Write it!

If you ‘ve ventured down the freelance writing path, you are either are sending your work out to hard copy markets or you are engaging in online writing. What are the differences between the two?

Hard Copy Markets

Sending your work out to magazines can be lucrative but it is a hit-and-miss undertaking. You can end up waiting months to hear if your piece has been accepted and then spend more months waiting for payment. In the worse-case scenario, you are told that your piece will be published and then it’s later dropped from the publishing que. If you have been waiting on payment, this can be particularly frustrating.

I had this happen with a piece that I had previously sold. I sent it to another publication and was told they wanted to run with it and I was offered $100.00. But, the promised payment never materialized–and I never heard back. I finally wrote and pulled the piece, which, by that time, was an effort in futility. Writing for hard copy, in the end, is a writer’s choice and it may be a good way to supplement your income if time is not a factor.

Online Writing

Many writers are transitioning or have transitioned to online writing because payment is so much faster and they can submit their work electronically, over having to mail it out. Online writing offers distinct advantages. If you have a PayPal account or some other payment method, you are paid almost instantly, upon completion of work. If you write reviews, blog, or write for content sites, you are paid every week, bi-weekly or monthly.

Some writers do both hard copy and online writing so that they have income coming in and have checks arriving in the mail. Whatever the process, this results in writing earnings.

• What kind of writing do you do?

Today I’m going to discuss free Blogger Training Videos.

We’ve reached our 20th Blogger blogging lesson. If you’ve worked through all the Blogger lessons, by now, you’ll have set up and monetized your Blogger blog and you should be seeing a trickle of AdSense earnings coming in.

Continue to work hard at your blog, adding fresh content and attractive pictures, responding to readers, linking to other blogs and sites, installing neat-looking buttons and badges, networking, etc. and your blog will continue to gain momentum

Lesson 20: Free Blogger Training Videos

Now, it’s time to move from the realm of beginner blogger to accomplished blogger and with that in mind, I’m going to point you to an absolutely wonderful resource! I mentioned that I would steer you to a series of free Blogger Training Videos–how-to’s for everything Blogger.

Free Blogger Videos

These Blogger Training Videos are the real deal, walking you through all stages of Blogger blogging. Free Blogger video training shows you step-by-step how to do almost everything with your blog!

How does 118 free blogger training videos sound? I think this is an incredible resource for bloggers.

Simply sign up for your free Blogger training videos and choose which videos you want to watch.

As well, the site offers radio shows, forums and advice. This is one of the best resources for Blogger bloggers.

I hope you enjoy the free Blogger training videos as much as I have.

Hello everyone. Today we are going to kick off our 19th Blogger lesson by taking a look at feedburning your blog. Why should you feedburn your Blogger blog?

Lesson 19: Feedburning Your Blog

If you’ve been creating good quality posts, you will start to see readers commenting. Now you should be looking at additional ways to make your blog reader-friendly.

Blogger offers the option of installing subscribe buttons in the sidebar. If you’ve been following these lessons you will have done this and some of your readers will be following your blog through subscribing via a reader.

Some people prefer to keep up with their favorite blogs through feed readers; others like to have newly created posts come directly to their inbox. I know that I opt for this option. Generally, I’m simply too busy to have to hunt up a reader and, if a person keeps up with a number of blogs like I do, it’s just so much easier to have those blog posts e-mailed via a feedburned blog.

How do you Feedburn your Blog?

Sign in to Google and go to “My Accounts.” A page will open. Look down to the left, where you’ll see the third heading: “Feedburner.” Click on that. Locate the section: “Burn a feed right this instant.” Type or paste your blog’s URL into the box. If you aren’t sure of your blog’s URL, simply go to your Blogger blog. Sign in and open your blog. Go to the upper left-hand corner and choose “send link” or position your mouse over the page, right-click and go down to where it says “properties.” Click on that and copy the URL.

Paste your blog URL into the box at Feedburner and burn your feed. Once this is done, click on your blog’s title. A page will open with a number of headings. choose “Publicize”and select “Email Subscriptions.” follow the page instructions and make sure to select “use a widget in Blogger.” Save your settings and check your blog to see if the button is installed.

