Theme

Worst Sailing Innovation Ever

In Tillerman’s words: “write a few lines about what innovation, new idea, or invention has been most detrimental, most frustrating, most disastrous… just generally the worst… for the sport of sailing. Explain what the innovation is and tell us why you think it is so awful.”

Rules

1. Write a new post on your blog on the theme.
2. Link to the announcement post on the Proper Course blog.
3. To submit your entry, email tillermeister [at] gmail [dot] com with your permalink url and post title.
4. Recommended: Give your story a unique title.
5. Recommended: Follow the Proper Course blog to visit the different entries and comment on them.

Submission Deadline

Sunday February 14th, 2010

Results

As Tillerman posts them on his Proper Course blog

--Jacob Share, Professional Blogging Consultant and THE Group Writing Projects Expert

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• Write a Review Group Writing Project (0)
• Simply the Best Group Writing Project (Sailing Version) (0)
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• Sailing Goals Group Writing Project (2)

Theme

Children

In Robert’s words: “Something you learned from, because of, or with  the topic du jour (which in this case is, of course, children).”

The Usual WILF Rules

1. The post has to be new.
2. Link to the announcement post on Middle Zone Musings.
3. Be nice!
4. Warning: to be eligible for the final list of entries, your post must be suitable for all ages.
5. Once you’re done, email Robert Hruzek (rhruzek [at] sbcglobal [dot] net) with your name, the title of your post, and the permalink of the post.

Submission Deadline

Sunday, February 7th 2009

Results

Monday, February 8th 2009

--Jacob Share, Professional Blogging Consultant and THE Group Writing Projects Expert

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• What I Learned From the Law Group Writing Project (1)
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• What I Learned From Stress Group Writing Project (0)
• What I Learned From People Group Writing Project (0)

Theme

What Does Accessibility Mean to You?

In Glenda’s words: “drill down to the essence of what accessibility truly means”

Rules

• Blog on this topic with a post that’s exactly 25 words long.
• Recommended: add a related picture to your post.
• Recommended: link back to the announcement post.
• To submit your entry, leave your permalink url in a comment on the announcement post.

Submission Deadline

January 31st 2010

Results

All results will be compiled by Glenda into “into some kind of creative PowerPoint video.”

--Jacob Share, Professional Blogging Consultant and THE Group Writing Projects Expert

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• No related posts yet.

This is a cross-post from JobMob.

Why starting a business can be a good idea for you

You will learn a lot. If you choose the right business, many of the skills you learn can also benefit your professional career.

You might find a job. By taking action and networking with like-minded people, you increase the chances of meeting someone who needs a skilled person like you that understands their business.

You will feel better about yourself. By learning a new business and aiming towards measurable goals, you will feel more in control of your life than when on a job search that’s dragging on, where it seems like you’re at the mercy of every hiring manager who invites you for an interview.

You will earn more money. If your new business is a success, it will end your job search by becoming your new job. At the minimum, you can generate extra income that continues to grow even after you find a “real” job, so that eventually you will earn enough to no longer feel locked in to any job.

Most enterprising job seekers tell me that they either got fed up with job searching, or they had a business idea they wanted to try, or both. And I completely understand, because I’ve been there too.

The first days of my own business

My last job search started in June of 2006. Still living in Paris at the time, my job search was nevertheless focused on continuing my high tech career, but back in Israel.

After 3 months of interviews, including two round-trip flights to Tel Aviv, the idea for a blog to help other job seekers started to take shape. Initially, my main goal was to share my own job search highs and lows for the benefit of others and it still is. I also liked the idea that no one else in Israel was blogging about job search (that is, until I actually started blogging and realized how much harder that fact made my blogging life at the time).

Ironically though, one of the reasons I started blogging about job search was to spend less time in job search. As you know, spending 8 hours a day looking for a job is tough work.

Working on this blog became a chance to learn something new that could help in my professional career, and not just by helping me find a new one. It was refreshing to work on a new project for the first time in over a year and it didn’t take long until I was excited about the possibilities.

Then people started asking me The Question.

The one question job seekers hesitate to ask me most…

…but then do so anyway. And that question is:

“How do you make money?”

This question used to really frustrate me. I remember saying to someone, “we’re here at a job fair. Wouldn’t you rather ask me for help about your job search?” I didn’t yet understand how the answer to their question could actually help their job search by inspiring them to do something similar to what I was doing, for all the benefits I mentioned above.

Another reason the money question annoyed me early on was because at that time, I wasn’t making any money. I didn’t originally have the intention to make a business out of JobMob, but as I learned, applied and tested what I learned, I started to make a little bit of money, so I kept going and I made a little more, and so on.

So now let me answer your question.

