individuals struggle with this aspect. You should not blame someone else or come up with excuses. Instead, how about opting for an easy and effective method? Become familiar with every theme and get going. Read on to find out a simple "formula" that will allow you to write 5 articles daily minimum.

  1. Select a topic. If you are a newbie, your article topic could be your own niche. Of course, this theme must contain potential for at least 5 articles. It is certainly a fabulous starting point.

  2. Proceed by listing around 5 sub-themes, characteristics, sub-topics, or specific concepts that are related to that theme in particular. Below is a good example: Training a dog is a common topic. Thus, how many dog activities exist? How can you feed your dog? How can you motivate your dog to obey? What about vaccines? How to feed your dog properly'? If you feel dubious, do not panic. Look around, gather data, venture onto your library and browse online. Do not forget the original goal. Avoid distractions by any means. Stay focused and move onto the next step.

  3. Decide on specific points that you wish to develop. You can easily expand on every theme. Yet, it is up to you! The sky is never the limit. Think ahead, prepare a fun theme and opt for the perfect approach. It is recommended to go for 5 or 7, but, it is possible to write less. Remember that rich content is a must, thus do not compromise quality. Limit the article to a single topic and do not forget to focus on your niche. Your audience will be delighted!

  4. Once you have your mind clear, create a detailed outline for every article. Several individuals believe that this is worthless. They fail to understand how it works. They actually believe that outlines are just for kids. But, this could not be further from the truth. It is never too late to learn. Implement the best techniques! Truth is the fastest writers consider an impeccable outline. Most often, the fastest online writers are those that organize every fact and care to analyze relevant information.

  5. Last but not least, you must connect every dot. How? This is not hard. You need to place all the points together. Make sure you focus on every sentence relationship. How is everything intertwined? Thus, as soon as you identify the main connection, move onto the next one and proceed carefully. Your goal is to show your current expertise while writing an interesting and cohesive piece explaining your original idea.

Unleash your maximum potential. Combine the above points and impress your clients. Increase your profit and get to know the latest writing techniques. If you want to climb to the top, you cannot ignore any key aspect.

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Sabtu, 01 Desember 2012

The Best Ways for English Essay Writing

Dr. Johnson defines English essay writing as "a loose sally of the mind, and irregular, indigested piece, not a regular and orderly performance". It has also been called, "the after-dinner monologue of an interesting and well-informed man". It has been called by Saintsbury as, "a work of prose art". These definitions do not apply to such philosophical essay as Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding or to Pope's Essay on Criticism and Essay on Man. Hugh Walker has divided essay into two types-Essays per excellence and compositions to which custom has assigned the name. the true essay is essentially personal. English essay writing belongs to the literature of self-expression.

Alexander Smith in his paper on English essay writing has characterized the essay par excellence as a literary form which resembles a lyric in so far as it is molded by some central mood-serious, whimsical or satirical. "Given the mood, and the essay from the first sentence to the last grows around it as the cocoon grows around the silkworm". Essays are "attempts", and the guiding principle is determined by the mood of the essay writer. Just as in a lyric, the poet pours out his whole heart delighting in the passing mood of the moment, so the literary English essay writing has a pre-eminently subjective character.

Charles Lamb is the perfector of the Literary type of essay-- subjective, literary and personal. Leigh Hunt in his Indicator revived the manner, quiet narrative and the style of Steele. Jeffrey in the Edinburgh Review and Hazlitt in his Table Talk took to literary criticism and raised the standard of literary taste. But Hazlitt has to much bitterness to be affable; De Quincey is often too imaginative in his conceptions and florid in his style. But Lamb is critical, imaginative and romantic. The central subject matter of the Essays of Elia is Lamb himself-Lamb's mind re-acting to his studies and environments-to life itself. This another interesting attribute to English essay writing.

Walter Pater would say, "With him as with Montaigne, the desire of self-portraiture is, below all the more superficial tendencies the real motive in writing at all-a desire connected with that intimacy, the modern subjectivity, which may be called the Montaignesque element in literature". The egotism of Lamb is blended with a sweetness all its own. There is the unmistakable stamp of his lovable personality in his essays and his essays are enlivened by genial humour and impish wit. The English essay writings of Lamb may be called confidential chatters as they are rich in autobiographical pathos and wide sympathy for humanity.

In the modern century the mantle of Lamb has fallen on many writers. Stevenson in the later Victorian age inherited the tradition of Lamb. He may not have the same humour and whimsicality of Lamb, hut he has the same urbanity in his style, the same informal and fresh approach to commonplace subjects. Chesterton writes on trifles but makes the trifles tremendous by his inimitable style while the writings of Hilaire Belloc are on nothing, on something, on everything. He has a clear incisive style in which humour plays an important part in his English essay writings.

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Senin, 26 November 2012

Repackage, Repurpose And Reinvent To Get The Most Mileage From Your Content

It took some time but you managed to put together the feature article for your upcoming newsletter and you're pleased with the results. It's a shame this great information will just be filed away on your computer or left to collect dust on your bookshelf with the rest of your valuable content.

Does this sound like you? Did you know that most business owners just write for their blog or newsletter and never do anything further with it?

Let's look at some ways you can repackage, repurpose and reinvent your articles, blog posts, videos and more to get the most mileage from your content producing efforts.

Here's what you can do:

1. Post your newsletter article to your blog.
2. Add a link to your newest blog post from your Facebook account.
3. Submit your newsletter article to the article directories.
4. Combine several similar themed articles to build an information product or e-course.
5. Compile articles with related topics to create an e-book.
6. Compile articles with related topics to create a book.
7. Record an audio or video of your article.
8. Transcribe an audio or video into a special report.
9. Restructure an informative or instructional email reply to a client into an article, blog post or training teleclass.
10. Rework chapters of a book or e-book you have written into several shorter articles.
11. Transform your e-course into a live in-person workshop.
12. Record a live workshop or online training to deliver as a self-study course.

