So I’m sitting here. At my desk. In the morning. And I’m writing this post. Yesterday, I was writing in the morning too. And the day before. Is there someone forcing me to do this? No, I simply choose to work this way.

Why would you set your day to always write first thing in the morning?! Isn’t being a blogger all about freedom and being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want to?!

Well, bloggers are pretty free people, but being free doesn’t mean that you can’t set some of your activities to a fixed schedule. Especially if those activities simply make sense.

And it really does make sense for writing. Here’s why.

Benefits of writing in the morning and the power of habit

Let’s start with the latter – the power of habit.

Habit is probably the most powerful thing that drives us into doing anything. And I really mean it. Once something becomes our habit, it isn’t difficult any longer, requires very little effort, and gets done pretty quickly.

But if that doesn’t explain the situation enough, let’s tackle it from a different angle.

I’m sure you’ll admit that some bad habits are extremely difficult to fight. Sometimes it takes months or years, or even a lifetime (for some people). I’m sure that every smoker and late riser can relate to this…

That’s the true power of habit, no matter good or bad, once it is set, it stays with us for years.

So what’s the point of turning writing into a first-thing-in-the-morning habit?

First of all, as I said a minute ago, once writing becomes your habit, it will be a natural activity. One that doesn’t require any effort. One that isn’t scary in any way, or challenging in any way. Simply, a natural habit.

The second benefit is something that sits in our mind.

Everything sits in our mind

Even though our brain is an extremely complex thing, some of its characteristics are pretty predictable.

For instance, once our brain gets a grasp that one particular activity is being done every day, first thing in the morning, and it has been done for the past month or so, it will get used to that activity.

Our brain will simply be anticipating that activity, having all the required tools in place ready to be used, at the exact time when the activity usually happens.

This is something that can help us extremely. And I’m not exaggerating. Once your brain is used to you writing every day in the morning, it will prepare all your writing resources and skills to be in their top shape waiting for you.

This is something that can (and will) improve your writing significantly.

And it’s nothing new. People are using this trick all the time in many different fields.

Like, for example, professional boxing. Once the time and date of a fight is set, every training prior to the fight takes place at the same time. Why? So the body and the brain of the boxer can get used to it, and be ready when it’s time to get in the ring.

Many professional sportsmen use this trick, not only boxers. It simply works in most imaginable scenarios. Writing and blogging included.

But improving your results isn’t the only reason why you should at least give this a try. There are other benefits.

Fighting the early-day confusion and warming up

Mornings can be confusing … I’m sure you can relate.

You wake up and there’s so much stuff to do that you don’t know where to start. So you don’t start at all for a while and go to Facebook instead.

Sometimes we fall into such a trap, despite the fact we know that the only thing we have to do is START. No matter what it is exactly, the first step is always the most difficult, and once we’re going, we’re going.

Having a first-thing-in-the-morning activity can be of great help here. There’s no confusion any more. You know that no matter how much stuff you have to do, you always start your day by writing.

Another benefit. Writing is a great warm-up activity for your brain. It gets you ready for other things the day can bring.

And there’s also the most obvious benefit of them all… You simply start your day with a fresh and shiny article, ready to be published, sent as a guest post, sold, or whatever else you’re doing with your content.

How to set a habit of writing in the morning

First of all, you have to realize that the most difficult part is the initial phase. The first couple of times you try to write in the morning.

It may simply not feel natural, nor easy. And the results might not be that good … well, sorry, I’m just telling it like it is.

But remember, this is always the case when setting new habits. Like the habit of early rising, for example. Do you remember how difficult it was to get up early during the first week? Or do you remember how difficult it was not to smoke during the first month of your new cigarette-free lifestyle?

You simply need to get through this. Here’s what I advise you to do during the first week:

1. Start every day by writing a personal journal. Journal entries are very easy to write because they don’t require any knowledge, mindset, or prior information. You simply fire up a text editor and start writing on whatever topic you want. As little as 100-200 words is enough.
2. The actual writing. This is where you write the actual thing you want to write. And you don’t stop until you finish the whole piece.
3. Reward yourself and have a break. Have a small treat. Whatever makes sense.
4. Proceed with your other tasks for the day.