* If you found this post helpful, please Stumble, Digg, or Mixx it. *

Hello everyone. Well, we’ve had quite a journey into the world of blogging. This series of blogging lessons has been like a blogging tool-kit–a comprehensive tutorial covering a wide range of topics.

Have you cracked it open yet? Have you set up your free Blogger blog?

Do You Remember?

Gems from the blogging tool-kit:

• Lesson #1: Setting Up A Free Blog

• Lesson #5: Blogger Settings

• Lesson #7 Free Blogger Templates

• Lesson #9 Setting up a Custom Domain

•  Lesson #14 Mastering Blogger Layout

•  Lesson #15 Google AdSense

• Lesson #17 Widgets

These blogging lessons have been your  tool-kit, allowing you to set up a free blog and tweaking it for optimum eye-appeal and performance. Have you taken advantage of all the great features Blogger offers?

Coming Soon . . . 

• Feedburning your blog–give your readers the option to receive e-mail updates of your blog
• Blogging videos–rather watch than read blogging how-to’s?

In the next two lessons, I’ll be discussing feedburning your blog and, in the grand finale, I’ll point you to some awesome Blogger videos. If you have trouble with written instructions and prefer to learn through seeing, these free blogging videos will help you to get your Blogger blog off to a great start!

With all these great tools at your disposal, you really can set up a blog and join the ranks of successful bloggers. Put these lessons to good use . . . in other words, open the blogging tool kit and get cracking!

• If you’ve found these lessons helpful, please spread the word by Stumbling, Digging, or Buzzing them.

We’ve all seen them: very kewl blog buttons on other blogs. And we immediately thought, where the heck would I grab those?

Lesson 18: Very Kewl Blog Buttons

In today’s lesson, I’m going to point you to some neat sites where you can obtain usable and attractive blog buttons to spice up your blog and polish it, draw readers and help you to gain a following.

Twitter Bird –The first item on your “to get” list is the Twitter bird. This cute little fellow encourages your blog readers to follow you. Once they do, each time you paste a blog post URL into Twitter, you attract readers to your blog!

Hit Counters –Hit counters are neat-looking blog buttons that show your readers that others appreciate your content. And you don’t have to settle for boring-looking numbers, either. You can install hit counters that look like ladybugs or birds, whatever your preference!

Widgetbox –Ever wish you had a tool kit for your blog? Well, now you do! Widgetbox can help you to add an assortment of neat and kewl blog buttons, such as Celebrity News, Baby Tickers, and Cyber-Pets. You can even create your own Blidget–a widget of your blog, featuring your latest posts, that others can install on their blogs. Neat or what?

Entrecard –You join a network of bloggers; you place the Entrecard Widget on your blog; others drop their cards; you visit them back and drop your card; you earn credits; you advertise on other blogs. Entercard is an attractive blog button, advertising your web presence.

I’m sure you’ll agree, these are very kewl blog buttons!

You see a neat widget . . . but how the heck do you install it on your Blogger blog?

Lesson 17: Installing Widgets on Your Blogger blog

Once you start looking at other blogs (and you should be to learn how to format your own), you’ll notice cool-looking widgets that you may want to install on your Blogger blog.

How the heck would I install something like that? you may be thinking. It’s very, very easy.

You see, rather than having to actually go into the template and fiddle with HTML, Blogger allows you to add a number of items to your blog–and takes the guess-work out of it for you.

Usually, widgets will have an install code. Click on a desired widget to visit the site to get your own and look for a snippet of code. Run your mouse over the code to select it or right-click and  hit “Select All” then press “Copy.” Once the code is highlighted, return to your blog and go to Layout.

How to Install Widgets

• At Navbar, click on “Add a Gadget.”
• Scroll down until you come to HTML/JavaScript
• Select that and paste the code into the box
• You can choose a title for the top part of the box
• Press “Save” and you are done!

Check out your blog to see your new widget, proudly showing itself off in your blog’s sidebar!