To be most effective you will have to do some editing to restructure to the new format. Otherwise, you are only limited by your imagination and creativity.

It can be challenging to constantly create brand new information but you can break down the bigger pieces or combine the smaller pieces of content you already have to develop new and valuable information. When you're coming up with ideas for articles, blog posts, videos and other content think about how you can repurpose the information from one format or method of delivery to another later.

Not only are you preventing your content from going to waste, there are other reasons why you should repackage and repurpose your content:

1. To build a source of passive income by selling the e-products that you create.
2. To grow your list of prospects by offering a free giveaway to visitors to your website in exchange for them giving you their name and email address.
3. To create visibility and catch the attention of your market.
4. To establish your credibility and expert status.
5. To reach a larger audience by providing various ways for someone to work with you, if not one-on-one. For example one client may prefer to learn independently through your self-study course while another would rather absorb the information by attending a live in-person workshop.

Choose your packaging based on your strengths and how your market likes to receive their information to create multiple products from one set of content. If you're trying to grow your business and you're at full capacity with clients, repurposing content is a great way to increase your income stream.

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Minggu, 25 November 2012

Ten Ways to Improve Your Grades For Essay Writing

It is possible to improve your grades by self-editing your essay or assignment before you hand it in. Many students fail to look over their work once they have completed it, or they do not know what to look for.

This means that students are handing in work that contains spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, unclear or clumsy writing, and referencing and formatting errors. Some students have even greater problems with issues like the clarity and consistency of their argument or their essay organisation. These types of mistakes are costing you grades!

You might be very surprised how much your grades can be improved through editing your own work before you hand it in. This article will explain ten ways you can improve your essay writing yourself.

1. Spelling and Consistency

Spelling is a very important aspect of essay writing that many students overlook. Usually this is because of spell-checking programs, upon which many students rely. However, it is important to remember that if you have mistyped a word that is not a spelling mistake, the spell-checker will not find it. For example, you could mistype 'hole' instead of 'whole', 'four' instead of 'for', or 'though' instead of 'thought'. Once you have completed writing your first draft, read your work through carefully to look for these kinds of mistakes.

It is crucial that you are consistent throughout your essay. This applies to many things such as the spelling of words (some people switch between American and Australian/British English), the spelling of names, and the capitalisation of words. For example, if you are using Australian/British English you must do so throughout your essay. You cannot use the word 'recognise' and then later use the word 'organize'. You must stick with 'organise.' If you capitalise the first letter of 'Church' the first time, you cannot refer to it as 'church' later in your essay.

2. Grammar

It is very difficult to write an essay with perfect grammar, as there are many rules that must be followed and thousands of exceptions to these rules that you must know. However, there are many things that you do yourself to improve the grammar in your essay and assignment writing.

Ensuring consistency of tenses is one of these. Often students change tenses in the middle of an essay without realising; changing from present to past or vice versa. A quick check at the completion of writing your essay can ensure that you have used the correct tense throughout the essay.

Here is another grammar tip: When writing about a decade, you must write (for example) 1980s not 1980's. If you write 1980's, this indicates something belonging to the year 1980, because you are using a possessive apostrophe. To indicate a decade, you must write 1980s.

3. Paragraphing

Many students write paragraphs that are too long. A paragraph should only contain one main idea. There is no definite length for a paragraph, but normally you would have at least three paragraphs on one type-written page. Long paragraphs can cause confusion for the reader, since they would contain several ideas, and they make your essay look poorly planned.

4. Repetition

Developing a sophisticated and creative writing style can take time. One thing you can do immediately to improve your writing style is ensure that you do not repeat the same words too often in your essays. Using varied language to express yourself with mean that your writing is interesting, and will appear more stylish.

5. Essay Organisation

For some reason, many schools and universities do not spend sufficient time teaching students how to organise their essays properly. Beyond the knowledge that an essay must contain an introduction, a body and a conclusion, many students do not have a clear understanding of how to organise an essay correctly.

Here are a few tips. When writing an argumentative essay, your introduction must do two things to be considered an introduction. It must first answer the essay question. It must then introduce all the main ideas you will discuss in your essay to convince the reader why your answer is correct. An introduction should be roughly ten per cent of your essay length. So for an essay of 1,000 words, write an introduction of 100 words.

Use topic sentences. These are sentences at the beginning of each new topic that tie your essay together. They introduce new topics and explain why they are relevant to the essay question. Topic sentences give your essay an internal logic, and help you to write a convincing argument.

6. Direct and Indirect Quotations

This is an example of a direct quotation: Dr. Lisa Lines argues that 'the role of women in combat during the Spanish Civil War is highly significant'.

This is an example of an indirect quotation: Dr Lisa Lines believes the women played a very important role in combat during the Spanish Civil War.

It is preferable not to include too many direct quotations in an essay. Essays of a very high standard are written almost entirely in the student's own words, with many references to the sources they have used (using indirect quotations). You should only quote directly from a source when it is absolutely necessary, for example, if you had a need to point out a particular person's opinion on an issue, or if an issue or opinion is particularly controversial. Otherwise, it is highly favourable for you to demonstrate that you have read, understood, and assimilated the source into your own knowledge of the subject. The best way to do that is to present the ideas in your own words and then provide the reference.

7. Formal Language

When writing an academic essay, you must use formal language. You cannot use contractions such as 'don't', 'can't' or 'won't'. You must write these words out in full ('do not', 'cannot' or 'will not'). You should also refrain from using any colloquial language (slang) in an academic essay.

8. Your Research

The research component of writing an essay should take up the majority of your time. It is the longest stage of the essay writing process. How much time you spend will depend on your year level, the word length of the essay, the type of essay (minor, major or tutorial paper) and what percentage of your grade it is worth. It also depends on what grade you are aiming for.