I currently make money with my websites 3 different ways:

1. Advertising – mostly banner (image) advertising on the website itself.
2. Consulting – I consult about job search/recruitment, personal branding, blogging, social media, e-commerce, community building and almost any topic related to the Internet.
3. Affiliate marketing – earning commissions from the sales of other people’s products.

One key to success with affiliate marketing is to only promote products that you can vouch for. There are many products coming out all the time but I’m very picky and only willing to talk to you about the rare products that are must-sees, the ones where you get so much more value than what you pay for. Usually, these are also products that I’ve used myself, like the OnlineProfits.com online business training course.

A terrific starter course for the enterprising job seeker

I’ve known Daniel Scocco, creator of OnlineProfits.com and one of the most successful bloggers ever, for a few years. After completing the first edition of his course in 2009, Daniel asked me for a testimonial and this is what I told him:

“OnlineProfits is a terrific starter course for the Internet entrepreneur. I liked how a typical lesson is short enough to go through in one sitting but long enough to give you the insight needed to start getting results in the topic covered. Also, some of the tools provided are great time-savers. I plan to recommend the course to my blog readers.”

And that’s why OnlineProfits is the perfect course for the job seeker (0r anyone) who’d like to start a business.

Together with other top-level web experts that he gathered from around the world to mentor OnlineProfits students, Daniel’s lessons take you by the hand in covering all the major facets of running an online business and explain how to do it effectively, wasting the least amount of time and effort, which means you can continue with your job search in parallel.

I asked Daniel: what do you think is the most compelling reason to start an online-based business right now?

He replied:

“Despite having revolutionized the world already, the web is still in its infancy. We can’t even imagine the things that are coming. But one thing is certain, the people working online are the ones who will be catching the biggest opportunities. “

This goes back to the benefits I mentioned earlier. If you start building a business now and keep at it, eventually you will be able to take advantage of opportunities that can lead to you not needing any other jobs except the ones you create.

What you get by joining the course

1. Access to all training materials, which are composed of text lessons (also downloadable as MP3 audios if you prefer), case studies, video tutorials and interviews.
2. Access to a private forum where you can interact with other members and get all your questions answered.
3. Access to the time-saving “Tools” I mentioned in my testimonial, and the “Resources” section, which contain a selection of tools from around the web and exclusive resources (e.g., templates and keyword lists).
4. Access to the Content Library, which has over 500 e-books you can download and even re-sell.
5. Access to the course’s social clubs. One of them is a social bookmarking club, to help you get more traffic from social bookmarking sites like Digg and Stumble, and the other one is a retweet club, to help you get more traffic from Twitter.

What kinds of results can you expect from the course?

According to Daniel: “The results you’ll get will depend entirely on your goals and on how hard you are willing to work. Some people join our program because they just want to create a couple of websites to supplement their monthly income. Others want to work full time online and build big businesses, and they see our program as a foundation for that. Keep in mind that we believe there are no shortcuts to success though, and we don’t offer “magic bullets” or “overnight riches”. Building a real and profitable online business will take a lot of work and time. Our training program complements that with the right set of knowledge and strategies.”

How much does the course cost?

4 monthly payments of $98 (or $392 in total).

For that price you get lifetime access to the training materials and to the members area.

OnlineProfits.com goes on sale today and space is limited

For the first time since the closure of the OnlineProfits training course after I graduated, the program reopens today for a new class of students.

Access to the new OnlineProfits will be available at 3am Eastern time (check your time here).

ONLY 300 SPOTS ARE AVAILABLE for new students, and they will probably sell out by the end of today if we can judge by what happened last time.

JOIN ONLINEPROFITS.COM TODAY before all the spots are gone.

Fast-action bonuses if you join using my link

So that joining this course is a no-brainer for you, I’m going to throw in some extra bonuses to complement the already long list of course materials and resources.

Two 45-minute consult calls – every person that joins OnlineProfits through this link will get 2 free, non-transferable 45 minute consult calls with me about anything you like (1 call for each half of the course). One example would be to help you find a business idea that synchronizes well with your current profession and personal brand.

I usually charge 100 euros per hour for consult calls, so this bonus has a value of 150 euros, which is over $215.

One free month of advertising here on JobMob – any business you create will need to sell either a product or service, and by joining OnlineProfits through this link, you’ll earn one month of free 125 x 125 pixel ad placement here on JobMob for your business, a $200 value.

In other words: if you sign up now using my link, I will give you $415 in bonuses, while the course only costs $392! I’m practically paying you to join.

My personal guarantee

Finally- if you join OnlineProfits only to decide that the course isn’t for you and then leave the course, you can still keep my fast-action bonuses. That’s how sure I am that you will find this course useful.

