Today I’m honored to present you with a guest post by Holly Jahangiri, a professional writer. So, please, enjoy these 1790 words of writing wisdom…

This is where the rubber hits the road. You’ve started a blog. You’ve got this marketing things down pat. You’ve got accounts on sixteen social media sites. Twitter thinks you’re a rock star; rock stars follow you on Facebook. But now, staring at that “Add New Post” screen, the ugly truth hits. You have to write something. Wait

Blogging = Writing?

Nothing will give a person “writer’s block” faster than the sudden realization that they are actually expected to write something. Even if you have a topic – I mean, you do have a topic, right? Even if you have a topic, the whole notion of stringing words together to form sentences and paragraphs, blog posts and stories, books and reports and things becomes absolutely daunting when you stare at a blank page and tell yourself you have to do this.

And that’s if you like writing, which I suspect many bloggers don’t.

So what do you do about it? First, stop thinking about the blank page – even though you tell yourself you’re not killing trees, that blank page looks impossibly perfect just the way it is, and it can stare right back at you until feelings of inadequacy set in. Next, tell yourself you’re just going to throw some ideas out there, like spaghetti, and see what sticks. You’ll think about sauce and side dishes later, but instead of thinking of your writing as something you post up there for others to read, think of it as creating a tasty little dish to nurture them. It may not turn out perfect, but if it’s served up warm, tasty, and nourishing, with love and plenty of conversation to make them feel welcome, they’ll be back.

Know Your Audience

Many bloggers – many writers of all sorts – assume that their readers are extensions of themselves – that they share the same interests, needs, tastes, and reasons for being, if not the same knowledge, experience, culture, and upbringing. Often, that’s true – because only the like-minded feel welcome at the writer’s table. Some bloggers wax eloquent about and judgmental towards others, making unfavorable comparisons to cultures they don’t begin to understand. To disagree or share other experiences is perceived by readers as risky, even terrifying. And when communication becomes one-sided like that, there can be no meaningful exchange of ideas.

I have many friends, through blogging, from all over the world. We have more in common than many would believe – our basic needs and desires, such as shelter, food, water, clothing, and sex. We generally love our families, worry about money, value education, want to do more and see more of the world, enjoy good food, and have a few hobbies (blogging, of course, being one) in common. These things establish some common interests, but it’s the differences that make for interesting conversations around the dinner table – or in blog comments. It’s the differences that make people want to read, because really, if we all shared the exact same experiences and opinions, wouldn’t it just be boring to rehash them endlessly in blogs?

So who are your readers? What do they need or want from you? Have you ever thought to ask them? Next, ask yourself if it’s something you are willing and able to give them. Let’s explore this a bit more in the next few sections.

Write (From) What You Know

I can tell you, as a writer, that if we took the advice to “write what you know” literally, the world would be full of boring books. Maybe that’s why it is full of boring books, and why there are 185 million blogs that will mostly fade into obscurity unmourned. Maybe it would be full of really interesting, but poorly written books – written only by doers, not thinkers. But writers are often the intermediaries between the adventurous and the world; we are empathic imaginers of the human spirit; we are curious children, always asking, “What if…?” and “Then what?” and “But what about…?”

Would it make sense for the mother of ten to write a blog about remaining childless as a lifestyle choice? It’s not as far-fetched as it appears, on the surface – not if that mother is open-minded and sympathetic to women making their own choices. It could be a judgmental disaster; or, she could knowledgeably write from the perspective of a woman who was once childless and that of a woman who later became the mother of ten. On the other hand, a woman who is an only child, who never babysat, who never had kids of her own, may actually have a narrower view and less relevant experience to draw from. In either case, they might write more credibly if they stuck to their own reasons, choices, and experiences and invited contributors and commenters to share other perspectives.

First-hand experience or research is critical if you want to set yourself up as an “expert” on something. And no, most other blogs don’t count as “research.” I suspect many bloggers are unfamiliar with the notion of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. It’s important if you want to write credibly -

• primary source – straight from the horse’s mouth (letters, photos, first-hand accounts of things by those who have direct experience)
• secondary source – scholarly works written from primary sources
• tertiary source – hearsay, mostly – stuff compiled from secondary sources, such as textbooks or encyclopedias

For scholarly work, you’d want to stick to primary sources if at all possible. Your work would then be a secondary source. If you’re in elementary or secondary school, it may be hard to gain access to primary sources, and you will have to make do with textbooks, encyclopedias, and other scholarly work. For the most part, there’s a reason teachers won’t accept tertiary sources in a bibliography and why they cringe at students using the Internet for serious research – they’re unreliable and not authoritative, and it takes experience to recognize a credible source on the Internet.

But you are an expert on your own personal experiences and opinions, aren’t you? Your blog can either be a tertiary source, cobbling together the second-hand hearsay and opinions of others, or it can be a primary source of your own first-hand knowledge of a subject. Think about which you’d prefer it to be, and write accordingly.

