It doesn’t matter what type of business you are in, there will always be tools available that you can apply to your business. These tools will not only reduce unwanted or unneeded time to do a task but, they also will create a higher productivity rating. Most webmasters that work from home online have run into the “time” problem at one point or another wish they could find a way to solve it.

Let’s face it, time is precious, it doesn’t matter if it’s for business or pleasure, the last thing you want to be doing is wasting time to do things the hard way when you could be doing it the easier and quicker way. Listed below are 4 tools you can utilize in your own home business:

Auto Responders – One of the best sites I know of is Aweber, not only have they been around for a really long time but, they are a stable business to work with. Aweber allows you to set up an autoresponder for your business. Of course, this can send prospects on your list an automated email of your choice that you can personalize, keep on file and send as many times as you want.

These autoresponders can be used as; thank you for joining emails, welcome to the list emails, thank you for order emails, and well, anything else you want. I have a few set up in my account. The first one that gets sent is after a person joins my list, it just is a small thank you email. The second one is a welcome to my list type of deal, kind of letting them know who I am and a little bit about my background in writing.

My last one and most recent one is a “specials” email which allows my customers to know that when they get on my list, only they will be permitted to have the sale prices. Now with all of these, I send them out to ONLY the newest members who just joined. This way Bob that has been a member for a year, won’t get the same email 100,000s of times.

Google Docs – This software is a great way to share docs with special customers you might have. You can share graphs, charts, docs, XML docs, text files, photos, business plans, etc. This is also nice if you are working “side by side” with someone on a project. Just open the file and you can both work on it together even when you are on other sides of the world. It’s super efficient, quick, easy, and free which is important!

Additionally, any edits that you make are also visible to other users that share your document in real time. With Google Docs, users can store their documents without worrying about losing unsaved work, and they can be accessed from anywhere. It also gives even the most unorganized person the power to organize their documents.

DropBox – This website is especially for people that would like to have the ability to store docs, photos, spreadsheets, videos, zip files and much more. All of these items are safely and securely stored online and can be accessed by anyone that you want to share them with such as clients, colleagues, or even your friends. As with most other online collaboration tools, the nicest benefit is that files can be edited anywhere, anytime, without having to re-upload from your desktop.

Digital Calendar – Two of the bests are Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar. I use Google Calendar most of the time because it ties in with my Gmail, Google Doc, Google Hangout, Google Analytics, etc., which work seamlessly on Google’s Chrome browser.

The drawback of this route is Google will collect quite a bit of data about your web activities. Thus, I suggest you use a different web browser for things that are more personal.

Of course, there are thousands of other tools out there that you can use, but I know for me, these are the top 4 that I use. Not only do they keep me organized, but they keep my business running smoothly and semi-automatically. I hope you find this article helpful. If you do, please share it with other on your social pages. Thanks!

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There are ample messages in any email inbox complete with grand promises of the fastest riches for minimal effort. There are promises of lazy days on the beach while your bank account grows and grows and you don’t have to do anything because your business will run itself automatically while you go off and traverse the world. That sounds easy. I could do that. So, if all I have to do is sit back and collect my checks, why are all these people still out there working? And why on earth is anyone bothering to send me an email about this since they are out there on the beach playing in the waves?

If you want to earn a legitimate work at home income and create a home-based business, you can do this. Anyone can do it. But don’t be fooled by the promises of 365 lazy days a year. The easiest home-based business is the one that you commit yourself to learning and implementing. The easiest home based business is the one with a real product and a real business plan. Internet marketing is a business, and just like every other business that we can consider legitimate, there will be some actual work involved. Whether you are checking out an affiliate program, a work at home program, or a home-based business, this is the very basic principle which you need to honor in order to grow a real business.

1. Realistic Time Frames
Affiliate programs, work at home programs, and home-based businesses are all built on the same principle. If you take the time to learn the business, promote your business well, and can relate to people (or learn to) well enough to light their spark, then you will start to build a successful business venture from home. There really aren’t any shortcuts. There are different ways of achieving this goal, but there isn’t one business out there that can promise you an income without effort.

It really doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about a home-based business, a work at home program, or an affiliate program, none of these business opportunities have shortcuts that bypass real efforts. That is called charity. When you start a successful business venture from home, you need to keep your time frames realistic regardless of what awesome promises the email header may promise you. You get to control many things when working from home. But you can not control the actions of other people. When you want your world to change so dramatically, you have to expect to put a little effort into the changes and you have to expect to “build” your business.