If you do these four steps long enough (for like a month maybe) then after a while they will become natural and won’t require any effort on your end. Also, you will be able to do them much more quickly.

I know this personally … because it’s 8:30AM where I’m sitting right now.

What is your opinion? Have you tried this trick yet? Also, feel free to share if you have any advice of your own that’s similarly counterintuitive.

About the author: Karol K. is a 20-something year old web 2.0 entrepreneur from Poland and a writer at ThemeFuse.com, where he shares various WordPress advice. Don’t forget to visit ThemeFuse to get your hands on some premium WordPress themes (warning: no boring stuff like everyone else offers).

Every year the Millward Brown company publishes its Brandz Top 100 list, which is a ranking of the 100 most powerful brands around the world. The 2012 edition was release a couple of weeks ago.

The list separates “Technology” companies from “Telecom” ones, but in my opinion it’s all technology. In this case we could say that 7 out of the 10 most powerful brands in the world are coming from the tech industry. Not too shabby.

The top 10 brands this year are:

1. Apple
2. IBM
3. Google
4. McDonalds
5. Microsoft
6. Coca-Cola
7. Malboro
8. AT&T
9. Verizon
10. China Mobile

Other technology entries are Amazon.com at the 18th position, Facebook at 19th, SAP at 22th and Baidu (China’s most popular search engine) on the 25th position.

You can download the PDF with the top 100 brands and see related material here: 2012 Brandz Top 100.

Have you ever published a post with an embarrassing typo?

Have you written what you thought was a great piece … only to re-read it three months later and realize that it had no real point?

Some bloggers think that editing doesn’t really matter. After all, you’re giving your hard work away for free: readers can hardly complain if there are a few sub-par posts, or some full of typos.

This is a short-sighted attitude. Sure, one typo isn’t going to kill your chances of success … but poor-quality writing makes you look sloppy or even stupid. Even those readers who do stick around won’t feel so confident about buying your e-book, joining your membership site, or even listening to your affiliate recommendations.

If you’re working on pillar content, or a guest post, it’s doubly important to edit carefully: that content needs to be your very best.

The good news is that editing doesn’t need to take hours of your time. You can just follow these five simple steps to make sure that your post is working from start to end.

Step #1: Check Whether You Have One Clear Point

One of the biggest mistakes I see is bloggers choosing a topic then writing everything they can think of, without any real point. If you sit down and write whatever comes into your head, your post isn’t likely to have any clear organization or structure.

Another problem is a post that has several different points – if that’s happened with your post, you might want to try making it into a series.

Do it: Ask yourself “What one thing should the reader understand (or be able to do) as a result of reading this post?”

Step #2: Make Your Title and Introduction Gripping

If your title and introduction don’t hook the reader, the rest of your post is going to be wasted.

Most titles can be improved with a few little tweaks. You could:

• Add a number.
• Use the words “how to” at the start.
• Include adjectives like “easy” or “powerful” or “little-known”.

Keep your introduction short and clear. Try starting with a question (like I do in this post) or with a quote that ties into your main point. Focus on the reader instead of on yourself: use the word “you” more often than you use “I”.

Do it: Spend at least five minutes on your title during editing. If your introduction seems a bit long, try cutting the first paragraph and see whether the second paragraph makes a better beginning.

Step #3: Include a Call to Action

Every time you write a blog post, you need to think about your aims. Is this post one which you want readers to share? Are you hoping to get more comments and build reader engagement? Do you have a product or service to promote?

Too many bloggers end their posts without giving the reader anything to do next. It might seem a bit silly to you to say “Leave a comment…” or “Click the button to retweet…” but your readers might not notice the comment box or retweet button otherwise.

Do it: Write a call to action at the end of your post. It could be as simple as “If you enjoyed this post, click here to read more…” with a link to a related post on your blog.

Step #4: Edit for the Little Details

Once you’ve got your post into good shape – with a clear point, a good introduction, and a call to action at the end – it’s time to start editing for all the little details.