Solve Your Readers Problems

It generally helps if you’ve solved your own, first. Have you ever figured out how to do something, then noticed a lot of people asking the same questions? Odds are, that’s a great post in the making, for you. Share your solution and give step by step instructions that will help others solve the same problem in half the time you spent beating your head against the wall figuring it out. They’ll love you for that.

Shoot – admit you have problems and ask your readers to help you solve them. That helps to make the communication flow both ways, and they’ll love you for making them look and feel smart, and useful. Maybe someone will save you from beating your head against that wall!

How Do I…Figure Out What Problems My Readers Have?

Here are just a few ways to figure out what problems your readers have that you can solve:

1. Ask them.
2. Go to Google AdWords Keyword Tool and do a search for the phrase “How do I” and sort by the number of searches. If you want to narrow it to a topic in which you have some special knowledge or expertise, add more keywords. If you want Google to suggest something based on your existing blog or website, enter that – though for some reason, Google thinks I ought to write a how to article on getting your own credit card. So use some common sense and pick the ideas that resonate with you – not just ideas based on the most popular searches. I have no idea why Klout thinks I’m influential in PayPal or Google has decided I’m the credit card queen.
3. Read similar advice on other blogs and do a round-up post with your opinion on which are the best and worst ideas for solving common problems.

Captivate Your Reader

Notice the subtle difference between the words “capture” and “captivate.” To capture requires a certain degree of skill, cunning, or brute force – something the astute reader will recognize as a trap and avoid. To captivate requires the ability to attract and to hold – by charm, beauty, or excellence. The difference here is not subtle; a prisoner or a wild animal is captured, but a friend is captivated. A reader who is captured will eventually escape; a reader who is captivated will want to return, again and again. To capture is to take away freedom and choice; to captivate is to be chosen by the free.

How do you do that? Be a good story-teller. Fiction or non-fiction – it doesn’t matter. Both require story-telling skills. Form the vision in your reader’s mind, so that it’s a shared image of how things are or ought to be. Don’t wield your pen – or PC – like it’s a cudgel filled with facts or opinion you’re going to use to beat the poor reader into submission.

But…

If you honestly don’t feel that you have any special knowledge, skill, talent, expertise, or point of view to share – or you aren’t feeling charming, charismatic, full of quirky personality, or at least mildly interesting to your own cat – or you don’t feel you have it in you to write something fairly coherent, let alone excellent, then ask yourself, “Why did I feel a need to start a blog?” or “Why did I think I wanted to be a writer?” It’s not as glamorous as it’s cracked up to be, nor is writing – or blogging – a particularly lucrative field for most who think they want to claim it as a profession. It’s work, it’s art, it’s frustration – and ultimately, if it’s the one thing you know you do really well, the thing that makes your blood flow a little faster, then it’s probably the thing you’re going to end up doing and enjoying and calling a “vocation.” But remember – if you’re just in it for the money and the whole exercise feels painful, that’s probably a sign that you’re really meant to do something else. And that’s okay, really! We’re not all cut out to be underwater welders, either – but it’s a valuable and necessary profession that probably pays ten times better than being a writer.

Since this 2 year-blog is new all over again with a new design, header and domain name, I thought that it was a good opportunity to invite you to promote yourself.

Promote Yourself on this Page

Bloggers, writers, internet marketers, network marketers, etc… This page is all yours and you can even link to your site directly in the comment area.

When you do, however, do not link to weird looking affiliate links or material that is not 100% G-rated.

If you are promoting any product of services that is G-rated link them somewhere on your site and then post that link in the comment area. No direct affiliate links are allowed but I am sure you understand, right?

Since I have a blog with the fabulous CommentLuv plugin, you can just link the easy way by just picking a post from the 10 most recent posts on your, or even double deep by including and extra link within the comment.

You can promote yourself by telling us…

•  Who you are…
• What you do…
• Are you a blogger? Writer? Internet Marketer? Or anything else on the web?
• Are you in network marketing?
• Are you a web designer?
• Are you recommending a product that you have used in the past or are still using that you want to recommend?
• Do you have any interests or ideas that you like to promote?
• Are you looking for business partnership?

Get an Avatar if you don’t Have One Already

In order to promote yourself here, you need to have an avatar, though.  I will not accept promotion from people who don’t want to show their face or at least some kind of personal avatar.  If you don’t have an avatar, go to Gravatar.com and get one.  It’s free.  Once you have one, people will trust you much better.

Bloggers

Ah, bloggers! Do we want to learn about bloggers! How long have you been blogging? What is your blog about? What are you trying to accomplish with your blog?  What is your advice for new bloggers?  What are the dos and don’ts you recommend? What is your most successful achievement? What has been your least successful endeavor?  What are you promoting on your blog?  Do you want to promote your newsletter, eCourse, eBook?  Just do it here!