We live in a fast-paced society. Bosses, children, friends, spouses, and even the family dog don’t like to wait too long for their needs to be fully met. The biggest problem with the emails and businesses that promise fast returns for little effort is that as a society we have already been “trained” to believe that it could be possible. Everything, even our food, is fast. Why can’t we change our life around in a week? Well, we can but changing a life so dramatically in a short period of time usually requires a near-death experience or another epiphany moment. Either way, we can’t usually turn our bank account around in a week without winning the lottery, pulling out our retirement funds, or settling a lawsuit.

2. Building Long-Term Businesses
Most people who are looking for a successful business venture from home are seeking a long-term financial change. When given the choice, most people would rather take on a business that could provide them with $3000 per month for the rest of their life than one that delivered $50,000 one time. While fast, big money can be tempting, building up a long-term residual income helps to create long-term residual changes in your life. Using this knowledge as a basic building block, we should be able to hit the delete button with a little more assurance when those big promises come flooding into our inbox.

Long-term businesses are stable businesses that will be here to provide an income for you and your family for the rest of your life. Fly-by-night businesses that are cashing in the big chips are not likely to provide a long-term income to anyone, and when the chips fall, there are bound to be hardworking families that suffer the effects.

Unfortunately, all areas of internet marketing (affiliate programs, work at home programs, and home-based businesses) have enough scammers and grandiose promises that you can’t shelter the likelihood of being tempted at least once or twice in your internet marketing career.

3. Stick to the Plan, Stan
Long-term businesses and home-based businesses that are bound to be around for awhile require a little effort and a daily devotion to the practice of earning money through your business. Build a plan for your successful business venture from home and then work your plan.

While it is advisable to make the necessary adjustments along the way, revamping your plan every other week is sort of like spinning your wheels in a snow ditch. It doesn’t matter how fast and hard you spin your wheels, once you’re in that ditch it takes a phenomenal effort to get out of it. Keep it simple, build the plan, and then stick to it. Making decisions based on a ready-made formula will help keep you consistent, and your consistency is bound to lead to success when it is applied daily.

4. Down with Self-Doubt
One of the biggest reasons that people switch from one home-based business to another is self-doubt. While somewhere inside they believe they can make the “right” home based business work for them, they seem to believe that the next one in their inbox might be a little more up their alley, a little more doable. As they get into it, they realize that this one also requires the same amount of work, if not more, and before long, they are switching businesses again, flushing money, time, and hope with every switch.

If you believe, even just a little bit, that you can find a successful business venture from home then you are able to do it. Period. There is not a need to continuously move about the internet finding the one that will bolster your self-belief. That has to come from an inside source.

You have found a business that offers you a good, quality product, a fair and reasonable payment plan, is cost-effective to join and run, and that offers you a new start to your life. You have developed your plan and are sticking to it, making a daily effort in your home based business. You are finding inspiration and learning that you can accomplish these tasks every day.

It doesn’t matter whether it falls under the affiliate program, home-based business, or work at home program, you now have the power within your grasp to start making long-term residual changes in your daily life. Thus, you are now on the road to a successful business venture from home. You have found the easiest home-based business on the planet.

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I remember the first time the idea of starting a business online popped into my head. Pumped and full of enthusiasm, I was scared but also ready to jump right in and make myself a whole load of money.

Well, despite all the hype about getting rich off the Internet, it turns out that starting an online business is in many ways just like starting one in the “real” world. Here are a few things to consider before jumping into the online business world:

__1. Take a Personal Assessment.
What type of skills and interests do you have? Many people start businesses in areas in which they already work – for example, someone who works as a programmer might start an Internet business writing custom scripts. Identify the types of businesses you think you’ll love to do; after all, there’s no point in leaving a job you hate for a business that makes you miserable!

__2. Conduct Market Research.
It would be a real shame to pour your heart, soul, and funds into a product or service that no one wants! All too often, usually out of sheer enthusiasm, people create a product or service that *they* want or like. Then they try to find a market for it. You can’t force an unwilling market to buy your product or service. Instead, through research, you can find out what your market wants – and then create a product to satisfy that want. Every business contains an element of risk. Researching your market will help to reduce that risk, by helping you to make an educated judgment on whether or not people are willing to pay for your product – and at a price that will allow you to make a decent profit.