Installing a widget on your Blogger blog is easy, thanks to the handy HTML button.

• Take a deep breath and reward yourself by going out for some pizza. You are joining the ranks of dedicated, pizza-loving bloggers.

Once you get on to the process, installing widgets can be one of the neatest aspects of blogging.

Choosing a good template can be a make-or-break factor in drawing readers to your blog.

I’ve touched on templates in previous lessons but today, before you go any further with your Blogger blog, I want to stress why you should choose a good template right out of the starting gate. Choosing a template early on can save so much in terms of headaches and work.

It is best to choose a template before you have a number of widgets, blidgets, links, etc. installed on your blog. While in most cases, when you install a template, your blog posts aren’t lost, choosing a template later is like trying to close the barn door after the horses have escaped. In this case, I’m referring to all the widgets and gadgets installed on your blog. Why play catch up, chasing after those “horses” and having to reinstall them all over again?

Lesson 16: Choosing a Good Template

While admittedly, it’s just so much easier to choose one of the templates Blogger provides, in short order, you will find that these templates do not fill all your blogging needs. I’m going to offer advice based on my experiences with blogging and working with different blogging platforms.

There are certain features that really make a difference to a good blog–and it starts with a good template! Good templates allow for multiple columns in the sidebar and tabs up top. Why?

Your blog readers usually look towards the top part of your blog. If you have more than one column in the sidebar, you can organize information you want to draw attention to in an easy-to-see format. (Notice the columns on either side of this blog?) The same goes for tabs along the top of your blog. Tabs can point to stand-alone pages, information you may want to include, but not in the sidebar. (Notice the tabs at the top of this blog.)

A blog offering information that is seen at a glance/accessed easily is a blog that is returned to, over a blog where someone has to continually scroll down to access features the blog offers.

Today, I’m tossing a wonderful resource your way: A site that offers 3-column and WordPress-themed templates for Blogger: Blogger Templates. I’m so impressed with the quality templates offered. Make sure to scrutinize the 3-column templates with tabs. 

Choosing a good template lays the foundation for a blog you can be proud of, a blog you can build over time into a content-rich site, a blog that offers value to readers and that ultimately earns you money.

Hello everyone. Today, we have an exciting lesson that will walk you through setting up Google AdSense on your Blogger blog.

Lesson 15: Setting up Google AdSense on Your Blogger Blog

If you’ve created a Blogger blog, you will have created an account with Google.

• Sign in to your Blogger account
• Go to “Layout”
• You will see the box entitled Navbar
• Find the box entitled “Blog Posts” in the middle of the screen
• In the lower right hand corner, select “Edit”
• Scroll down on the page until you see “Configure Inline Ads”
• You can choose a number from 1-5 for ads. to appear after your posts
• Under “Format: Ad Units,” choose the 300 x 250 rectangle
• You will see a preview of your Google AdSense ad.
• Choose either “Custom Colors” or “Blend Template”
• Scroll down and press “Save”

Now, this is just to get you started with AdSense ads. Once you’ve become familiar with how this works, you can go back in and play with your ads. to tweak how they will look and choose colors for your Google ads.

The Google AdSense capsule I’ve helped you to set up is a proven ad. format that will result in clicks.

Underneath your AdSense capsule, you will notice a line of text that says: Your ads are currently serving with publisher ID# and then your number. You should keep track of this number.

Go back to your blog and check that all is working as it should and that your Google AdSense capsule is up and running on your blog.

Congratulations! You’ve taken an important step in blog monetization. Now your Blogger blog is set up to earn you money! Installing Google AdSense ads takes just seconds but takes your blog from a diary into an income generating tool.

Once you have Google AdSense Ads running on your blog, you’ll want to work hard to create quality posts and increase readership.

Well, now comes the fun part: adding gadgets to your Blogger blog

Lesson 15: Adding Gadgets to Your Blogger Blog

Okay, let’s get right into it.

Sign in to Blogger and click on Layout. By now, you should have become familiar with the Blogger blogging platform.

