Tuesday, September 1, 2009

5 Tips On How To Position Yourself As An Expert

Writing articles will help you in many ways. You can build an online or offline business with your articles. You will also gain visibility and credibility when people see that you are an author. The word author come from the word authority, and it is this fact that will help you to position yourself as an expert in your field. Here are 5 tips on how to write articles that will build your business in a very short amount of time.

  • Keep your articles short. No one wants to read a one thousand word article by someone they do not know. People reading online have a short attention span and want information in small chunks. Three hundred word articles will serve you best.
  • Write in a conversational manner. Make it easy for the reader to understand what you are talking about and how it will help them.
  • Give people useful information that they can put into action immediately after reading your article. There is so much fluff out there, people will appreciate and remember someone who honestly gives good, solid tips and suggestions in their articles.
  • Show both sides of what you are writing about. Your readers need to know what will work for them and what will be a waste of their valuable time.
  • Write as though you were talking to a prospect or client. If you learn to do this well enough, many of your readers will turn into clients.

Follow these five tips and you will position yourself as an expert in your field very quickly by writing articles for your business.

And now I invite you to join me for free weekly teleseminars that will teach you how to write, market, and sell your articles and ebook to increase your visibility, credibility and passive income by visiting http://www.EbookWritingandMarketingSecrets.com and download two free article writing templates at http://www.WriteArticlesWithJeffHerring.com to get started right away

Top 10 Blog Writing Tips

Most of the "rules" about writing for ezines and newsletters apply to writing posts for your blog, but there are some important differences. Keep these 10 tips in mind and you'll be publishing great blog content that attracts prospects and clients in your niche market.

1. Write with the reader in mind. Remember WIIFM? Its marketing jargon for Whats In It For Me? Thats what you should be keeping in mind. Your reader will read your post looking for whats in it for them.

2. Make it valuable and worthwhile. Dont waste peoples time. If you dont have anything to say, no problem, plenty other people do. So share their articles, do an interview, review a book.

3. Proof-read for typos and glaring grammatical errors. You wouldnt go out of the house with dirty hair or missing a sock, so why would you publish spelling mistakes? Respect your readers by polishing up your stuff.

4. Keep it short and simple, sweetie. (KISS). Most people are scanners. You may have a lot to say and think it interesting, and it may be. But people are reading online and out of time. Get to the point quickly. Publishing short posts more frequently is a better format than publishing lengthy articles every few weeks.

5. Keep it lively, make it snappy and snazzy. Even if you arent a natural born writer, you can write for your blog. Just write like youre speaking to your friendor to yourself! Remember though, get to the point quickly. Keep in mind the journalists rule of 5 Ws in the first paragraph: who, what, why, when and where.

6. Link often. This builds credibility and positions you as an expert in your field. People dont have time to know what others are doing, you should tell them. Linking to other blogs and websites also helps you build a network of associates who will in turn link to your blog.

7. Use keywords often. This will help you stay on purpose, and the search engines will love your blog. Your rankings will go up. This is one of the reasons we have you write out your purpose statements before beginning your blog. The clearer you are about your purpose, the more consistently you will deliver messages that are on target. And the more often your keywords show up, the better your search engine results.

8. Write clearly (short sentences, only one concept per sentence). No double speak or jargon; no more than one idea in one sentence- dont make your readers have to think about your meaning. Spoon feed them. Use commas and dashes liberally.

9. Write like you talk. Its okay to use common expressions from speech.

Examples:

Go figure.