Writers

Are you a freelance writer? Article marketer? eBook writer? Ghost writer? Have you written a soft cover  book, maybe for sale on Amazon or any other places?  Are you teaching people how to write better? What is your strength when it comes to writing? Shout it out right here!

Internet marketers

What are you doing online? Have you written eBooks?  Tutorials? Created CDs, eCourses or affiliate programs?  Are you the proud owner of an article directory? A tutorial membership program?  What have you done or maybe planning on doing in the near future?  Are you an affiliate marketer? Just tell us here!

Web Designers

Just anyone online would love to have your talent, but as you know we don’t. What don’t you tell us about your web design online business?  Could  you use more clients? If you do, promote your web design business here!

Network Marketers

Are you the proud distributor of a great product or service that you are promoting online?  What makes your program better? You can tell all about it right here!

Ok, I think you’ve got the picture, right? Now it’s your turn. I promise that I will visit each of the links that I will find in here.

Now, it your turn…

In the Beginning there was Persuasive Article Marketing

Well, it was about time! I started this blog very slowly in October of 2010. Back then I was writing about one post a month.  Because of being so busy with all my other internet marketing work, and other things, there was just no way I could have posted more often.

I first started with one of those pretty lame looking free WordPress themes for only about a month or two. Then, an online buddy of mine installed a paid theme that already looked much better, while not great.  But it was fine back then.

Over time, however, I decide to concentrate way more on the blogging side of my online business and less on other things, such as article marketing and affiliate marketing.  Naturally, this was bound to bring up some changes.

Changing Looks

This is when I was starting to realize that I wanted a blog that looked more professional.  So, I looked around and found out that a Thesis theme was what I wanted to go with.  I decided to purchase the Thesis theme called BlogSkin which made a huge difference in the look of my blog. I explained everything about this here.

So, things started to look better. I started to post more regularly and more frequently as I always advise others to do. I decided to get rid of all the blogs that I wasn’t interested in anymore and kept only three including this one. You can visit the other two over here.

Everything started looking much better for this blog, still called Persuasive Article Marketing then, but something was still missing.  A professional looking header!

A New Header

Wow, did I need one! I started shopping around and asking people with good looking headers where they had gotten theirs. When I interviewed Barry Wells, few weeks ago, I asked him where he got his, because I thought it looked very professional.

He sent me the link and I really liked what that guy was doing for the price. Plus, Barry told me how happy he was of the service.  So, I decide to go for it.

I told, Steve, the creator of my header that I would definitely recommend his service. I even got a free footer with my header and a tremendously fast and good service.  So, if you need a header or any online product design, check Steve out.  He is doing a great job!

A New Name

Just before I installed my new header, I changed my domain name from PersuasiveArticl Marketing.com to SylvianeNuccio.com. This was a well over due thing to do.  I remember six years ago when I purchased my first domain, Go Daddy was trying to sell me the domain SylvianeNuccio.com, and back then I thought, why in the world would I need to purchase my name as a domain name?

Well, like I said, that was six years ago, and I had no idea what I was going to go with my online business back then.

Thankfully, six years later, the domain name was still available for the taking and I did.

So, in just about a month my blog had a new theme, a new header and a new name… This is what it used to look not that long ago…

Blog Traffic Improvements

Since I started doing what  I was supposed to be doing with my blog, I also started getting more visitors and more comments. I really started to interact with other bloggers like I had never done before.  I also started participating in blog contests, asking for interviews, did guest postings, blog commenting, and guest invitations.

This is another big thing that is going to happen on this blog.  Big names are going to start appearing as guest writers, once in a while. This is very exciting to me.  As a matter of fact, my first big guest is coming very soon. But I won’t say more about this for now.

So, there you have it! It’s my hope that this blog will attract more and more readers who will enjoy its content and benefit from it.  As a am also starting to target the big blogs out there as guest author, I am sure that the popularity of this baby will only grow.  However, I could never do it without your help and support, so thanks to each one of you for reading this and, please, don’t leave without saying hello!  Your comments are always appreciated.

My New Domain

Today I wanted to publish a guest post which was sent to me through the platform of My Blog Guest.   I thought the content was very good information for writers online, so I decided to publish it.

However, before you get into that, I wanted to let you know that my domain name has changed.  So, if you came to my blog by writing http://persuasivearticleamarketing.com in your browser you may have noticed that it turned into http://sylvianenuccio.com which is now the URL of this blog.

This makes the URL much shorter and easier to remember, especially if you know my name.  In the process, however, I lost all the tweet counts on all my posts, and it seems that there isn’t anything that I can do about this.  If you know any different, please, let me know in the comment area!

Transferring a domain is much, much more work than I thought it was and I don’t think I would ever do it again, to tell you the truth. However, this needed to be done this one time and I am glad I did it.