The way that you record your research is vital to the essay writing process. If you do not record your research properly, you could spend hours (or even days or weeks) doing your research, and then when you begin to write your essay you may discover that you have to go back and re-do things, like search for page numbers or correct quotations. This is a waste of your time!

You must record your research in a way that makes essay writing easier for you. It must be accurate, include all the information you need, and give you a chance to record your own ideas and thoughts on the material you are reading as you go along. Do not leave this to the end!

9. Referencing and Bibliography

(This point may not be relevant to high school students who are not yet required to include references in their essays.)

This stage is crucial to essay writing; however, it is often over-looked by students. If you do not reference properly at university you can get in serious trouble for what is called 'unintentional plagiarism'. One type of unintentional plagiarism is when students have found information during their research and included it in their essay (even if they have completely re-worded it) but then did not provide a reference. If you do this, you are actually claiming someone else's work as your own, which is plagiarism. Unintentional plagiarism is very different to deliberate plagiarism, which is when students are cheating on purpose. However, it can get you in just as much trouble. This is why you must learn how to reference correctly!

You must find out from your school or university which referencing system you need to use for each subject you study. Then, spend some time learning how to reference using that system correctly.

Once you know how to do it, and if you have organised and recorded your research properly, referencing your research as you are writing your essay should be simple. You should have all the information you need right in front of you. That is why it is so important for you to keep track of which books you use and on which page numbers you find information while you are doing your research.

10. Polish Your Writing

After you have written your first draft, you should edit it yourself before you have anyone else look at it. This means that you should read it very carefully; looking for mistakes and things you can improve. Since editing requires that you look for a number of different things, it can be a good idea to read over your essay several times.

The first time you read your essay, just concentrate on the writing itself. Look for spelling mistakes, things that are not explained clearly, and grammar that could be improved. Do not look for anything else at this stage.

The second time you read your essay, look for problems with your content. This is the point at which you check to see if the information you have used to write your essay is correct, if you have answered the question properly, and if you have argued your case successfully.

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Kamis, 22 November 2012

How to Turn a Dull Article Into a Blockbuster

They say the internet, being what it is, is an information superhighway. And if you want a piece of the action you're going to want to feed the search engines with information relevant to your niche so people can find you, your website, and your products. How? You'll want to go back to basics. Write! And in order to keep them on that page and reading your articles, you'll need to ensure that your articles are interesting and most importantly, readable. This article will offer tips on how to turn a dull and bland article into a more interesting piece; how to rewrite your articles with a fresh and more interesting angle; and how to research for fresh and current content to boost your search engine traffic.

Let's say you've written a bunch of articles and want to rewrite them. To begin with, check to see if your previous articles contain outdated information and topics that will not pull in traffic from the search engines at this present time. So instead of re-writing by simply doing a quick clean up job, why not go a little deeper by scouting for hot news websites like Google Hot Trends and pulling related article topics and content from there, and broadening your new piece using a content angle from these hot topics? Then, you should attempt to re-write the article (to the best of your ability) using correct grammar and spelling.

Rewriting Tips: if the previous title lacked oomph, re-title it! And then run a search on Wikipedia.org to dig up some more facts and some background. Without going too heavy on fact - this isn't an encyclopedia, it's only an article. You'll want your new article to flow well, and most importantly, have your reader come away with something. Take a look at the following example in which a badly written paragraph gets a serious rewrite.

Example of a badly written paragraph:

"Buying gemstones in wholesale need not be a headache. These precious stones have for many years been held in high esteem due to their color, clarity, symbolic meanings and durability. The diamonds, sapphires and rubies all come in many different shapes, hues and sizes. The colors too cannot miss the attention of whoever might come across them. Buying gemstones in wholesale will demand that you get high quality stones from wholesale chains at a price good enough to be lower than the retail prices. The following simple steps will assist you when buying gemstones in wholesale."

My Remarks: Everything about the above paragraph leaves much to be desired. Not only is the grammar bad - it's quite obvious English isn't the writer's first language - but to top it all off, the article lacks purpose. However, whilst looking on the bright side, I managed to pick up a few angles to run with. See how I reconstructed the paragraph below.

Example of the above paragraph rewritten:

"If you could purchase high quality gemstones at wholesale prices, wouldn't that be a relief? The less headache involved in procuring your precious stones the better, right? No-matter what you want to buy, be they diamonds, sapphire, ruby; in all shapes, sizes, colour or clarity, believe it or not, there will be someone, somewhere selling them at a much lower price than you would ever find on the high street. How? Because you can buy them on wholesale... if you know where to look! In this article, I share some simple yet powerful tips to help you buy gemstones on wholesale."

In summary: badly written articles can be quite easily given a fresh look with a new angle that is readable and that draws in the reader to want to find out more. Your first paragraph is the most important, not only because it introduces the article, but because it is intended to help lure your reader in so that they read on to the next paragraph and so forth. Look to Google Hot Trends for fresh angles that are current and weave that into your piece. So the next time you want to liven up a dull article, get creative with the pointers outlined in this article.

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Selasa, 20 November 2012

Essay Writing Importance - Breaking Student's Delusion

Essay writing remains to be one of the hardest and complicated tasks that the marvel of modern technology has yet to make easier for man. Everything nowadays is simply keystrokes away, but the process of assembling thoughts into an engaging written piece still proceeds at an old fashioned pace.

Since the days of paper and pencil, essay writing has never really changed a lot. It still entails tons of hard work, in-depth research, logical organization of thoughts, and sophisticated style of writing. As a lot of students continue to hate this writing activity thinking it's just a time-consuming worthless activity, there are four good reasons why writing essays is to be considered as more beneficial than burdensome. Here are some important purposes of essay writing:

* knowledge internalization

* intellectual development

* feedback generation

* good practice

Barely listening to a lecture or simply reading is not an assurance of knowledge internalization. Knowledge has been really internalized if it has been taken by someone as his own. Knowledge possession is best achieved through writing. Essay writing is a good way to internalize the facts that has been heard or read. Eventually, writing activity stimulates the intellect and leads to intellectual development. Aside from that, writing essays is a healthy way to improve writing skills. It is a good practice for future written exams.