Dont even go there

Now, I ask you

Gotta love it

(And, remember the age group of your readers)

10. Use a clear headline, and dont be afraid to make bold statements (but dont mislead people either). Make it snazzy and use key words. Example: Ex-Techno-Weenie Masters HTML Code

BONUS: After you write a post and BEFORE you hit the save button

Use this checklist to ask yourself a few questions as you are reading through for typos and grammar:

__ Is the topic clear to someone who only reads the headline?

__Does the lead paragraph tell who and what the story is about and why the reader should care about it?

__ Is the angle you've used likely to seem newsworthy?

__Would someone who knows absolutely nothing about this topic understand this post?

__ Is the post free of jargon?

__ Is it written in journalistic style and does it make an effort to be objective?

__ Have you peppered the headline and the post with keywords and phrases that will be attractive to search engines?

__ Did you remember to ask your readers a question at the end, or something to stimulate readers to comment?

__ Did you remember to write with the reader in mind, always keeping in mind WIIFT? (Whats in It for Them?)

Patsi Krakoff of Customized Newsletter Services, and Denise Wakeman of Next Level Partnership, have teamed up to create blogging classes and marketing services for independent professionals. You can read and subscribe to their blogs at http://www.coachezines.com, http://www.bizbooknuggets.com and http://www.biztipsblog.com

The Death Diary - (A Short Story)

The Death Diary of
Troy Burroughs

Extract #2
Day Three and Four of Troy Burroughs

Day Three

Being dead is going to take some getting used to. According to earth time this would be day three of my so called, death. I keep looking down on North America, I guess it's still home to me for the moment anyway. A few hours ago, I caught a comet, the tail end of it and I noticed it was quite slow compared to my form of travel, that is, I think I was going as fast as 200,000-thousand miles an hour, and it somehow zigzagged, and jumped off or out of its orbit and fell back into it somehow-kind of speaking-by an asteroid belt is where I was, I'd estimate somewhere around twenty to fifty million miles from earth, who can say, surely not me for certain.

I thus far, have learned something in this new development of mine, that being, traveling in space in what I call shape-traveling, for that is all I am, simple a shape with some kind of energy source to me, one could even call it residue, soul or whatever they wish, a part of another dimension with substance: I used the thrust of the comet, the velocity-I used it somehow, not quite knowing how, allowing it to push me, that is, more likened to throwing me-hurdling me I would guess, out into the empty part of space, the black airless cold space...I actually felt something to my shape: I sensed something also, something like. the several world surrounding me produced other forms of life, ghosts maybe, demonic being trying to escape earth's hell, other aliens looking down through their portholes, through layers of time and space and echoes, and so forth. I felt like a new born baby learning everything all over, I do think I have some source of natural feeling to my movements, should I want to use them, up to now its been more on the order of the elements in space moving me you might say. I, at this point cannot name it but I'd like to kick it, to see if how much control I have here in this new environment.

Nevertheless, what I was going to say, had on my mind to say, before I got into what I just mentioned, was-here I am, back where I started from, the day I died, overlooking earth, but again, here I am, in this asteroid belt-if you get what I mean, think-travel and there you are, among really simple, big fat rocks everywhere in space, and earth is no exception, other than it is more colorful.

Well, to make a diary note shorter, once seen is enough, and so it was a good visit, but I must learn how to control it. It is like going to the Rocky Mountains or possibly I could qualify it to equal the Bad Lands in South Dakota, going back there back and forth like a yoyo. But again, once seen, that is enough, unless this kind of thing is your thing, and it is not my thing by far: I mean, I'm only on day three, and this is what you get. I think that area is best for campers, not me. I'd prefer hotels, but I suppose you don't need them out here. The more I think of it, something is missing. Oh well, I'll investigate. Now it's becoming evening time over Minnesota (St. Paul, is my home town (where my wife lives, Rosa), the sun is going down.

Day Four

Morning time in Minnesota, the sun is coming up, I got an inkling, I got to go back to see how my little wife is doing, Rosa. I know for a few hours after I died, she was upset, crying, hysterical. I didn't know what to do for her, she couldn't see me, and I did not know how to communicate with her other than trying to set a mood, by way of producing calmness about her immediate space: prayer helped.