I have to say that that Hostagtor was great in helping me. The representative who helped me with my domain transfer this week end went well above and beyond her range of duties and I just wanted to say thank you.  I had no problem filling out the survey and saying I will recommend Hostgator to anyone.  They are great for people like me who don’t always know what they are doing when it comes to technical stuff.

So, now that you know about my new URL and why all my tweets are blank, without further ado, here is the guest post…

How To Avoid Common Writing Blunders

All writers strive for excellent written communication, regardless of the audience or purpose.  However, common mistakes will trip up even the most prolific scribes.  Here are some of the most commonly made mistakes and how professional writers in all areas avoid them.

Spelling and Word Use

What did you mean to say: Your or you’re; it’s or its; there, their, or they’re; loose or lose? It’s not the computer’s job to know which word is correct for the meaning being conveyed. How about these: affect or effect (affect is the verb; effect is the noun); accept or except. Be sure to read your work carefully before submitting as the final draft.

Pronoun Use

When to use me, I, and myself seem to regularly present problems. This is largely due to writers wanting their work to appear more formal. Realistically, though, phrases like I, myself…; or …by myself are the only two permissible times to use myself.

When using I or me check these examples, I will go to the park; so, You and I will go to the park. Correctly stated, Carol took me to the gym; me is the object, not the subject.  Me is not used as a subject: Me took a walk…? I don’t think so, do you?

Dangling Participles or Misplaced Modifiers

This is where grandma may be rotten instead of the potatoes, or did the potatoes come in from the rain. It’s so confusing!
Coming in from the rain, Grandma’s potatoes were rotten.
And this one brings a smile:
An elephant rumbled down the street, gray with dust.
Which one was dusty?

Lack of Subject/Verb Agreement

A singular subject requires a singular verb, and vice versa; a plural subject takes a plural verb. These may just be typos, but a thorough proofing of the document points them out quite readily. For example, “George helps Dan repair the motor.” Here is a case of a plural subject, along with a plural verb. Often times when using a singular verb, the verb ends with an s, e.g., “The dog barks loudly.”

Sentence Fragments

By remembering to include a subject and verb, and usually an object, sentence fragments become avoidable. For example, this phrase. There is no verb or object. Hopefully the handy computer will pick up sentence fragments, but not always.

Use of Apostrophes

Namely used with contractions or to make nouns possessive, apostrophes help make sentences a bit more concise. In addition, please note the following: could’ve, should’ve, and would’ve. When writing, please remember the contraction used here is for would have, as opposed to would of. It is incorrect to say the latter at any time.

i.e. or e.g.

These may not be as common as the others, but it is beneficial to know how to use them. I.e. indicates in other words, while e.g. replaces for example. They are far from being interchangeable. Some people are not aware of this one at all.

Writing blunders certainly do not have to be the norm. After burning through your paper or article, take time to carefully read it aloud, or if you are quite brave, have someone else read it.  Hopefully, the above offerings will create awareness so in the future your first draft might just be your final draft.

Terry Ford can spot an em dash a mile away and leap dangling modifiers in a single bound. As a professional blogger and freelance writer she relies heavily on a great grammar checker to avoid these common mistakes.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson about writing “correctly”.  When you do it really sets you apart and your piece can stand out!

Please, let us know if you enjoyed it in the comment area!

The first time I ever published a written piece online was almost 6 years ago.  It will be in a couple of months.  Yes, it was in April 2006 that I was clicking on that submit button for the first time.  time goes by fast!

I don’t write much product reviews anymore, because I am now concentrating more on “teaching”, then telling people what to buy. However, I make few exceptions here and there, when it’s appropriate.

My online friend Barry Wells which I just interviewed a week ago has just launched an eBook for wanna be writers and I couldn’t miss on that one.

I have written 6 eBooks and a few short tutorials myself.  I love to write. To me writing is something that comes kind of naturally; nonetheless, I am aware of the fact that it’s not the case for everyone.  That’s why I have clients who are hiring me to write for them, and that’s a good thing, isn’t it?

However, I am not writing this post for you to be looking for someone to write for you today.  No, I am writing this post to introduce you to my good internet friend Barry Wells’s brand new eBook titled From Passion To Product.  If writing is not really your thing, but you’ve always wanted to write an eBook, then, this guide is for you.

Putting your Passion into a Written Product

What a great idea!  I should have thought about this myself.

You might have read other eBooks about writing eBooks before, but what I like about this one is that it will show you how you can come up with the ideas before you actually start writing anything.  As a matter of fact, for an eBook to be very useful to anyone reading it, it must come from the heart.  I don’t want to sound cliché here, but it’s just so true.

You don’t want to write an eBook just thinking of the big buck.  This would be the wrong approach about it, and it would not even pay off in the end.  You want to write an eBook because you have a strong passion, something you are very good at, something you know well which you want to share with the world.

In From Passion to Product, Barry mentions 11 good reasons why you should write an eBook.  If you can’t think of even one, right now, those 11 good reasons should definitely inspire you.  After all, that is what any eBook should really be about; inspiring the reader to take action.