Look out for:

• Typos and misspellings – don’t rely on your spellchecker to spot them all.
• Missing words – or words where they shouldn’t be (these sometimes creep in during editing).
• Overlong sentences and paragraphs – break these up.

If you struggle to spot your mistakes, try reading your post out loud. You could also print it and read it on paper. This way, you’re more likely to see things that you’d miss on the screen.

Do it: Are there any words that you often confuse, like “you’re” and “your”? Do you know when you should and shouldn’t use apostrophes? When you’re editing, use Daily Writing Tips to double-check anything you’re not sure about.

Step #5: Add Formatting

Your final editing task is to add formatting. You may have included some while you were writing the post, but this is a good opportunity to make sure that your formatting is consistent and useful.

You should:

• Use subheadings – be consistent in how you format these (e.g. always use heading 2 style, always capitalize the words).
• Include bold text to highlight key phrases or sentences – but don’t overdo it.
• Use bullet-points where appropriate, rather than listing lots of items in single sentence.
• Avoid using underlining for emphasis, as readers may be confused and think that this is a clickable link.
• Ideally, add at least one image (at the start of your post, to draw the reader’s eye). You might want to use individual images for each subsection.

Do it: While editing, sit back from your screen and glance at your post. It should look visually interesting and attractive. If it doesn’t, add a bit more formatting.

A bit more attention to editing from all of us would make the blogosphere an even greater place … so retweet this post, or share it on Facebook or G+, and let other bloggers learn these simple editing steps too!

Ali Luke writes a regular column for Daily Blog Tips. She will be speaking at BlogWorld New York on “Four Simple Steps for Editing Your Own Writing” – you can find out more, and register to attend live or virtually, at the BlogWorld site. The code “BAli10” will give you a 10% discount.

A couple of days ago Google announced that it will start notifying users of its search engines about possible infections of malware or trojans on their machines. Initially the effort will be focused on the DNSChanger trojan, but hopefully it will be extended to other malware.

DNSChanger is a Windows-based trojan which changes the registry containing the nameservers your computer uses to find websites. As a result you’ll type something on the browser and will be redirect to another website, possibly containing further malware.

In order to be notified about a possible infection all you need to do is to search on Google.com. Here’s how the warnings looks like:

If you are wondering why they don’t this more often, here’s why, according to a Google security engineer:

“In general we want to notify users [of malware infections] anytime we are capable of doing so, but the fact that we don’t do this more often is really just because it’s hard to come across cases where we can do it this accurately. In many cases we only have maybe a 90 percent confidence that someone is infected, and the false positive rate of 10 percent is simply too high to be feasible. But in this case we can be essentially certain that someone is infected.”

The site KrebsOnSecurity has a detailed piece on the matter. Here’s the link to the full article: Google to Warn 500,000+ of DNS Changer Infections.

I am always looking for new websites to use as marketing platforms for my projects and products, and an interesting one I found recently is called UKritic.com.

Think about it as a Squidoo for product reviews. Basically users sign-up and write reviews about the product they have used or bought. Unlike other websites with user-generated content, however, UKritic will give you a piece of the action if people reading your reviews end up purchasing the product.

In other words, they are totally fine to have affiliate marketers aboard.

If you are just getting started with affiliate marketing this might actually be a good place to test things out. That is, you could pick a range of products and niches you want to promote and test things out on their platform.

After that you check what types of reviews and products convert better, and then you decide if you want to spend time and money building a whole website around those or not.

Here’s a video explaining how it works in detail:

Right after you sign-up you’ll be able to start writing your reviews. Before your profile becomes public, though, you need to have at least one review approved by the moderators, which is a positive thing in my opinion, as it helps to keep the level of spam down.

If you visit the site you’ll notice that every review has three big orange buttons pointing to the seller’s website: one on top, on on the sidebar and one at the bottom. Guess what, you can provide your affiliate links when writing the review and those buttons will carry it for you, so you get commissions for buyers going through your Ukritic review. You can also embed affiliate links in the body of the review if you prefer.

Overall I think it’s a nice idea, and I believe the approach to support rather than prohibit affiliate marketing will definitely help this platform to become popular, so check it out here.