She got me to the hospital, and I know I was getting better, a heart attach I heard them say. Then she stayed overnight, and I died in the middle of the night, she had fallen to sleep. I was happy about that, happy because she was so tired: everyone thought I was in a coma, but I was really between life and death, a new kind of order they didn't anticipate, one that is dreamy like, a stage before death, one you can see about you, hear sounds and sense people, but cannot talk, it is not a coma, although folks think it is, or could be, it is in-between where you touch the hand of Christ, but cannot feel it, only see it, and where your pours are filled with the light of God. Then I died, and got sent here, not sure for how long thought.

For the longest moment, I hovered over the bed, looking at her, but I had no power to say or do anything-that was of course after the in-between period, where I was in a dream like world. Now that I think of it, I was in shock-kind of shock, after the in-between took on pure death, then she woke up, and as I was saying I was hovering over her, looking down, I didn't feel the grief as she was feeling, but a separation from my body, in the sense of emptiness from a shell: So many experiences at once.

That little Inca wife of mine just cried and cried, and hugged me, I wanted to comfort her, but she'll have to go through it like me someday, if the Lord willing I'll be there to comfort her.

Anyways I am now in my old house, hovering about. She's got my urn next to my mother's, she had me cremated today. I missed the funeral; I guess they had a small one at the cremation area. No one showed up from my side of the family, as expected, no problem; it was all grieved out long ago, and better for it, I prefer quite times. I think Rosa is going to take my urn, and my mother's and put it into the Huancayo, Peru, and Cemetery, in one of those vaults, she was a good wife.

She's crying again. I wonder if I can somehow let her know I'm here, and all right. I should pray, matter of fact, I thought I would get to see the Lord by know, Jesus Christ, but first things first, I heard a voice say that, It think it was Serr'el, my guardian angel, he had a hell of a job with taking care of me, guarding me while on earth, I hope I don't get a job like his, too much grief and wondering. I get the chills just thinking of his name. I also get the feeling I have to polish myself up to meet the Lord, you know, kind of take care of business, Elvis used to say that. I know he is not far away, -and I thank Him for his patience.

Now back to my little Rosa, she is sitting in my big sofa chair in the living room, tears are still coming down. Let's see if I can do something to let her know I'm present (I told her once, we cry-during our grieving period, or time, for the great times we had, that is called sadness, not depression, sadness says, those times were all worth while, I hope she remembers that).

As I said, and I shall repeat, there she is, sitting in the sofa chair, I know what I'll do, I'll make noise like walking on the floor, footsteps, not too creepy, just light enough for her to know I am with her. But how do I do that, I don't weigh anything? Too many questions for simple things; but you know I felt the thrust of the comet; yaw, yaw, that's it, creates energy from energy. As I step one foot in front of the other, you can hear my footsteps, and see the rug impressions of my feet, it is taking all my energy to produce these footsteps, she's looking up, now she looking around: look down, down little wife, look down. She doesn't look down. She's getting a little scared, I better stop. Now she rests back into the chair, she's thinking though.

She got up to check the hallway, now the window. I can't do that again, I got to practice; I guess a spirit can even loose energy. She went back to the chair; it's dark outside, the TV is on, it is drowning out my footsteps. For her the day is young, for me, now sure, I guess down here it's as it would be, forever long, just a day but with light and darkness, I don't feel the heat or cold. I'm going to try something else. I'm going to stand in the archway to the living room and try to make my configuration, my spirit form light up, just a bit, just a slight emotion, if I darken it, it might scare her. I noticed I had one in outer-space.

[A long pause]

It's morning now, dark morning, so it must be pretty early, she is cleaning the house, getting ready to face the day, she notices my chair, the dinning room light is off so is the kitchen light, she turns it on and a little electric heater emitting heat she turns off in the bedroom, she is facing the mirror in the bathroom. This will be my best try think, if only she focuses hard on the mirror; I'll try to reflect my shape.

Here I go, MMMMMMMM-Materializing [light starts to fill the mirror a faded light, dull but pronounced nonetheless in a spiritual form. She's looking at me, rubbing her eyes, I'm loosing my energy source, and it is like holding your breath trying to get this light out. She's leaning forward, squinting her eyes.