Barry is also giving you some simple examples that you can follow easily to create your own product.  Such examples can really help you in the process.  Writing an eBook can be very stressful, I should know, and I would have loved for someone to show me how to do it step by step to take some of that stress out of the picture.  This is what Barry does for the reader in his book.

Maybe you have tons of ideas floating through your mind, but don’t know how to put those ideas together.  I know that has happened to me many times.  This is why Barry is outlining 8 critical steps that will help you to go from your ideas to the end of you first paragraph. This is a very important step that is very seldom if ever explained to new eBook writers.

Are you Ready to Write your First eBook?

I know, writing your first eBook, is not easy, I am not going to lie to you.   As a matter of fact, when writing your first eBook you will probably make some mistakes, because that’s just part of the learning process.  However, you don’t have to make ALL the mistakes under the sun, like I did. This is why having a good guide is so important.

When I started my first eBook, I probably made all the mistakes that one could make, because I just did it on my own.   No recipes, no guidance and no help… what can you expect?

What I like about Barry’s book is that it’s going to help you avoid a lot of the common mistakes that new writers make all the time.  Avoiding those common pitfalls will help you to keep your enthusiasm going and not derail from your project, which is a very, very common thing among people writing their first eBook.

So, if you would like to learn more about what’s in that eBook, click here and read more from Barry himself. You will not be disappointed.  Oh, and yes, how much is that eBook? I am not going to tell you, but I promise you that you will love that too!

Please, leave your comments down below.  Have you written eBooks before? Yes, no? How was it for you?

I thought this day would never come!   The day that I would finally have my interview with Barry Well done and uploaded on YouTube, that is!

As I am writing these words the whole interview is not yet completely uploaded on YouTube, because our blogging conversation lasted an hour and half and I had to divide the interview in 11 videos.

Since no one wants to listen to one hour and a half of video, that turned out perfect. Each video won’t be any longer than 10-15 minutes.  If you want to learn what to do and what not to do as a new blogger, I suggest that you listen to one video at a time, so you will be able to take advantage of this great piece of information from Barry Wells little by little and the easy way.

It was the third time that Barry and I had to do this interview because we had few technical problems along the way.   I am not going to tell you the whole story again since Barry explained everything on his post while giving some great tips about what type of software to use and what not to use if you are thinking about doing an interview.

Lot of New Changes Coming

As you’ve seen last week, this blog design has changed and more is going to change still.  In just a couple of days persuasivearticlemarketing.com will be accessed to through sylvianenuccio.com.  I decided to use my own name as my URL and my new header will bear my name as well.

The reason why I made this decision is because my name being quite unique (I’ve never found another Sylviane Nuccio in the world yet, not in France, not in Italy, not here in the US, and not even on Google) each time that I type my full name in the browser it’s just all about me.

Then, not long ago I tried to type sylvianenuccio.com in Google search box and instead of Google telling me that this domain didn’t exist it gave me my own content as  search results.  This is why I thought that I had to buy my name as a domain.  As a matter of fact, I should have done it a long time ago.  But, hey I guess now it’s the time.

The Content of My Blog

The main topic of this blog will still be about teaching people how to write online, but since I am dropping my blog affiliatesuccessmethods.com some posts about internet marketing will be featured here as well.

The reason why I am letting  affiliatesuccessmethods.com go is because I want to concentrate more on this blog and my other two totally different niche blogs that are dear to me as well.

Why Interviewing Another Blogger?

If you have never interviewed someone else in your niche yet, you should really thing about doing it.  Interviewing a successful blogger will do more for you than you may think…

• It will give you content for your blog
• It will give you content to put on your YouTube channel
• It will give allow to spread you wings in the online business
• It will teach you some new things about blogging that you didn’t know
• You will learn some technical tricks
• It will allow you to build a relationship we the blogger you are interviewing, and maybe his followers as well
• It will help you brand yourself

As I mentioned above, my interview with Barry Wells had some technical issues which allowed me to learn a few new things I didn’t know about voice and image recording for video making.  At the same time, it did a great deal in teaching me how to play around with Windows Movie Maker which I had to use to help me create videos that look as professional as possible with the knowledge and tools that are available to me at the moment.

Barry and I had a good time during this interview, and we thought that it went pretty smoothly. I kind of hate to hear myself, but hey, it was very early in the morning for me on this side of pond.  So, without further ado, please, go the video and enjoy the interview.  I won’t post more videos here on the blog itself, so to see them all, just go to my YouTube Channel… They are numbered such as, part one, part two, part three, etc…  ENJOY!

Please, let me know what you think in the comment area!

I know this blog is reserved for writing related topics, but for the occasion I wanted to use my own writing skills to tell you how proud I am of my new  look and mentioned a couple of people without whom I couldn’t have done it.

