Write it!

With the wonderful Christmas Season winding down, now is the time to give thought to your writing goals for the New Year.

I often talk on my blogs about setting writing goals. Why? I find that setting goals helps me to stay focused and gives a direction to my writing.

Writing Goals

Considering what you are doing successfully can help you to chart out what you want to accomplish in the coming year.

Writing that nets earnings is writing you may want to look at to see how you  can magnify your efforts. A simple formula for writing success is: enlarge on what you are doing so that earnings continue to grow.

• Are your HubPages earning you income? Can you create more?
• Are your blogs generating income? How can you  improve them? Can you work to gain more readers? Can you implement additional monetization?
• If you are writing for revenue share opportunities, how can you increase reader views and earnings?

Scrutinizing what you are currently doing can help you to set writing goals that will propel you forward, resulting in greater earnings for you throughout the coming year.

Additionally, it also helps to consider the skills you’ve mastered and give thought to how you can use these skills in future writing endeavors. If you’ve mastered new skills, these may help in obtaining freelance writing work.

May your writing goals help to propel you onward to success and to lucrative freelancing!

I mentioned Bukisa in a previous post as another content site that writers could utilize to net earnings. I asked for reader feedback and received a good response.

Cantana wrote:

My personal opinion, after checking out this site a few weeks ago, is that anyone serious about being paid for their content should run in the opposite direction. First, their money setup is pretty typical of sites that use inflated predictions to make people think they’re going to make tons of money. Multi-level payments are just another form of MLM.

Have you looked at the info about copyright? Your material will be available for anyone, anywhere to use, whether you want them to or not. The site is headquartered in Israel, which means that if you have any legal arguments with them, you’re out of luck. Payout level is $50.00. That’s an almost impossible sum for the average writer to reach within any reasonable time.

John wrote: 

I write for triond and bukisa, and have done well,if you keep posting interesting material,you’re bound to get paid well.I have had numerous friends and fans that like both sites as well, If you want to get good viewership,it takes effort yes but in the end it’s worth it. Bookmark your published work anywhere you can, my favorite sites to bookmark my work are Stumbleupon,multiply,current,and myspace.

I have also posted my links to Xanga and Shoutwire,although I get good views on shoutwire I notice people there are not too friendly for the most part so it’s not the greatest place.

• Cantana’s point about copyright is well taken and if this is a concern, Bukisa may not be a fit for you. (I know I stopped writing for a similar site, Helium, because I couldn’t remove my articles.)
• John offers some good insights about content writing: doing the necessary legwork so that your work has reach and you reap greater earnings.

Most content sites offer advantages and disadvantages and the onus is on the writer to decide which opportunity is a good fit.

My personal insights on revenue share content writing?

While netting you smaller article earnings per article, these opps. pay off over the longterm because earnings are ongoing–which means that in the final analysis, you earn far more per article.

Writing for the sites mentioned here requires patience but you do get paid for your efforts.

It’s beginning to feel alot like Christmas . . .

As the days count down to Christmas, I find it interesting to watch what’s happening in cyberspace. For writers, the Christmas season offers benefits and possible drawbacks.

I notice that this month, my earnings are way up via some of the online opps. I submit articles to. As well, my affiliate commissions have jumped over at HubPages. Interestingly, my AdSense earnings are down from last month. I guess people are too busy out and about shopping to be clicking on ads.

I find actually that December is always a different month from an earnings standpoint–depending on what you are writing about and where you are submitting to, it can be either one of the most lucrative months or a time when things slow down to a standstill.

I don’t know about you but my writing has gone on hiatus. I find it hard to concentrate when my thoughts are filled with Christmas.

This is a time to be good to others but don’t forget to be good to yourself. Take some time off and enjoy the holidays!

Many people have gotten started writing for Today.com.

If you are considering doing so, you may find the following insights helpful. 

I recently heard from Gail Nobles about her experience of writing for Today.com. She related the following:

“At Today.com, I have 9 posts so far. I have been paid per post.

First, I had 11 cents for my unique visits, but my paid per post made me jump past 1 dollar.

Let me explain further. Paid per post does not mean that I have been paid for all 9 posts either. Some articles may be considered as

duplicate content. I have had this problem by submitting half of my articles to another site for someone to click into to read it on Today. So, just keep it at Today.com.

I am so happy that I joined Today.com. It makes me want to write

even more now that I see the progress that I have made.” 

Gail has created her blog Writeup at Today.com.

Writing for Today.com is another way to earn income from blogging and to familiarize yourself with WordPress.

• I invite readers to share their experiences of writing for Today.com

??                                       ???????                                        

                    ??????                                                 ????????                                           ?????? 

For writers and bloggers everywhere, sooner or later the words “trackback” and “pingback” will surface and settle at the back of the mind in a fashion that is sure to be almost headache producing.

What the heck are mysterious trackbacks and pingbacks and why do writers and bloggers need to know about them? Most of us just want to create–and it’s comfortable to be oblivious!

Pain-free Trackbacks and Pingbacks

Okay, let’s wade right in.  And I promise to make this as pain-free as possible.

Trackbacks

Let’s liken a trackback as being similar to an acknowledgment. You write a blog post and in it, you mention something another writer or blogger has written. When you have completed your posts, you simply paste the URL to their post in the horizontal box at the bottom of your post, where it says: “send trackbacks to.” This alerts the other writer that you have made mention of his/her works. It’s a handy way to let someone know you’ve mentioned them.

Pingbacks

When you link to another blog that is pingback enabled, than the author gets a pingback or notification alerting him/her that you’ve linked to his work.

Why should you use trackbacks and how do pingbacks benefit you? This will be discussed in a future post.

* If you found this information helpful, please Stumble or Buzz it or share it at your favorite bookmarking site. *

Bukisa is a newer site where writers can produce content and get paid for their efforts.

This morning, I was reading through a writing blog where the author shared her experiences of writing for Bukisa. She mentioned Bukisa as another opportunity for writers to get paid for content.

What is Bukisa?

Bukisa allows authors to share their knowledge/expertise and earn profits from Bukisa’s sharing model.

The Bukisa Index conveniently shows how much an author can make per 1000 unique visits to his or her pages.

Bukisa categories are fairly standard, embracing a wide range of popular topics, such as pets, business, health and nutrition and hobbies, etc.

Readers can easily locate information germaine to their interests or read articles answering questions they may have.

If you are presently engaged in writing for content sites, Bukisa may prove a welcome addition to your list of paying sites.

If you’ve heard the word “vlogging,” you may be wondering what it is exactly. This is a combo of the words “video” and “blogging,” which form the word vlogging.

Vlogging is an innovative method of blogging where bloggers make their own videos and upload these to their blogs, so that blog visitors are treated to a movie, over simply looking at lines of text.

Why Video Blogging Offers Distinct Advantages

•  Interactivity with readers
• A personal touch
• For the blogger who isn’t a fan of typing, vlogging may be the perfect “hands-off” medium
• Vlogging engages readers with visuals and sound

Today.com blogggers also have the option of vlogging. They can upload their video blogs to post on Today.com via the Today.com video upload page.

Vlogging is a neat tool in the ever-changing arena of blogging. Truly, video blogging’s time has arrived.