[Middle of the Night]

Got a new idea, I'll enter her dreams, slowly, if this is possible, and I heard the nightmare demon can do it all the time, unless you pray for them not to. Therefore, why cannot a good spirit like me do it? That of course a question for me, one I'll answer by trying to do, what I'm not sure I can do.

I'm not sure how you do it, but I got a sense of how will come-I'll sit by her and just whisper in her ears, and try to create a sense of me, and she will picture me, and I will let her know all is well: "Rosa, Rosa, Rosa, Rosa, Rosa..., all is well, I love you, always have, it is me, I'm all dressed in fogy white, I'll be waiting for you and we'll travel around the world, no, better yet, around the worlds, and into new galaxies."

She sees me, visualizing me says, in her dream world (I hope she remembers and writes it down): "...yes, yes, I DO see you," she says.

"I'm fine Rosa, I'm doing ok, I miss you and I'll be around should you need me, just call on me. Like my mother used to do, remember how she kept us from the fire?"

She's crying in her sleep, says: "...no, no don't go.'"

"But I can't stay too long; it takes too much whatever it is, energy and like the bee, remember the bee in the bottle, he lost his energy to fly, then he could hardly walk trying to climb that glass bottle, then I set him free and he nourished himself in the grass, and he regained his power, and flight, and few away; perhaps for another day."

She went back to sleep, she's stop crying. She's breathing better now. I think she'll remember this dream as more realistic than non-fiction, or symbolic, I hope.

Originally written, 7-3-2006
10-22-2008 (Revised and reedited)

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

Article Marketing Traffic Takes Persistence

In order to effectively get the benefits by article marketing you need to have a lot of articles. The only way to have a lot of articles is to write a lot, and have persistence writing articles.

You have to have persistence in anything that you want to do in order to be successful. Imagine trying to learn how to drive a car. You get into the car for a test drive once, and never drive again. You will never become a good driver this way.

Just like you will never get the consistent traffic you desire with article marketing if you only write a few articles a month. Article marketing should be the life blood of your business.

Meaning you should write articles everyday. No other form of traffic generation is better at establishing your reputation and getting your business consistent traffic then through articles.

On the web content is king. Meaning your articles will be your front door to your business. It'll be the first things people read when they are introduced to your business. Because EzineArticle directories have a high Google pagerank and authority, your articles will show up on top amongst the search engine results pages.

Imagine being the top one or two slots for your particular business niche term. You will get loads of traffic and the authority that comes with being an expert article writing with EzineArticles.

The only way to attain this "expert status" and insure constant stream of website visitors is to constantly write and submit your articles.

Eventually your articles will give your website so much authority and back-links that your website will be the one on top of the Google search engine result pages. Ensuring your spot in your niche, providing constant visitors and will make you tons of sales.

Submit articles really really fast, with my new article submission tool. Article Submit HQ.

Chicago Auto Glass

Writing Using What is Around Us - Finding Inspiration

Go on a scavenger hunt through a favorite book. Look for outstanding adjectives, sentences that grabbed your attention and for physical descriptions that were especially good. See what the structure of the story was and what kept you reading the chapters through to the end. Look for the events that inspired you as you read.

This information is excellent to gather so you can begin to use it as a guide to help you improve your own writing skill. See if you can take an idea and write a story using the new approach. Your characters may seem more real to you and the content more appealing to your reader when you enhance your story lines with inspirational events.

Adding richness to your overall story is so important to keep your reader interested in following the story to the end. I enjoy stories that are inspirational and most other people do also. They are all around us in the stories of the friends, family and people we meet at the grocery store, mall and in other actives in our lives.

It is like a treasure hunt when you find things in your favorite books and are aware enough to notice the treasures in the people you meet. They can be used in whole or in part as you develop your characters and begin to see your story unfold, perhaps in a new way.

You feel less pressure to produce a story if you can start with an idea and allow it to help you jump start the current story line you are working with at the moment. Allow your reader to go on a scavenger hunt and find the treasure in what you have written. It can make learning how to improve your writing more fun and you also get to discover the treasures you have in yourself as you share with the others around you.