Essays are essential for development and evaluation of students' skills - writing and reading skills, analytical and critical thinking skills, research skills, and the ability to write under time pressure. All these skills are assessed in the entire essay writing process.

Therefore, essays are tools to gauge students' level of knowledge and skills that greatly affect their grades and academic performance.

Essay writing remains to be a big challenge to students and even to the most consummate writers. However, essays affect too many things in a student's academic life: grades, reputation, admissions, and abilities. Essays produced by students serve as reflection of their thinking skills.

Students find essay writing to be a burdensome activity. There is a great need to let students understand the importance and benefits that the writing essay brings - that it is intrinsically valuable to their academic growth.

As many students think that the essay writing experience is just a waste of time and simply another great means to add burdens in their academic life, appreciating the skills and knowledge it offers breaks this futile delusion.

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Senin, 19 November 2012

It's Not What You Write, It's the Way That You Write It - Well, I Disagree Completely

Not long ago, I had an online article author contact me, someone who had a bit of writing experience. I mean he could really turn a phrase, and it was obvious he went to writing school, was intelligent, and quite articulate. He explained to me that credibility online is extremely important, and thus, perhaps I ought to hire him to write and/or edit my work, as he had noted that my writing is not all it could or should be.

True enough, he's right, but then again I never considered myself a writer in the first place. I know that sounds funny coming from someone with over 28,000 online articles and 289 e-Books, but it's true, I know it and anyone who reads my articles - well, they know it too. I am not a first class writer, just a writer perhaps still in training. As he was explaining his knowledge of writing and public relations to me, I kept singing that song in the back of my head; "it's not what you do, it's the way that you do it," which is an HP jingle for rebranding their copier, printer, scanner, and fax line of peripherals.

Then I thought, well, what he is really saying to me is that; "it's not what you write, it's the way that you write it," but, you know what - I think I disagree and let me tell you why. You see, if you are writing on a topic you don't know anything about, sure it might be great to make the article cute, fun to read, and turn a nifty phrase, but what about the expertise, knowledge, know-how, or experience behind it? I can't tell you how many articles I read in the news each day that are shallow, uneventful, and often just plain wrong. Why does this happen? It happens because writers think that it's more important to write well, than to have great content - I disagree with that thought process.

Now then, whereas, I am not the world's best writer, I do believe I have a hell of a lot of experience and knowledge. I'd also say it is more important the content than the writing style. Yes, in a perfect world you'd have both, but I think content trumps style, thus, "it is what you write" which is important, and while it is important to write well, aka "the way that you write it," that's not the deal breaker for me as a reader. Give me the good stuff anyway you can, and develop your writing skills as you go. That's what I did, and that's what I believe. Please consider all this and think on it.

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Kamis, 15 November 2012

Great College Essay Writing Tips

One of the most challenging tasks college students face is essay writing. Many students dread hearing the words and immediately freeze when they do. College essay writing is actually not that difficult. The problem is probably more psychological for students. This article will introduce a few college essay writing tips and hopefully show that essay writing needn't be such a traumatic experience.

Let's look at the layout of the essay. Let's make it as easy as possible by dividing the essay into three parts:

The first part is the introduction. Make it pretty simple and simply introduce the reader to your plans for the essay. Tell the reader what you are going to talk about in the essay and your own opinion statement, if applicable.

The next part of the essay will be the paragraphs that talk about what you said you'd talk about in the introduction. If you made an opinion statement, you will also use these paragraphs to show evidence, statistics, etc. to support your claims.

Finally, close the essay with a paragraph or two that recap what you just finished telling them. It will be similar to your introductory paragraph and your last words on the matter.

College Essay Writing Tips

Prior to writing your essay, you should make an outline of what you will be talking about. An outline will help you layout and organize your thoughts. Many people like to do outlines on paper. I prefer to use an app I found for my iPad which allows me to rearrange the different parts of my planned essay.

My favorite college essay writing tip is using free flow writing. Sometimes I get really "plugged" in the head and am not sure what to write about. I find that if I start typing anything that pops into my head, the road block is cleared and soon words related to the essay are flowing nicely.

The essay writing process is a much worse if you are writing about a topic that you have little or no interest in. In cases like these, one of my favorite college essay writing tips is to look to the internet to research my topic. I try to read about the background of the topic with the hope of finding an aspect of the topic that interests me. When I find something interesting about the topic, I zero in on that and focus my essay writing on that aspect. It does help to make the process a bit less painful.

The best thing to do, however, is to try to approach writing with an open mind and not see it as a nightmare. You'll soon find different aspects and topics of writing that are enjoyable to you and the pain of writing a college essay will fade away.

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SEO Friendly Content for Websites

You are done with creating your website, you have paid the web developer for the services, and now you are looking for web content articles? Many people all over the World Wide Web have done this thing and now they are in search of quality content for web sites. Web site content is something that is the prerequisite of each website because it has the power to persuade people and make them buy the product or service offered by your business.

You need to frequently generate articles for website content so that people may not get bored from your content and they keep of coming back to learn new stuff. Web site content needs to be informative and it should be complete. It must be created according to the preference of the customers. If it will not then it will never make a customer get attracted towards it. Many websites have such great content that visitors after reading get convinced to buy the product and service being offered.

In order to generate articles for website content you will need the services of a quality writer. The writer should be well familiar with the standards for writing articles. As the trend of making websites has increased, the scope of internet writing has enlarged to a great level. The websites are paying a significant amount of money to the writers for producing web content as well as articles for the websites. The writer should know how to produce SEO friendly content. If the content will be SEO friendly then it will be found in the search engine results more often.