Now, depending on the template you’ve chosen, you will see either on the left or the right, “Add a Gadget.”This is an exciting feature of Blogger, because without having to master HTML, you can add gadgets to your Blogger blog, including items in your blog’s sidebar.

You have a number of options for inclusion:

• Blog List
• Followers
• Slideshow
• Subscription
• Poll
• List
• Link List
• Picture
• AdSense
• Text
• HTML
• Feed
• Labels
• Newsreel
• Video Bar
• Logo
• Profile
• Blog Archive
• Page Header

Now, each of these is self-explanatory. Choose which features you want to add to your blog and play with them to get a feel for how they look and work. I’m not going to go into detailed instructions here because by actually doing you will learn how to master Blogger Layouts and become proficient at adding gadgets to your Blogger blog. Just click on any items you want to add and follow the easy instructions. You’ll find that, over time, you continue to add gadgets to your Blogger blog

Tomorrow, we will take a look at adding AdSense to your blog. I’m sure many of you are interested in this particular feature, as this is one of the ways to earn money from your blog.

I’m not going to discuss the pros and cons of adding AdSense capsules to a newer or to a more established blog. That ball is in your court and each person has to make those decisions for his or her own blog.

That’s it for today. Let me know how you make out.

• If this is your first visit to this blog, get started on your Blogger blogging lessons here Lesson 1: Setting Up a Free Blog

If you are a returning visitor, continue reading for your 14th Blogger lesson.

Lesson 14: Mastering Blogger Layout

Hello everyone. Today we will get started on the path to mastering Blogger Layout.

Sign into Blogger and this time, click on Layout. This is the fourth heading under your blog’s title in Blogger Dashboard.

You’ll see a different-looking page from the pages you saw in Settings. You’ll notice a large box entitled “Navbar.”

• Let’s take a look at the wide horizontal box that contains your Blog title. Click on Edit.

Image–Now, this is exciting! If you want to give your blog a custom look, you can add a photo here. Select an image from your computer or from the Web by pressing Browse. Make sure the applicable info. appears in the box.

Placement–make sure to select “Behind title and description”  and “Shrink to fit.” This way your picture appears behind your text and formats correctly.

Press “Save.” Now your blog has an exciting personalized look, with a photo of your choosing!Neat, eh?

Lesson Line-Up:

• In your next lesson, you’ll learn how to add gadgets to your blog.

• In the lesson after that, you will set up AdSense.

News Flash:
I’ve got some very exciting news! In coming lessons, I’m going to point you to some excellent videos that will add to what you’ve learned here. No matter what you want to do with your Blogger blog, these videos will walk you through each step visually. Best of all, these videos are free! So come on back for more goodies that will set you firmly on the road to blogging and earning for your efforts.

That’s it for today. Check over on the right, if you want to refresh your memory on specific lessons. I’m adding lessons to the sidebar in segments.

Questions?

Comments?

Praise

Criticism

Hello everyone. Today we come to the last part of our tutorial on Blogger settings. Exciting days are ahead because I’ll be uncovering some fun and neat Blogger blogging tips!

Lesson 13: Email, Open ID, Permissions

Without further ado, let’s get started. Log in to your Blogger account and click on Settings. Next, select the heading Email.

Email

Blog Send Address–If you want to see what your blog posts look like, once completed and published, enter in your email address. You also have the option of adding more email addresses in the box. If you have family members or friends who want to keep up with your blog, enter in their email addresses, as well.

Mail-To-Blogger Address–If you want to keep up with your blog when you are away from home, you can post pictures or posts to your blog using this email. Choose to have these email blog updates published immediately or saved as drafts.

• Save your settings.

OpenID

Click on the next heading, OpenID.

When the page opens, you’ll see your  Open ID URL, which you can use to sign into other sites. You can opt to use this or use passwords you created for other sites you visit.

Permissions

Click on the last blue heading, Permissions. This last section is interesting.

Blog Authors–you can add others, besides yourself, and they can also post to your blog. This can be fun if family members want to post and can be very useful if your blog is niche oriented and you’ve invited someone to do a guest post.