Yes, my Persuasive Article Marketing blog has got a new look, as you can see.  It was a long week trying to make everything look good, especially for someone like me with very limited HTML, CSS and other uploading skills.

New Thesis Theme

For those who are interested in knowing this, my new theme is one of Thesis themes which is called BlogSkin.

Before I made my purchase my main question to the merchant was if I was going to get some help once I purchased the theme, because I could already feel that I was going to encounter some issues beyond my understanding of theme installation.  I was right. I did encounter hurdles, right from the get go, because as I said above, I am just not good at this stuff.

Thankfully, however, I receive big help from Hesham Zebida the creator of Famous Bloggers who was my contact before I even clicked on the purchase button. When he told me that he could install the blog for free it really was a relief for me, and he sure did.

I have to say that I really bugged the heck out of him until I was happy with everything.  From now on I will use the Thesis forum for other questions that I may have.  Since I have another 3 blogs to set up with this theme I know I will need that help and support.

My Savior, Adrienne

A great lady who has been answering a lot of my questions for me is someone that a lot of you already know;  Adrienne Smith the owner of the very popular blog AdrienneSmith.net.  Adrienne was nice enough to create a whole HTML table for me and included all my links and icon pictures for my social media buttons. You can now see that beautiful widget on your right.

After that was done, I knew I was going to change the look of my opt-in form so it could blend in with the rest of the theme much better.  Again, I asked Adrienne what type of opt-in form she was using, but when she told me that all she was using is an Aweber customized form, I decide to use a different picture and create my own customized Aweber opt-in form the way I knew how.  This opt-in form will eventually evolve, but for now it’s good enough.

Then, what I did is use Adrienne’s nice HTML table to create a four-banner widget. I had seen these around all over the places, but was never able to figure out how to do this.  Well, thanks to Adrienne, now I know. I’ve done this one (on the right margin) all by myself, just by doing some logical guessing using Adrienne icon HTML and incorporating the small banners HTML instead. What a great feeling it was! I had to email Adrienne right away to let her know what I had done.

I wanted to add that Adrienne Smith is really one of those nice people that you don’t find every day.  This is why she is so popular.  She told me that she was proud of me, but I couldn’t have found anyone willing to help me as much as she did.  Thank you Adrienne!

Other People I Want to Thank

Another great person I met last year online is Barry Wells the owner of Barry-Wells.com. It’s through Barry that I have first heard of Adrienne.  Barry has been very patient with me as we are going to do the same interview for the third time tomorrow, because we ran into technical issues twice in raw.  He’s been so nice and so patient.  You need to stay tune to read and hear the whole interview which I am sure will be ready very soon.

Since this post is dedicated to my thanks, I wanted to thank Holly Jahangiri, owner of It’s All a Matter of Perspective.  Even though the year is still very young I have already posted two guest posts on her blogs.  Holly invited me to guest post on her blogs after she read on my new year post that one of my goals for 2012 was to guest post more.

I had the privilege of writing a post about online connections, very appropriate,  for her personal blog, It’s All a Matter of Perspective, and a post about the law of attraction for her Next Goal Blog; which she won at the end of the Surviving the blog contest.

Another nice lady who has been offering me to write for her blog is Sonia Winland, owner of Logallot.com.  She has also mentioned my persuasive article marketing blog as one of the blogs to read in one of her recent posts, and that was a very nice surprise.

For Sonia I wrote an article about my home country, France in her travel section and my next post at Sonia’s should be coming up very soon.

So, there you have it! I really wanted to thank all the people who made this blog look the way it does now,  as well as the ones who are helping me spreading my wings as a writer and blogger.  Oh, by the way, within a few weeks I will have a custom header made, so it will really finish up the product.  Make sure you come back to check it out!

Please, scroll down to the comment area, and let me know what you think about my new look!

I am still amazed when I am asked the questions what is the best article spinner?  However, I know the reason or reasons why so many people are tempted to use automation when they are writing to promote either their site or products.  The number one reason is that they want to spread as much content as possible in as less time as possible, but is that really what will happen using article spinners?

Are you really going to spread your content far and wide because you are using an article spinner?

The real answer to this question might shock you, but I think that by now you really need to know the truth.  Knowing this will save you time and even money that you are wasting for such services. Most of all, it will help your future rankings on Google.

What You Need To Know About Spun Content

What you need to really understand once and for all is that spun content cannot and will not ever be quality content.  The reason for this is that your spun content can be called quality content only ONCE.  I don’t care how good your spinning robot is at finding synonyms to a word, but that’s all those spinners do; replace a word with a synonym of that word.

For example, it doesn’t matter if you are saying “the lost hat was found on the road” or “the missing hat was retrieved on the high way” or even “the once gone baseball cap was finally spotted on the side of the old country trail”.  You are still talking about a lost hat that was found on a road, don’t you?