When writing SEO friendly content, you will have to use certain set of keywords that are searched by the customers more often. The content produced should not be flooded with keywords. Rather, keywords should be placed in such a way that the flow seems natural. The content should also be informative and it must have something that is new for the customers to learn. Such things attract people a lot. Furthermore, the content should be original there must not be any copied content.

Finding the writers who can write articles for website content is not a difficult task these days. You can find many freelancing websites that have accounts of various writers. That is not all; many of the writers have posted ads for offering their content writing services. If you need one, then you can easily find one through the internet. If you want to judge the quality and writing skills of the writer, then you can ask the person to write a sample. You can check the originality of the article in various software programs, and read it to see whether it is written perfectly or not. If you are satisfied with the work then you can hire that person. Content generation sure can make a writer earn a lot of money.

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Minggu, 11 November 2012

Make Money With Affiliate Marketing By Writing Articles

Affiliate marketing is my favorite technique for earning extra money from home. This is because it is easy to connect people with the products they are looking to purchase. In this article, I will discuss how to make money with affiliate marketing by writing informative articles. Do you love to write? If so, you can probably do REALLY well with this method. So what do you have to do?

First, you need to research your market effectively. What is it that people want to learn from you? Do they problems that you can help them solve? Understanding your target market is the first step. Let's say that I want to make money with the dog training market and I've decided on a product to promote. Would I then promote this product to people who want information on small animal care?

The trick is to match your product with the market. If you are promoting a product that teaches people how to stop their do from chewing, then you would want to write articles about that. Teach people simple techniques to stop dog chewing problems. Then, link to the product that can help them solve that problem. That's the secret. So many people forget to match the product with the people who want it.

After you have established which people would be interested in learning more information about a topic, write down all the different questions that these people might be asking. Then, write an article that helps them with each question.

This is a powerful way to attract people to your affiliate products. At the end of the day, it's all about getting people to visit your affiliate links. If you are consistently writing articles about all the different topics in your niche, people will believe that you are the authority in your niche. They will come to you for answers. They will buy your products.

A great place that you can find affiliate products to promote is ClickBank. They have been around for over 10 years. Once you join their affiliate network, you will be able to browse their marketplace and locate the best converting products to sell to people. Remember, you are not doing the selling. It's the vendor's job to sell the product and it's your job to get people to the sales page.

Here's what I suggest for article marketing:

Write as many articles as you can in one day. I know this might sound hard but the fact is people are looking for the information you have. So write LOTS of articles each day and focus on targeting all the best keywords in your market. Affiliate marketing can truly be a great source of income if done correctly.

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Kamis, 08 November 2012

Have English Teachers and Journalist Majors Overplayed Their Hands In An Attempt to Control?

As an online writer, I've sure noticed that us newbies are not liked that well by journalist majors and professional writers. But, I am okay with that, after all, they see as a threat to their future employment. I've also witnessed some attempts by English Teachers to somehow proclaim that those who can't or won't write well -- perfect grammar and spelling -- are somehow to be considered incompetent, unintelligent, or uneducated, therefore what we say or write shouldn't be taken at face value, that somehow we don't have credibility.

Really, because in the real world (outside of the fake world of the mass media where most of the stuff is embellished to create the sound and fury of the day or push an agenda) it's not what you say or write, it's what you do that matters, performance counts. Those who spend all day writing are not doers, they can't be, they write about what "We Do" out here in the real world. Now that the online venues, blog, and social networks are allowing everyone to have their say of course 'the professionals' want to be heard and diminish and minimize the rest. I get that, I understand, but it doesn't make their attempts to pull rank over the dialogue or attempt to control the narrative with their grammar rules.

Do online writers abuse proper English Grammar Rules? Oh, certainly, some meaningfully, others simply because they are not sure exactly what they are. Indeed, I think what I am noticing is the when folks use speech recognition software they tend to do this more, so, they end up with long run-on sentences, which eventually stop making any sense, and then become shallow - even if there is at least some good information within - it just gets drowned out.

Still, personally, as a reader, I am much more concerned with important information and content, than perfect diction, grammar, and spelling from a skilled and educated writer. For the simple reason that those in the real world make it happen and those who teach, well, they teach and guard the rule book - just like lawyers often do. So, if someone has excellent knowledge and wisdom, bathed in actual experience that's what I look for, now if their grammar is perfect to boot, all the better, but not a criteria for me as a reader, it's just a bonus in my opinion.

Still, even if my above paragraph is not perfectly grammatically correct, so what, I mean you got the message right? Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

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Creative Writing Prompts - Give Your Writing The Green Light For GO Using Creative Writing Prompts

Have you been frustrated lately that your creative writing has seemed repetitive or stale, that you seem to have become some kind of writing robot, churning out the same kind of words and lines time and time again?

Or, worse still, has your writing inspiration dried up completely?

Where there was once a raging river there's now only a dry and cracked riverbed, littered with the debris of unfinished writing projects?

One of the biggest causes of this kind of writer's block is that you're simply not giving yourself permission to write freely.

Your creativity is like a 6 year old boy who's been taken to the front of a huge toy store, only to then be told he can peer in but he's not allowed to go inside! Torturous!

So how can you give this permission again to your creativity, so it can rise up and show you all it's capable of? How do you give your creative writing the green light for go instead of feeling permanently stuck on red?

Creative writing prompts are a great way of unlocking your writing ability and giving it a fresh surge of inspiration.

The way creative writing prompts work is by giving you a short phrase or idea to get you started in a new direction you might not have thought of. It's that little push you need to get you flowing again, so your creativity can shine once more.

That 6 year old kid with his nose pressed up against the window of the toy store has now been shown the way in. In fact more than that, he's also been told - "You might want to check out the new electronic action figures on the 2nd floor, they're not like any you've seen before" and pointed in the right direction. So off he rushes.