__3. Research Your Competition.
I’ve often heard people say that they want to be the first to a market. The risk you take with this approach is that perhaps there *isn’t* a market — which is why you have no competition! Entering a market where there’s plenty of competition, on the other hand, probably indicates that there’s sufficient interest to sustain at least some of these businesses. The risk is that there might not be room for *you*.

Find out what your competitors are doing, how they’re doing it, what appears to work well for them and what doesn’t. What can you offer that they can’t? The more knowledge you have, the better equipped you are to make the right decisions for your business.

__4. Plan and Prepare.
Ever heard the saying, “No one ever plans to fail… they just fail to plan.” Some things to consider include… Costs – startup costs, recurring fees such as web hosting, and marketing costs. Building a business takes money, plain and simple. How will you fund your business? Business plan – if you intend to apply for a loan, you will likely need one of these. Even if you don’t need a loan, a business plan helps to give your business some ‘shape’ by setting clear goals. Some great tips on writing a business plan can be found at https://www.sba.gov/business-guide.

Time commitment – it’s tough when you hold down a “day job” and still have to find time to build your business. But businesses take time, and unless you actively set aside time to work on it, it probably won’t happen. There’s a world of difference between “spare time” (which no one seems to have these days) and “part-time”.

Space commitment – do you have a dedicated computer that you can use for your online business? How about a room where you can concentrate? The risk of sharing a computer with others is that someone may accidentally delete, corrupt, or misplace your important files.

__5. Marketing.
A great product just isn’t enough. Your potential customers have to be able to find you first before they can buy from you! Your Internet business may benefit from a combination of online and offline marketing. It’s a continuous learning experience; read and learn more every day to find the marketing techniques that work best for you. There are many resources available online to teach you the basics of marketing and copywriting. One excellent site with helpful tips and strategies is Lynda.com.

__6. Logistics.
This includes the investigation of zoning regulations, business structures, registration of a business name, licenses and permits, bank accounts, insurance… all that boring but necessary stuff. The US Small Business Association, https://www.sba.gov/business-guide, is a good place to start. Also check locally; many cities have organizations dedicated to helping small businesses.

Research, planning, and preparation can help you to avoid headaches and missteps later on – Which helps you make smart decisions for your business. Good luck and good planning!

The post The Basics of Building a Business on the Internet appeared first on Make Money Online With Your Computer: LaptopWork.com.

Don’t feel alone. Entrepreneurs usually start out having a long-term goal and a strong passion, but somewhere within the many layers of running a business, the original goal may have been diluted or forgotten, and the results feel nothing more than average. In this article, I will point out three top priorities for small business owners to consider in order to maximize their efforts.

Here are 3 critical areas to work on:

1. Build more assets and minimize liabilities.
2. Know how to make your assets work for you.
3. Make gains in self-improvement and knowledge, always revisiting your assumptions.

Let’s discuss these three capacities in more detail:

First, let me share with you a true story I learned not long ago. Since one of my relatives works in the medical field in the end-of-life cancer care department, she shares many sad stories that have shaped my perspective as a small business owner. Of all the stories she has told me, the one I remember most was the story of a gentleman who ran a small successful construction business and was the breadwinner for his family. When discovering the severity of his cancer, he had less than six months to live, and everything he was building seemed to come crashing down. Why? Because he knew that without him, his business couldn’t operate. Family members he left behind couldn’t inherit what he had built, beyond his life insurance policy, if he had one.

All the knowledge he had gained over the years which made him a great contractor was about to go down with him. As a fellow entrepreneur, I felt very sorry for him—and his family. While reflecting on this story and what to do as a small business owner, I was inspired to write this article. As small business owners, we can remind ourselves to build the kind of business that will grow our assets over time, while reducing our liabilities, rather than focusing solely on daily operations.

We can ask ourselves this hard question: “What assets can my family inherit if I get hit by a bus someday?” I know this is a sensitive question that no one wants to think about, but if you are an experienced business owner you would know that bad things can arise when least expected. Whatever transpires in your business, you should think of a way to turn it into an asset which you and your loved ones can use.