Blog Readers–you have three choices here. If you want your blog to earn you money down the road, select “Anybody.”

Okay. You are done. You’ve tweaked your Blogger settings! Hurrah!

In my next post, we’ll dive into Blogger Layouts.

Questions?

Comments?

Praise

Criticism

Lesson 12: Comments, Archiving, Site Feed

Hello everyone! If you’ve gotten this far in setting up your free Blogger blog, good on ya!

Grab a cup of coffee or tea, (a bag of chips wouldn’t hurt, either!), and get ready to take your blog just a little bit further.

By now, you should have mastered signing in to Blogger and going to your Settings tab so I won’t repeat those instructions.

Yesterday, we discussed Blogger Settings: Basic, Publishing and Format , so if you missed it, simply go to that particular blog post to get your Blogger settings up to snuff.

Okay, let’s make this as painless as possible. Click on the fourth item, Comments.

Comments

• For Comments, select “Show”
• For Who Can Comment, you can choose from four options, depending on the direction you want to take your blog. I always pick “Anyone” so that I’m assured of reader interaction.
• For Comment Form Placement, I would choose either “Full page” or “Embedded below post.” Blogger has recently enabled comments to show below posts, which is closer to the WordPress design and popular with both bloggers and readers.
• For Comments Default, choose “New Posts Have Comments”
• You definitely want to pick “Show” for backlinks
• Leave the timestamp as is
• Leave the Comment Form Message for later (or never)
• Choose “Always” for Comment Moderation
• Include your e-mail so that you receive notification when someone comments at your blog.
• for Word Verification, you can choose either yes or no. If you choose yes, your readers will have to type in letters prior to commenting on your blog. (I prefer “No” because it makes it easier for readers to comment.)
• Choose “Yes” to show your profile image on comments–this is a friendly touch.
• For the Last box, leave blank. If you have more than one e-mail address and always want to be notified when someone comments, you could include it in the box. Or, if your blog is getting lots of comments and you have a friend who is interested in the topic and the buzz, you could include his/her e-mail addy, with his/her consent.

Make sure to press “Save Settings.”

Archiving
Go to the next heading, Archiving, and click on it.

•  For Archive frequency, you can choose from 4 options. I would select “Monthly”
• For Enable Post Pages choose “Yes”

Save your settings.

Site Feed

Go the the next heading, Site Feed

You’ll be using feeds later, in conjunction with your blog. Basically a feed allows your readers to subscribe to your blog in a reader. You will have to choose what they see in their feed–either a full post or a shortened version.

• Some readers prefer the whole post, over having to click on the title to continue reading the rest of it.
• Some bloggers prefer the shortened version, thereby hoping to increase visits to their blog.
• For now, choose, “Full”

Ignore the next two headings, for now, unless you’ve whizzed ahead and feedburned your blog. If that’s the case, you are savvy enough fill in the boxes. Feedburning your blog is a way for your readers to receive your blog posts via e-mail, so it’s a good idea to offer this feature down the road.

Press “Save Settings” and you’ve done your good blogging deed for the day.

If you’ve faithfully completed each of these lessons, you are well on the way to mastering your blogger settings.

Questions?

Comments?

Praise

Criticism

Hello everyone. We’ll kick off our next set of Blogging lessons by getting into the nuts and bolts of Blogger!

Okay, let’s get started.

Lesson 11: Mastering Blogger Settings

• Sign in your Blogger Dashboard
• Find your blog
• Click on the “Settings” link

Today we are going to cover Basic, Publishing, Formatting.

Basic

• If you haven’t done so already, you should see or create a title for your blog
• Enter in a description
• Choose “Yes” for all the options, with the exception of “Adult Content”
• Ignore the Transliteration button at the bottom
• Click “Save Settings”

Publishing

• Click on the Publishing tab and you’ll see your Blogspot address (pretty exciting, eh?)
• Type the letters into the box for Word Verification
• Click “Save Settings”

Formatting

• Click on Formatting
• Choose the number of posts you want to show on your main page (I like to make a number of posts and pictures available to my readers (10 is a good starting number))
• Choose your Date Header Format
• Choose your Archive Format (this has to do with older posts)
• Choose your Timestamp Format
• Choose Timezone
• Choose your Language
• Select “Yes” in all other boxes
• Click “Save Settings”

Now, I’ve purposely NOT included screenshots or videos in this second phase so that you learn to navigate through your Blogger settings (you know, that boring grunt work). When you are “doing” you are “learning.”