Many writers aren't comfortable trying writing prompts because they feel it's like taking a short cut and they should be able to come up with their own ideas.

Back to the toy store kid again - if he didn't have a clue where those action figures were, or even where the toy store was, he could spend forever trying to get there. Once he's there, he doesn't need any encouragement to go off and explore!

It's the same with writing prompts. They may show you a technique you haven't used before or point you in a direction you've not thought of exploring in your writing, but once you're off there's no stopping you! All the writing, all the creativity, comes from within YOU.

Try using some creative writing prompts today, and you'll give your writing the green light it needs to produce something amazing once again.

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Senin, 05 November 2012

For the Love of Words: Introducing Articles

Good gracious, the day has come for a deep spooky eyed, surgical strike at the depth of writing an article. Is it easy as some people make it or difficult like learning Italian over a week. It is time for me to take a little mystery out of article development and break it down into sections. Article writing is a learned skill and it must be polished over the course of the river that we know as time. Article writers will vary on their ability and style to developing the core elements to their topics. Is there a wrong way?

Article writing is an art that expands into other writing arenas. Most article writers may cover up the truth of the matter, that constantly developing unique articles is not a strain to the old muse. They would be further from the truth or less experienced in denying the fact that article writing is a ghost that plagues the creative soul sphere in all of us. Article writers that say it is an easy task to do are either using spinning software or outsourcing to a foreign team.

Can article writing be easier if you are prepared? Yes, like most skills in life that you have or are acquiring, your particular knowledge will help develop and nourish the infant. We can find mentors that can harbor the passions within us to overcome the difficulties of developing the content that we so desire for our websites and business use. Once we overcome the initial fear or destructive elements in our path to developing a successful article, we can embrace the warm cup of coffee and tea and congratulate ourselves on a job well done.

Wait! Sit back and contemplate on the last time you had to write an article describing a particular endeavor in business marketing, product overview or creative lay into the unknown with a high-profile blog post of cross-corporate culture vs. social media downgrades of the small business growth on the mainstream scene. If you are a writer or writing firm like me, then it is almost a constant stress of developing the perfect balance of information and tone.

Is article writing a state of mind? To some degree, it is and to some degree, it is not. If you are constantly developing dozens of articles than yes it is, but the creative aspect is keeping you sane. If you only develop a few articles a month, then the answer is no. The mind is not always ready to find, search and trash information as you write the article for yourself or the client that is overseas. The cold truth of article writing lies within the writer itself and rather if they can push the envelope to challenge themselves in keeping in step with truth and de facto information.

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Jumat, 02 November 2012

How to Make Money Writing Articles

Make Money Writing Articles - In this article, we are going to talk about a strategy that you can employ and that I am already beginning to employ on making money writing articles. In this article, we will share specific places where you can go and make money writing articles and, more importantly, a strategy for being successful.

Writing has been one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done online. I have always wanted to create passive income. I loved the idea of not doing a lot of work and getting paid. I started out investing in rental properties. The concept is great. I put up some money, borrow some money and somebody else pays off the mortgage.

If I do well, I would put some money back into the pocket each month. The problem with this strategy is that one bad investment can be an emotional and financial wipeout. I am speaking from experience on this one. Then, I decided to move online and do lead generation for people looking to make money online.

I used paid traffic because it was fast. The challenge that I had with this strategy was that it became very expensive to invest in the traffic while I was learning and getting good. Although I could be profitable one day, the next day I may lose my shirt.

Then I moved into outsourcing content creation. I figured that content would be there forever and I could pay for something once and get paid on it forever. This worked and was profitable but was not very fulfilling.

Although I was learning the passive income models, it was not a passive experience. That is when I read the book, Accidental Genius and I learned about free writing. You see, I have a mind, probably like a lot of you that goes 10,000 miles an hour.

I have a lot of good ideas but my mind would not slow down long enough for me to implement any of those ideas. I found that writing would allow me to get those ideas out on paper. Even better, I could share those ideas with other people and could make money doing so.

Now, I write and I write and I write and I get compensated pretty well for it.

Below are some lessons that you may want to consider if you are attempting to make money writing articles -

Do not be stingy with your ideas - I used to have the feeling that I should not put my best work into each article and should save my best ideas for future work. This became stressful and difficult to manage. Now, I share the best ideas that are on my mind and give 100% to each article. what I find happens in this case is that as soon as I get done sharing about one idea, a new idea pops into my head immediately. There are no shortage of ideas so don't be stingy in sharing your ideas and putting your best work forward.

Learn how to re-purpose content - Write something once and you can reuse it for other purposes later. Here are a couple of ways to re-purpose content -

- Make a video based on an article that you wrote.

- Take one idea from the article and expand on that and make a completely new complementary article.

Post your content in multiple places - If you want to get a lot of eyeballs on your work, post it in many places so there is a greater chance that more people will find it. (Note: If you sell your articles to other, then do not do this. That person paid you a fair price to do work and that content is theirs and should only be theirs.)

Don't take yourself too seriously - People like to read work that is done by human beings. They would much rather be entertained and surprised and deal with a few simple errors, then to read a perfect peace of content. Have one with your work, regardless of the topic and you will find that you get better responses from those who are reading your work.

Follow the three tips above and you will be in the right state of mind to make money writing articles.

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Kamis, 01 November 2012

Creative Writing Prompts - How To Dive In To The Ocean Of Creative Writing Talent Within You

Each of us are more creative than we realise, the amount of talent we have is not what holds us back form creating to our full potential. What hold us back from writing as deeply and as rewardingly as we're capable of is fear.

Your creative writing potential is a vast ocean.

The only problem is, most of the time you don't get much further than dipping a couple of toes in the edge then finding the water too cold and intimidating!

So how can you discover and put to use more of your creative writing talents?

How can you dive bravely into the ocean and discover the depth and breadth of what you're capable of writing?