JOIN ONLINEPROFITS.COM TODAY

--Jacob Share, Professional Blogging Consultant and THE Group Writing Projects Expert

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Theme

Bloggers to watch

In Darren’s words: “Write a ‘Bloggers to Watch’ post on your blog… my hope is that this little project will generate some lists of bloggers that focus upon all kinds of niches/industries.”

Rules

• Blog a new post where you list bloggers worth following in 2010.
• Recommended: link back to the announcement post.
• To submit your entry, leave a comment on the announcement post with your entry’s permalink url.

Submission Deadline

There is none, but considering how many comments Darren’s articles get, if you don’t get your entry in by Thursday Jan. 14th, almost no one will see it.

Results

Follow the comments in the announcement post

--Jacob Share, Professional Blogging Consultant and THE Group Writing Projects Expert

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• Results from the Killer Titles Group Writing Project (6)
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Theme

Slavery / Human Trafficking

In Matt’s words: “We are going to write a group-effort story about this crime against humanity in the hopes that a compelling fiction piece may move people to action more readily than all the documentaries and serious opinion pieces.”

Rules

• Follow the story at stopslaveryworldwide.com.
• Submissions for the story are via tweets using the #otf hashtag.
• The “best” line of the day will be added at stopslaveryworldwide.com/story (it’s not clear how the best line will be chosen, maybe Matt can tell us in the comments).
• Recommended: follow @onetweetfiction on Twitter to know how the project is progressing (outside of the story itself).

Submission Deadline

The hopes of the project is to attract world attention to slavery, specifically in South Africa, by the time the World Cup is played there in June 2010

Results

Starting Monday December 21st 2009

--Jacob Share, Professional Blogging Consultant and THE Group Writing Projects Expert

Related posts

• No related posts yet.

Theme

A Look Back at 2009

In Robert’s words: “compose a post listing your favorite posts (or your most popular, or whatever criteria you want; it’s your choice this month!) from your own blog posted during 2009. Simple, right? Hey, that’s what I thought!”

The Usual WILF Rules

1. The post has to be new.
2. Link to the announcement post on Middle Zone Musings.
3. Be nice!
4. Warning: to be eligible for the final list of entries, your post must be suitable for all ages.
5. Once you’re done, email Robert Hruzek (rhruzek [at] sbcglobal [dot] net) with your name, the title of your post, and the permalink of the post.

Submission Deadline

Sunday, December 20th 2009

Results

Monday, December 21st 2009

--Jacob Share, Professional Blogging Consultant and THE Group Writing Projects Expert

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• What I Learned From Transportation Group Writing Project (1)
• What I Learned From the Law Group Writing Project (1)
• What I Learned From the Generosity of Others Group Writing Project (0)
• What I Learned From Stress Group Writing Project (0)
• What I Learned From People Group Writing Project (0)

Theme

Stories Without Words

In Roka’s words: “We want writers to visit the site, find an image and write anything from a short caption, poem, essay or story…posting it in the comment section for the specific image. A new image will be posted daily.”

Rules

• Paste your text creation into the comment field beneath the related image
• No profanity, please
• Open to anyone, young and old
• No critiquing of stories unless requested

Submission Deadline

There is none (for now at least). The project launched in November 2009 and is ongoing.

Results

As people post their entries in the comments

--Jacob Share, Professional Blogging Consultant and THE Group Writing Projects Expert

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• No related posts yet.

Theme

Your ‘essential’ blog post of 2009

In Joanna’s words: “Sift through what you published in 2009 to select the post you’d call ‘essential’…”

Rules

• Find your best post of 2009, your ‘essential’ one, and blog about why it was so essential.
• If your essential post had some ‘punchy’ quotes worth pointing out, mention them to Joanna as well so she can include them in the final results list.
• Your blog post must contain a link back to the announcement post.
• To submit your entry, leave your permalink and post title in a comment on the announcement post.

Submission Deadline

Sunday December 27th 2009

Results

By the end of December

--Jacob Share, Professional Blogging Consultant and THE Group Writing Projects Expert

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• Writing Lessons Group Writing Project (0)
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• Results from the 4×4 Sources of Writing Inspiration Group Writing Project (2)

Theme

A look back at 2009

In Daniel’s words: “It was about time to have a new group writing project. Since 2009 is getting close to an end, I figured that “2009 in Review” would be a good topic for it.”

Rules

• Write a new blog post reviewing some aspect of 2009.
• Link back to the announcement post.
• To submit your entry, email daniel [at] dailyblogtips [dot] com with your permalink url.

Submission Deadline

Wednesday December 9th 2009

Results

Monday December 14th 2009

--Jacob Share, Professional Blogging Consultant and THE Group Writing Projects Expert

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