You can always go in and change your Blogger settings later, but for now, this will get you familiar with the Blogger platform, so that you feel confident using and working with Blogger.

See, now that wasn’t actually painful, was it?

In our next lesson, we’ll cover . . . what else? . . . more Blogger settings!

You’ve done it! Now go have that extra cup of coffee, put your feet up, and marvel at your blossoming blogging ability.

In today’s post, we will take look at the 10 Blogger blogging lessons I’ve covered so far. From the reader response, it’s obvious that many people are interested in setting up a free blog without the usual monthly hosting costs–which can really add up.

You may be seeking to create a blog where you build an Internet presence and you eventually earn from your efforts. Can you do this with a Blogger blog? Yes. Now, I’m not claiming you can quit your day job but if you work hard at it, your Blogger blog can earn you additional income.

Many people are turning to the Internet to supplement their incomes. And with good reason! In your spare hours, you can use your connection to the World Wide Web to reach an audience.

Blogger Blogging Lessons

Lesson 1: Setting Up a Free Blog

Lesson 2: Free Blogging With Blogger

Lesson 3: Getting Started With Your Blogger Blog

Lesson 4: Blog Content: Creating Different Types of Blog Posts

Lesson 5: Taking a Look at Blogger Settings

Lesson 6: Learning About Blogger Layouts

Lesson 7: Free Blogger Templates

Lesson 8: The Number of Columns in Your Sidebar

Lesson 9: Setting Up a Domain Name for Your Blog

Lesson 10: Working With Backgrounds

As can be seen, these Blogger blogging lessons cover a wealth of information. The 10 Blogger blogging lessons will help you to set up a Blogger blog and get started blogging. I hope that these lessons help you in your blogging journey!

*Do you have blogging questions? Maybe I can help!*

Lesson 10: Attractive Backgrounds

Hello everyone. We’ve reached lesson 10 in this continuing series about setting up a free Blogger blog. And I have exciting news! If you want to choose an attractive background for your blog, you can now do so.

Cutest Blog on the Block offers many different backgrounds to choose from. You can choose themed or seasonal backgrounds. Make sure to check out all the offerings.

Now, you may be thinking: well, these backgrounds look very attractive and might make blog visitors return but . . . I haven’t got the foggiest idea as to how to install them!

The other day, I decided to give it a whirl and was surprised at just how easy it is. Don’t worry; you don’t even have to go into your blog’s template.

Let’s Get Started!

1. Here’s what you do. Once you’ve found a background you’ve fallen in love with, simply click on it. Scroll down until you see the HTML code. Run your mouse over it until it is highlighted, right-click and press Copy. Now, shrink that window down and go to your Blogger blog.
2. Sign in and go to your Blogger dashboard.
3. Choose “Layout.”
4. Now, where it says “Page Elements,” look over to the right until you see “Pick New Template.”
5. Click on that and make sure you select the first template, entitled Minima.
6. In most cases, you will need to choose Minima Lefty (so that your text fits into the background).
7. Save that template (orange box over to the right).
8. Now, go to the Layout tab up top. Click on it.
9. Click on “Add a Gadget.”
10. When the box opens, scroll down until you see the 11th option: “HTML/Java Script.” Click on that.
11. Now, paste the code you highlighted and copied previously. You usually just insert your cursor into the large box, right-click and hit Paste. The code should appear in the box.
12. Make sure you remember to Save.

Now choose “View Blog” and wait a couple of moments. You should see your new background.

All this looks confusing, but once you do it a couple of times, you’ll see how easy it really is. Check out my new background at my Intuition and Psychic Ability blog.

New to this blog?

Start your Blogger lessons here: Setting up a Free Blog

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