Creative writing prompts are a fantastic tool for this. A creative writing prompt is simply a phrase or an idea or a technique that you can use as a starting point to write from, a way to begin to let your natural creativity unfold.

Creative writing prompts are the equivalent of being given a little boat to set sail in out on the vast ocean, and a friendly push off from the edge of the shore.

If you had to swim out on your own, that would be far more dangerous and intimidating. By using the boat, you have a safer way to get out into that vast ocean, a way that will mean you don't run back to the security of the beach at the slightest suggestion of getting your hair wet.

Some of us are put off by using creative writing prompts because we feel it's cheating, like we're using someone else's writing and claiming it as our own. But it's simply not true.

The writing prompts are not the ocean itself. They are not giving you more talent and ability. Also they are not writing all of your stories, poems or songs for you, perfectly packaged with absolutely no input from you.

The ocean is already there, and it's always been there.

You know from some of your past writing the kind of creativity you're capable of, even if you've only seen tiny glimmers here and there. And so you know once you're brave enough to venture out, you can see that kind of creative writing again, and much more of it.

Start experimenting with creative writing prompts today, take that brave step, hop into your boat and set sail!

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Selasa, 30 Oktober 2012

Writing Articles: Putting It All Together

You've gathered your research, interviewed a knowledgeable person if appropriate, and scribbled lots of other notes. You want to now merge all this material into an article - but how do you do it?

You can have three approaches:

· Just start writing, in whatever order appeals, and fix it all up later

· Use the outline you've already written, and follow it closely. (If you haven't already written an outline, you can create one at this stage).

· A combination of the two.

The third option I have here may seem strange. After all - if you've written an outline, why would you want to write as if you don't?

I personally find the third option can work well. I like outlines, but I don't usually have an outline that is so thorough it leaves no room for a freer approach within each section. Outlines also may get changed from when they are first written, because you find new information, or an interviewee tells you unexpected but relevant news or opinions.

Here are some guidelines for getting all your notes ready to put into a suitable piece of writing:

· Assemble the information, (including quotes, comments, opinions, and facts) into sections. If you've got your information on your computer, (as most people do these days), then create a new document, and copy and paste - rather than move - information into each section. You'll probably only want 3 - 5 sections. Be sure to keep your original notes for reference.

· Within each section, further break down the information into as many sections as are needed to fit it all; though again, 3 -5 is probably a good guideline. The desired length of your article, editorial requirements and the amount of information for each section will determine how much you do here.

· Rearrange the information into sensible order; realising that you'll also need to re-check this order in the editing stage.

Start writing. Here's where you can and should do some freer writing, because you really don't want your article to sound like a list of facts. In order to get good, conversational and easily read text, you want to step back from the facts a bit, and write them in your own words.

Quotes should be left alone where they are concise and appropriate. However, if they are long - and especially if they are filled with incomplete sentences, repeated phrases, or the inevitable 'ums' and 'ahs' - they're going to need some editing.

I usually find I need to do several drafts of the article at this stage, depending on how long it is and how familiar I am with the information.

Each time I look at the draft, and especially for the final check, I also consider how well it flows. Does the information lead logically and seamlessly from one section to the next? If you find it difficult to 'see the wood for the trees', try using Print Preview (or similar) on your computer word program, as it enables you to see several pages at once. Although the writing is much smaller as a result, it will better enable you to take a wider view of the overall article.

When you've done your final edits for writing quality, and checked your facts are right, you're good to go.

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Jumat, 26 Oktober 2012

Make Money Online Article Writing

If you would like to make money online article writing, you will find yourself creating articles quickly on an almost daily schedule. Writing quickly doesn't mean comprising on quality. As a rule I try not to spend more than 20 minutes a day on an article. Although I do believe that "content is king" I have a business to run and a schedule to keep.

Short and Sweet
Keeping your article short, 500 words or less, will keep you in that 20 minute time frame. You don't have to scrimp on quality if you make every word count. Writing articles for the web is almost a form of shorthand and can be a little tricky in the beginning, but soon becomes very easy, and if you can write them quickly it can be extremely profitable.

Everyone needs web articles, I know you've heard the internet is a big "information highway". Maybe you have thought about making money by providing web articles, well there is money to be made once you learn the system.

Brainstorm Ideas
Do you have an idea list, well if your like me you have more than you need to start with. Start combining some of those ideas to round out your article. If they fit use them as bullet points, readers love bullet points and lists, their easier on the eyes. Make sure your article answers five "w" and one "h" questions: who, why, where, when, what and how.

Sometimes I use who, why, where, when, what and how as my outline. That keeps me focused, I may need to do research. Just writing one small article a day and submitting to EzineArticles and providing a link back to your site is a great way to get noticed. The web consists of millions of articles so it should come as no surprise that there's money to be made from writing and marketing articles.

Keep Readers Interested
We need to arouse interest and keep our readers with us from the very beginning. Each sentence needs to be snappy and offer the reader a small benefit. This could be simply a smile, which by the way is a great ice breaker. We don't have to supply the entire benefit right away. If we just make the promise to deliver it later, making sure each taste will be tempting enough to keep them reading.

Reader Benefit and Call to Action
Every article has a call to action which is usually in the resource box at the end, if we keep our article short and on track our reader will likely stay to the end and read our call to action. If they like what you have written and can see some benefit to their lives they will likely answer your call.

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The Strategic Use of Essay Writing Examples

If you're ever stuck trying to write an essay, one of the best tricks you can use is to find essay writing examples. The old chestnut "the best way to learn how to write is to read" didn't gain its cliche status for nothing; reading reorients you to the perspective of reader, making you a more mindful writer.

Your essay writing samples can be friends' essays, essays published in books, or just essays you find online. It is important to make sure that any essay writing examples you use are from quality sources, otherwise they might serve as poor examples on which to base your own work.