For example, if you run a small auto service business and your children want to take over the family business someday, start to transfer your knowledge and trade secrets to them—sooner, rather than later. If none of them are interested in the business and prefer to do something else, then you can write a book, eBook or a blog sharing what you have learned from your years of experience. If you can’t write well, outline what you think is valuable knowledge and hire a ghostwriter to help you accomplish it. Many small business owners do not realize the true value of their knowledge, accrued over the years. It’s truly an asset when compiled into a well-organized document. It’s your digital real estate, and content marketers would know exactly what this means.

If you are a real estate agent or business consultant, you can do the same to build your assets or you might have additional ideas that will build assets for you. No matter what industry you are in, if you think hard, you will find a way to turn your knowledge and experience into an asset for you and your family—starting today.

About the liabilities—you can learn to minimize liabilities over time as any clever business owner would do. To clearly understand the differences between liabilities and assets, let me clarify them. A liability is an investment that takes money out of your pocket each month (because of a negative end-of-month balance) and an asset is an investment that puts more money into your pocket each month (a positive balance). Understanding them clearly, you can now consider which things you can focus on to minimize your liabilities, and which things you should work on to build your assets.

Second, when you have an asset, you need to make it work for you, ideally (almost) on auto-pilot. Because that’s the best way for you and your family to benefit from them over the long term. If you are a real estate investor, I think you already know what I mean by building assets that pay out for a long time. However, if you are a professional working for a corporation, you might want to figure out a way to document, package and promote your knowledge and experience in a way that other people will consume it. The logical exception in this example is the information which cannot be shared outside the company, such as trade secrets and confidential or proprietary information.

If you are  an insurance agent with years of experience in the industry, why not create a blog site where you share best practices and other content that would benefit people for free, while running Google AdSense or affiliate programs to generate extra revenue? If possible, try to create predominantly “evergreen” content that will remain relevant for years to come.

Key takeaway: A smart person works for a good company to gain income for each day of work. A wise person invests time producing something once that will continue to gain income and/or benefits for years to come. This is the ultimate cornerstone of how to make your assets work for you.

Third, sometimes success can be your own worst enemy. Why? Because it feeds your ego so that sometimes you are unwilling to listen to other people’s great ideas and advice. Therefore, no matter how many successes or failures you encounter, you should always be open to advice and continue to  improve yourself with books written by people who “walk the talk.”

Sometimes people view successful, rich people like a walking-talking-money-printing machine, which does have some truth to it. Since money is a currency, and, like an electrical current, it will not produce benefits if it stays in one place. It must move or exchange hands to yield the most benefit. In business, we must all continually elevate our knowledge and keep up with new technologies and concepts. Without it, we can’t continue to bring benefits to the business. So, keep on learning and revisit your assumptions often to make necessary adjustments to keep your business on track.

After many years of running a small business with employees on the payroll, these are the three things I would consider THE most important on my list as an entrepreneur. I hope this article provides you with another perspective for assessing your business and considering additional opportunities. If you think this article will benefit other self-employed individuals like us, please share it with them. You might also have a great conversation considering these points and what they could mean to you and your businesses. Thank you!

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As a labor force serving a variety of industries, we should recognize that we are living in an era of revolutionary changes. On the one hand, with powerful laptop and internet connections, we can work wherever and whenever we can be the most effective. On the other hand, employers can now select from a larger pool of talented contributors because their employees can work for them remotely.

Here are just a few benefits this remote labor revolution brings to both sides:

For employees and self-employed professionals who provide intellectual services:

1. We save time and money by not driving to work each day.
2. We can work when and where we can be most efficient and effective.
3. We can benefit from flexible work hours and locations when we have young children or relatives who need our care and attention.

For businesses and organizations:

1. They now have a larger and more diverse pool of talent to select from when recruiting.
2. They can collaborate easily from within and outside their physical location, and globally.
3. They can reduce overhead costs by minimizing office space and utilities required for on-site employees.

Because of this revolution in the labor market, many companies and organizations are making their recruiting more attractive by adding an option for employees to work from home, or at least a couple days a week. To some extent, this situation can solve the employees’ concern for finding affordable housing near the company’s offices. It can also reduce the stress of rush hour traffic and convert that wasted time into productive work time, freeing up more time for family, exercise and learning.

Since most workers in the service-industry labor force use laptop computers daily, LaptopWork.com is the place where we can share insightful information about how to work smarter and become more productive. Here, you will learn the best practices from professionals who work from home, from successful startups who operate out of a co-working office, and from seasoned entrepreneurs who like to mentor, coach and share with others, and more.