This is exactly what happens with spun content. It could be the best valuable content you have ever written, but what it really is once it’s been spun a few times, even if it was spun by hand, is just a spun valuable content that has no more value as such.  As a matter of fact, all you would have done is spoil your once quality unique content by spinning it.

Your original article is not unique and original anymore, it’s been spun around so many times, it’s lost all its originality – all in all, its very value.

What Does ROI Has To Do With Fresh New Content

For the ones who don’t know it yet, ROI goes for return on investment.  For every step that you take online you want to have the best ROI possible.  When you are using an article spinner, you are still using your valuable time (investment) to be able to set up your spinner application with all the synonym words and other details that you need to put in in order to spin your article.

Then, when you’re done you may feel like you have invested your time wisely and will get a good ROI (return on your invested time) because your content will be sent to dozens to hundreds of sites which will be giving you a lot of exposure and tons of back-links, right?

Well, I am sorry to tell you that it’s not the case!  If you really thought that way, you couldn’t be more wrong.  Let me explain you why.

Why Your Spun Articles Will Never Rank On Google

Many internet marketers and bloggers have written about how Google cares only about unique content these days.  The days when you still had a slight chance to fool Google algorithm with low quality content are over.  As I mentioned above, even if you had a very high quality article to start with, it’s no quality anymore even after one spin.  In some cases, it could even be seen as duplicate content by Google even if words have been switch around.  If this wasn’t bad enough, there is more…

The multiple sites that your spinner sends your articles to are sites that are not even ranked on Google at all.  That’s right! None of those sites would ever appear as a result of a Google search; therefore, your content on such sites will never appear either.  The only way you could ever find your content there is by entering the URL of the site in your browser and then find your article on that site.  Of course,that’s not the purpose of blasting your content, is it?

Well, worst case scenario, I am still getting the back-links you may say!  Wrong again!  Back-links on such thin content sites don’t even make any difference in your ranking whatsoever.  None!

Now, because of all the reasons I’ve mentioned above, no human eyes ever set sight on such sites.  In other words, there is no human pass through traffic that you could benefit from either.

Get Real ROI For Your Content

Do you want to get REAL return on investment (ROI) for everything you write online?  If you do, there is no secret; you need to spend the time writing real articles every time.  I know it might seem that it’s a lot to write, but it’s really not, because your site will rank better and your content will show much more on search results if you spend the time writing only 10 articles that are 100% unique than if you have a hundred of spun garbage articles.

Harsh reality? Yes, it might be harsh reality for some, but hey, it’s time that you wake up to such reality and stop wasting your energy, time, money and false hope on spun content that is not going to help your site in any way.  When you spend time writing unique and original content you are getting real ROI for your content.

If this article was helpful to you, or if you have any thoughts about it, don’t forget to leave a comment and link you own blog or post to it!

I stumbled upon a blog post the other day which was describing all the reasons why you shouldn’t waste your time guest posting on other blogs.

A couple of the reasons that were mentioned were that –  a) It’s not because you post on someone’s big blog that people will click on your link and land on your site, and – b) Your good content is giving the host blog all the juice while you’re getting nothing.

I thought that it would be interesting to take these points and analyze the pros and cons of guest posting.

In a recent article I was mentioning all the blogs that I guest posted on for the year 2011.  I actually started guest posting in 2010, but I got busy doing other things and didn’t follow through with it.  However, last year I decided to become a bit more active in this department and I am glad I did, because even though I did it in a rather leisure way starting in mid summer I still accumulated a small list.

So, what are the pros and cons of guest posting and is there any truth to what this blogger mentioned on his post?

Are you Getting Visitors From a Guest Post?

The answer to this question is not black or white but rather a various shades of grays.  What I mean by this is that I can’t say that the blogger in question was 100% wrong when he said that people won’t click on your link just because you guest post on higher traffic blog.  That’s true that some won’t. While some people might get curious to know more about who wrote that guest post, like me when I read a guest post, for some strange reasons, some people won’t do that at all.

This being said, however, that’s OK, because the reason why you guest post is not only about people clicking on your link.   There are other very important  reasons why you want to guest post, and we’ll see what they are a bit later.

Did I personally get visitors from my guest posts? Yes, I did, to a degree.  However, this is not the best reward I’ve got from this; what I’ve got is being noticed by other bloggers who asked me to guest post on their blogs.  So, for me it kind of snow balled more that way.

More invitations, mean less requesting to do, and more chance that your next guest post will be accepted fast.  More invitations mean more exposure.  More exposure is bound to lead to more traffic.

You see, what that guy forgot all about when he was seeing only the negative effect of  guest posting is that the most important element, which is what pays off in the end, is the “amount” of posts you are going to do. The more guest posts the more positive results.

No true success happens over night. Guest posting is no different.

What More do you Get When you Guest Posts?

When you guest post, even if you had no one at all clicking on your link you still are spreading your wings with high quality content under YOUR name.  Another thing that happens is that guest posting also helps you to polish your writing skills big time.  Two biggies right there!