Once you have your hands on one or many samples, you can use them to give yourself a crash-course in essay writing. Look at your essay writing samples. How are they formatted? Notice the structure of the writing sample. Does it have an identifiable beginning, middle, and end?

Also try and pay attention to the way the author has organized his or her ideas into a cohesive argument. If the essay involves an emotional appeal, identify what strategies the author used to get a reaction out of you. Think about what kind of language is being used and the effect it has on you, as a reader, and how you might manipulate language to your benefit when you are writing your own essay.

Finally, decide whether or not you think the essay is any good. Is the essay's point well made? Are there things you would change? If so, what? It's important to remember that you're using essay writing examples as just that-examples. Copying someone else's work without their permission and passing it off as your own is never a good idea, but if used responsibly essay writing samples can help a great deal if you are having a rough time with your essay.

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Senin, 22 Oktober 2012

Article Marketing Master Plan Unveiled

Effective headline strategies:

Your title must always contain your main keyword phrase, otherwise people will not be able to find it via EzineArticles' internal search or through the search engines. Ideally, you'll want to have more than one keyword appear in your title.

Example of a good title:

"Weight Loss Secrets - 3 Easy Steps to Lose That Weight"

I literally just made that up. In my opinion, it's good because it is keyword rich and contains the magic words "easy" and "secret".

People don't like to do things the hard way.

People don't like learning things.

People DO like taking shortcuts.

People DO like discovering things.

Magic words to spice up your titles:

Easy - Secret/Secrets - Discover - How to - Deadly

A note on "how-to's"... you're going to want to convey a benefit with your how-to's. Your reader should find out exactly what they're getting by reading your title. "How to lose weight" isn't a benefit because it is too general. "How to write a killer article in 10 minutes" is a benefit. Other words you should consider using in your titles: Dos and don'ts - Strategies - The truth about - Revealed - Mistakes - Essential. Again, those lists aren't exhaustive, but I just wanted to give you a general idea of what you should strive for in your titles.

The Body:

A common mistake when doing article marketing is to write a very informative article. There's nothing wrong with providing information and value in an article, but remember, the goal of your article should be to make your reader want to learn more, not to get the whole picture from your article. I'm not saying you should write articles full of fluff, I'm just saying that you don't need to pack your articles with information. If your reader satisfies their curiosity or thirst for knowledge after reading your article, there will not be any motivation to click through to your site.

Article Length:

Your article should be between 300 and 600 words long. Between 300 and 400 would be perfect because readers tend to lose interest or focus rather quickly unless an article is superbly written. 300 word articles are extremely easy to write because they are so short. Think about it: your intro for the article should already take up a good 50 to 100 words. Then you have a conclusion which should be another 50 to 100 words. Easy peasy.

Article Layout:

If your article is on the short side (~300 words), then you have a bit of freedom with how you present your article. You can either have a few paragraphs, or you could have bullet points sandwiched by an intro and a conclusion. Conclusions aren't always necessary, but intros are, for obvious reasons.

If your article is around 500 words, then it wouldn't hurt to make your article easier to read by having bullets or sections which are separated by bolded sub-headlines (like I'm doing in this ebook). If you choose not to use bolded sub-heads or bullets, then make sure you have short paragraphs. Let's say your article is 600 words long. You should have an intro which is about 100 words long and a conclusion (which leads into your bio box) which is also about 100 words long. You have 400 words to play with, so you should have 3-4 paragraphs to ensure easy reading.

Keyword Density:

Keyword density is how often a keyword shows up per 100 words. In your articles, you'll want a 2-4% keyword density so that Google gives your articles a lot of love. Any more than that and you will get penalized.

Article Tone:

It can be tough to write with personality about a subject which you have no interest in, but doing so will make your articles more pleasant to read. Present your info, but do so in a way that doesn't remind your reader of lectures in their college days. Would you rather listen to a prof that drones on and on and on for two hours, or a prof that engages the audience and provokes intelligent thought and discussion?

Cardinal Rules of Article Writing:

1. Thou shalt have perfect spelling.

2. Thou shalt have perfect grammar.

I cannot stress these two rules enough. If your article has "spelling" errors or grammatical errors, it will not only look unprofessional, but It'll also make it tough to read.

If you intend to write all your articles, then make sure you proofread your article before submitting it. EzineArticles (I'm singling out EZA because it is the biggest article directory) has a strict policy about the quality of the articles that authors submit to them. If you do not adhere to their editorial guidelines, then your articles will not be accepted.

The Bio Box (aka The Resource Box):

The bio box, also known as the resource box, is where authors stick a little information about themselves and links to external sites. Even though it is short, what you put in your bio box is almost as important as the article that precedes it. If you do not have an appropriate call to action in your bio box, then your conversion rates will not be as good as they can be.

Example of a boring bio box:

"Joe Shmoe is a full-time Internet marketer from the US who has been online since 1996. He has an MBA from XYZ University. For more information on Internet marketing, click here."

Let's be very clear. When I'm looking for info online, I couldn't care less about who the author is or how many pet cats he/she has. I don't want to know where you're from, I don't want to know your level of education, and I don't want to know what your hobbies or passions are.

It's not that I don't care about you (I really do!), it's just that I don't want to

be hearing about you at the end of your articles.

What I do want to hear about at the end of your articles is what I'll get if I click on your link.

Example of a decent bio box:

"Would you like to get instant access to over 9000+ tools and resources right now? Then check out ABC Product located at mysite.com and start downloading them all immediately!"

The above example communicates a clear benefit: you are letting the reader know that if they click on your link, they will get instant access to over 9000+ tools and resources today. Remember, readers don't want to "find out more about" anything; they want to "get" stuff.

So their you have it! - You can stay a hope article marketer and hope that your articles bring you traffic and sales.

OR...

You can follow these few simple rules above in the Article Marketing Master Plan Unvailed and finally eliminate all the guesswork and stop hoping for sales.

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