Our goal is to provide helpful content for those who want to make the most of their time and technology. If you like our mission, please share our content with others on your social media pages. Thank you very much!

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Many diet programs have come and gone. The reason they succeeded for the short term is that of our lust for immediate gratification. We want to lose weight and lose it fast. We fail to realize that it took us a good amount of time and efforts to get us into the new shape. Marketing and packaging techniques are used to convince us that we needed to follow a certain type of plan. In reality, many plans have taken dieting to its most extreme levels. As you well know most of those diet plans have gone by the wayside. The harsh reality is most of the results from the fad Diet Plans is yo-yo dieting. Take off weight. Put on weight.

What is a Balanced Diet?
A balanced diet provides the vitamins and minerals that you require to maintain a healthy body. Recommended Dietary Allowances: Is the recommended intake of nutrients on a daily basis.

What to eat?
To maintain a balanced diet include these foods in your diet every day: meats and meat products, fish, poultry, fruits and vegetables, whole-grain products, milk and milk products, and eggs.

Avoid too much fat. But do not eliminate it completely from your diet. Choose low-fat protein, such as lean meats, poultry, and fish. Use recipes that utilize broiling, baking, and boiling. Limit the amount deep-fat fried and heavily breaded foods.

Avoid too much sugar. Know your sugars. Sucrose, glucose, dextrose, maltose, lactose, fructose, syrups and honey are all sugars. Eat fresh fruits or canned fruits in light syrup.

Eat foods with starch and fiber. Select whole-grain bread and cereals.

Avoid too much sodium. Learn how to read labels. Today we have so many seasonings, herbs, and spices available that you will learn to enjoy the taste of foods without all the salt. Take small steps to lower the amount of salt in your diet. Limit salt when preparing foods. Use lower sodium products.

So, you have decided you need a lifestyle makeover. It could be related to the long-term effects associated with neglecting your health. It could be medically related or the natural aging process. Whatever the reason is for your decision, remember to seek information from reliable resources.

Your physician:
Before you partake in any kind of diet or exercise program, talk to your doctor. Schedule a complete physical. Too many times people just decide they are going to start dieting and working out without understanding that even though they feel just fine they may have some restrictions that will inhibit there ability to participate in certain diet and exercise programs. Each of us is an individual, thus each must understand your body and needs.

Talk to a Nutritional Professional:
Dietitians, Nutritionists, and Meal Planning Professionals are educated individuals that will help you find the Program that is right for you. Proper meal planning is an important key to maintaining and achieving your goals.

Talk to an Exercise Professional:
Now that you have followed the above steps, you are ready to start using the guidelines that will help start maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Which foods do I need to stay away from?
Remember, eat a balanced diet every day. Maintaining a balanced diet will require some effort on your part. The biggest challenge is to learn how to measure the foods you are consuming. Once you have mastered this task, there are “NO” foods which you may not consume unless you are under direct orders from your doctor or have allergies to certain food products.

Determining the exact amount of Calories you should consume on a given day, is again dependent on your particular needs. If you’re a sedate you most likely require fewer calories than someone who has a very active lifestyle. Again, you should have a better understanding of your needs after you have consulted with the professionals listed above.

Diet and Weight issues flood us with information on a daily basis. Do your homework and find reliable resources before you embark on a diet and exercise regime.

The post Here’s How to Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle appeared first on Make Money Online With Your Computer: LaptopWork.com.

With a J.O.B. you are guaranteed a paycheck because you are working for someone else but instead of going to the office every work-day you can get your work done mainly at home, you may have to go to an office for meetings and such. You will have someone else giving you deadlines and telling you what work needs to be done. Many companies are offering J.O.B.s for people who want to Work at Home because it cuts down on their overhead such as office space and is beneficial for both parties.

The company usually gets better quality work from workers who are satisfied or happy with their J.O.B. The people who get to Work at Home are usually happier because they do not have to worry about daycare costs for their children. Missing work because their child or someone else they take care of is sick. Missing important events in their life. And do not have to rush around to make it to Work at a specified time all of which can cause a lot of stress.

Working at Home with your own business has some of the same benefits as a Work at Home J.O.B.  No, you will not get a paycheck every other week when you first start your own business. You have to put in the time to get your business out there so people will know it is there and buy your products or services.