Then, you can even collect all your guest posts and create a new page on your blog featuring them and looking like an expert.  Guest posting also gives you high value back-links to your blogs in the form of pingbacks all pointing to your site.

Are you Giving All the Juice of your Great Content to the Host Getting Nothing in Exchange?

As a matter of fact I’ve never read such statement from people who have actually written guest posts, and a lot of them at that.  I have to wonder if this guy even ever wrote a guest post himself.

There is no doubt that guest posting is a lot of work, because you want to write your best piece and take your time to do so.  However, there is great satisfaction in being featured on other blogs that may have way more popularity and traffic than your own.  If you do that enough times you are going to be recognized, there is absolutely no doubt about it.

Ask Danny Iny from Firepole Marketing! This guy has made a point to guest post like a mad man, and it most definitely worked for him. But, don’t forget, he did the work, he did the writing and he left the negativity out of the picture.  This is how you need to do it in order to succeed with guest posting.

All in all, guest posting gives a lot back to the ones who are willing to do the work first. But, if you do it right, there is no reason to find any negative points about guest posting, because pros beat the cons in the end. Every time!

Do you Want more article marketing success? Just fill out the form below and get my FREE article marketing eCouse!If this article was helpful to you, or if you have any thoughts about it, don’t forget to leave a comment and link you own blog or post to it! Tweet

Here we are at the beginning of 2012 already, can you believe it?

Time passes us by so quickly and there is not much we can do about it, except for one thing, use it wisely.  In other words, we can either take advantage of time or we can waste it.  Either way, it’s totally in or power.

Of course, we need some time to sleep, eat, clean up the house, take to kids to school and for many of you, even in the Internet marketing world, go to a full time job.  After all that, however, we need to write our best articles and blog posts for our dear readers.  Tough life, huh?

For this beginning of the year blog post, I wanted to give you four inspiring actions to help your writing going in 2012, regardless of how busy you may be and how hard you may say it is for you to write.

 Give Yourself 30 Minutes Per Day

It doesn’t matter how much time you need to give to other things and people in your life, after all your time on this earth is also yours to take.  It is actually, really ONLY yours.  No matter what your situation may be at this time in your life, you need to take 30 minutes a day for yourself.

This means 30 minutes of undisturbed time that you will use to either, read, reflect, learn or meditate.

What does all this has to do with writing you may ask?

Everything!

If you don’t take some time everyday to do at least one of the four actions mentioned above, you won’t be able to write.  It’s as simple as that!

When I have people telling me they can’t write and I ask them the questions, do you read about your niche or even other subjects?  Do you reflect on what you’ve read, hear, etc? Are you trying to learn more about your niche and your business? Or do you meditate?  Usually their answer to those questions is no, or very little.

This is why you are saying you can’t write.  If I did nothing, I wouldn’t be able to write either.

In order to be able to write pretty much constantly, on a weekly basis, you are going to need to follow a pattern of actions that will keep your writing going for this new  year 2012.

These are the actions that I personally take in order to be able to write each and every day for my own blogs and for other peoples’ as well.

What do I do exactly?

I Take the Four Following Actions

1-      I read a lot of different blogs and articles online

2-      I spend some time reflecting on what I have read, thinking of ways I could use the information to inspire me to write my own stuff.

3-      I am constantly trying to learn about my online business.  What my online buddies and competitors are doing, what seems to be working for them, what lessons they have learned, etc… Then, I write about it.

4-      Meditation seems to belong to a totally different niche, but guess what? It doesn’t.  I meditate for my own growth and for my writing and markeeting growth as well.  Meditation works, and you don’t have to be an expert at it by the way, for meditation to work for you.

Take a Breather

If your mind and body are so busy all the time, running around like a chicken without its head with never any time for yourself to either learn, meditate or even read to learn and get more educated in your business it will be very difficult for you to generate ideas to write about.

If you have any doubt about it, let me tell you that people who write a lot of blog posts and articles on a constant basis have to be doing quite a bit of reading and learning themselves.

Every individual may have their own methods to be able to get inspired to write, but one thing is sure, they all do something.  There is no way that anyone would be able to deliver valuable pieces of information, that people are looking forward to read, who wouldn’t have to do some initial work to make that happen.  It just  wouldn’t be possible, unless you are an encyclopedia and never needs to be inspired.

Get Set For 2012!

This is a new year and it is a good time to start on the right foot by becoming a doer instead of a wisher.

I am not going to lie to you, it takes work.  If you have been told otherwise, you were lied to.  But, if you are willing to do your part and put your content out there, you will be paid back a hundredfold. It’s up to you, it’s your writing.  Be proud of it!

Do you Want more article marketing success? Just fill out the form below and get my FREE article marketing eCouse!

If this article was helpful to you, or if you have any thoughts about it, don’t forget to leave a comment and link you own blog or post to it!

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