You also do not have someone else telling you what you have to do or not do. You make all the decisions and you never have to check in with someone. You make your own hours and schedule your Work around your life not your life around your J.O.B.

If you want to look into Working at Home make sure you do research on which Work at Home opportunity you decide to go with. If you want a Work at Home J.O.B., research companies or talk to your current place of employment to see if you can do your work at Home.

But, if you want to run your own business at home, then research each business opportunity well. Avoid falling into the traps of many “get rich quick” scheme offer online. Because of business success, in reality, is not that easy. Most people have to work hard and long hours to get over all the learning curves in order to achieve success. Overall, whatever Work at How option you decide, I wish you all the bests!

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Your body and surroundings can be as comfortable as you can make them…..but your mind must remain in a “business attitude” to work effectively online.

Take a look at the advertisements you are placing. Are these ads something YOU would respond to? An ad that is all capital letters is shouting….and what it shouts is “the person who placed this ad is a newbie.”

Are your ads for your service or product informative….or just hype, hype, hype? Are words spelled correctly….margins justified; is the ad a true good reflection of the site or product a visitor will find if he acts on the ad?

Equally important are the emails you send. No spam, of course. (Do I need to repeat that? No spam, of course!).

Are your emails formatted to appear neatly on the recipient’s computer monitor? Short paragraphs of 3 or 4 lines each are much easier to read than one big block of text. Line length should be as uniform as possible and kept at about 65 spaces per line. Lines much longer than 65 spaces may require the person who receives the email to scroll back and forth from one side to the other to read your message.

At best, that dilutes your message…. At worst, it simply will not be read by the person who receives it. Anything that makes your message more difficult to read and understand also makes it less likely to be read at all.

If you find it difficult to write an informational email, I suggest that you first outline it. What points do you want to cover? In what order? What are the facts about Point A that you want to emphasize? How about Point B? Skip the adjectives….just outline your keywords and key facts. With a good outline, the writing is almost done…just put it in paragraph form and smooth it out a bit and you’re finished.

If you are one of the lucky ones who find it easy to just write down (or, in this case, keyboard up) your ideas, go for it. Then, for an important email, go through it again and remove all the excess words.

By excess words, I mean those words you tend to overuse. We all have words like that — hugely, typically, really, specifically, truly…it seems to be words that end in “ly”!

I call this “tightening up” your email (or whatever else you have written) and it is something text editors have advised for years. Excessive words and phrases detract from the message you are sending.

Then use spellcheck if you need it (and you know if you need it) and make certain that all sentences have punctuation in the right places.

One last point about using emails — look at the address you are using. I recently received a well-written email promoting a new marketing tool. The email was well written and links in it led to an attractive website. The product sounded good and the price was reasonable. When I clicked the “send e-mail for more information,” I found the email was being sent to me something like “cutesy tootsie”…and I never want to read more.

Don’t agonize over an email name. “[email protected]” is just fine. Although a “good” email address doesn’t help you present your product or opportunity….an email address that is suggestive, slang or childish/silly can definitely HURT your presentation. Why would anyone take that chance?

By projecting a business attitude in your advertising and in your communications, you will send your prospects and customers an image of an efficient, competent business person …without offend the recipients.

The post Work at Home Online – Tips to Show Your Professionalism appeared first on Make Money Online With Your Computer: LaptopWork.com.

For example, in 1995 (I know I’m old) I was trying to sell articles about the Internet to general-interest and women’s magazines. No sale. At that stage, the Internet hadn’t erupted into mass consciousness. That taught me that topics must be familiar to a magazine’s readers, but with a new slant.

The easiest way to enliven a topic is by using what’s in the headlines. At the moment, if you’re writing about women’s health, and if you know that controversy about Hormone Replacement Therapy is news. Use this to give your articles an up-to-the-minute flavor.

A journalist updated “intuition” as a topic by using a news story that was making headlines in Australia. A tourist was abducted in the outback and is still missing. The tourist’s female companion hadn’t obeyed her intuition and the journalist used this as an effective hook for her story.

My favorite way of making topics new is by developing a new slant. I wanted to write about procrastination, so I spoke to a life management coach, a business trainer, and a psychologist. Procrastination is an old topic, but I got some great quotes from the experts, who had unique ways of handling it with their clients.

What if you want to write about a topic that’s non-mainstream? You can get lucky with a proposal if your topic is familiar to the editor you pitch. A few months ago I became fascinated with energy medicine and a technique called EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). I knew this was likely to be too new for mainstream magazines, but I got lucky.

An editor at Australian Woman’s Day was familiar with the technique and accepted the article. Alternatively, your idea may be quite standard, but new to the editor. This happened with a story on the Glycemic Index I sold to a health and fitness magazine.

Look through your file of unsold article proposals. Make them “new”, and sell them. Here’s how. For each proposal:

* Consider whether this topic has been in the headlines recently (no matter how tangentially);

* Ask yourself whether an expert might have a unique take on the topic;

* Search Amazon.com for new books on that topic;

* Brainstorm new slants and hooks;

* Don’t give up on your “too new” topics — send the proposals out periodically (say every six months). Sooner or later every new topic becomes mainstream.

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I still believe that if you’re writing for a major publication which accepts advertising, you should be paid, and paid well. If a magazine, newspaper or Website charges thousands of dollars for advertising, they can afford to pay the writer for the content which delivers the eyeballs to that advertising. Without writers, there would be no advertising, and the publication wouldn’t exist.

However, there are problems.

1) The problems with paying writers’ markets

Here are several of the problems I’ve identified:

* Declining pay rates for writers. If you write for major magazines, you know that you’re getting paid less today than you were a couple decades ago.

* Stiff competition. You send your query in and never hear. This is understandable. Major magazines receive hundreds of queries every week. If they replied to them all, the staff would never get anything else done.

* Editor churn. Even ten years ago, if you sold to a major magazine, you formed a relationship with the editor. You sold her other pieces over the next year or two. Nowadays, you’re lucky if the editor is still with the magazine when the issue with your article in it hits the newsstands.

* Slow payment in tough times. Even with pay on acceptance markets, you may wait months for your check.

* Wasting time. You can spend days wracking your brain and researching, to find the perfect story for a particular market, and then receive the reply, thanks, but:

“We’re running a story on that in our next issue” or “We’ve just signed a writer for that”.

What’s the upshot of all these problems? If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. I’ve turned to copywriting, that is, writing for businesses, rather than put up with the hassles of writing for magazines.

2) The benefits of writing for free

It makes sense to write for free if you’re being paid in other ways.

For example, as a promotion. My sister and I have just partnered with a new Website. I’ve been happily writing articles to promote the site for a few weeks now. I send my articles out far and wide and hope that article directories’ editors and Web site owners will publish them for free. It’s not really writing for free, it’s quid pro quo because, in exchange for using my articles, the publications include my Resource Box, which includes a link to my site.

However, beyond promotion, I’ve discovered other benefits of writing for free.

* You write more. This is pressure-free writing. You get to write what you like, when you like.

* You get more ideas. All this keyboard-tapping is making me more creative. I’ve got pages and pages of notes for articles, books, and courses.

* You enjoy writing more. It’s been years since I enjoyed writing this much. Why? Because it’s more play than writing.

* You’re pioneering new ways for writers to make a living from writing.

3) You, the writer, a pioneer

The Internet turns writers into pioneers. You get to discover new ways to make a living from your craft. Is this easy? No. Is it fascinating? You bet.

I first became aware of the Internet in 1993-1994. In those days, getting an Internet connection was an adventure. I finally got a free connection, set it up with lots of help (there’s nothing as unforgiving as a Unix command line), and discovered online bulletin boards.

Within months, I had a CompuServe account, and the real adventure began. I couldn’t believe the possibilities. I still can’t.

There’s a revolution going on. Thanks to the Internet, writers are discovering new ways to make money. They’re publishing their books as ebooks, setting up subscription Web sites, and subscription article directories.

They get started in this adventure by writing “for free”. As their following builds, they sell their work to the people who know them and trust what they have to say.

* These writers built this trust by writing for free.*

Can you make money from ebooks? You work it out. If you write an ebook on a hot topic, it takes you a month or so to write. You sell it online for $35. You sell 200 (let’s be conservative). Not bad pay for a month’s work.

If you’re writing professionally, it takes a change in perspective to write and not get paid for it. At least, not in a way you’re used to being paid.

But writing for free can help you to discover how creative you really are.

The post Should You Write For Free? The Writer’s Dilemma appeared first on Make Money Online With Your Computer: LaptopWork.com.