And now I invite you to join me for a series of writing exercises to help you discover your areas of interest in writing as well as increasing your creativity. You may access these exercises by visiting http://www.freecreativewritingstrategies.com.

You also may enjoy visiting my blog at http://www.creativewritingmadeeasy.com

3 Tips For Top Notch Articles

Article writing is an art. However, it is an art that can be learned, unlike trying to paint like da Vinci. That takes real talent. Article writing...not so much. You're probably wondering why. Well, the answer is simple. Article writing is a formula and one that can easily be taught. So, in this article, I'm going to share with you three simple tips that will make your articles stand out from the crowd. When you see how simple this really is, you'll be amazed. So sit back and relax. You're about to become a top notch article writer.

Tip number one starts with the title of your article. It MUST capture the attention of your reader. In order to do that it has to give them some benefit that they're going to receive from reading the article. Take the title of this article. The reader knows from seeing it that he's going to learn three tips for writing top notch articles. If he's interested in writing articles, he'll read this. It's that simple. Give the reader the benefit. He'll do the rest.

Tip number two has to do with your introductory paragraph. The mistake many article writers make here is that they go right into the tips. This is the wrong approach to take. You want to prepare the reader for what he's about to read. So your introductory paragraph should tell them what they're going to be getting from reading the article. That way they can decide whether or not they even want to waste their time with it.

Tip number three has to do with the closing of the article. If I were to close with the last tip, I'd be leaving the reader feeling unfulfilled. A better way to end your article is with a summary of what you just told them. This way, the details are fresh in their mind and they'll actually have a better chance of remembering what it is they just read because you've reinforced what you've just said. Simple, right?

Article writing is kind of a paint by the numbers thing. If you give the reader a good title, introduce the main points of the article so that they know what they're reading and then sum up what they've read (just like what I am doing now) they will come away with a satisfying reading experience. And that is, after all, ultimately what you're looking for.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people's attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html - This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.

Omnibus of Science Fiction

Forty-some years ago my uncle gave me a science fiction anthology, a thick red hardback that I read from cover to cover. It inspired a life long love of the genre. The stories in that book made me think outside the box. They filled me with awe for the imagination it took to write them and sometimes they scared the hell out of me. That book remained in my collection for many years. At some point it disappeared, but not from my memory. Recently I had a desire to read it again and thanks to Alibris.com I was able to purchase a used copy.

The title is OMNIBUS OF SCIENCE FICTION, edited by Groff Conklin, a well-known and prolific editor of the genre. It was published in 1952, the Golden Age of Science Fiction. It's a hefty tome, 562 pages, with 43 stories divided into sections relating to a common theme. Some stories are fun, some are thought-provoking and some are adventurous. I love them all.

Part I. Wonders of Earth and of Man

Katherine MacLean's "And be Merry" originally appeared in Astounding Science Fiction in February, 1950. When her husband takes off on an archeology trip, a biologist does rejuvenation experiments on herself. Believing she'll be immortal if she can avoid accidental death, she becomes afraid to live. Her husband realizes he must convince her she's dying in order to get her to live again, and he tells her she has a slow growing tumor that is inoperable.

Other stories in this section are:

"John Thomas's Cube" by John Leimert

"Hyperpilosity" by L. Sprague de Camp

"The Thing in the Woods" by Fletcher Pratt & B.F. Ruby

"The Bees from Borneo" by Will H. Gray

"The Rag Thing" by David Grinnell

"The Conqueror" by Mark Clifton

Part II. Inventions, Dangerous and Otherwise

The intriguing short story, "A Subway Named Mobius," by A.J. Deutsch was published in Astounding Science Fiction in December, 1950. The Boston Subway Authority builds an addition to the subway system and a train disappears with three hundred passengers. The closed system became so interconnected and complex that it turned into a Mobius strip, that continuous loop with one side made famous by M.C. Escher.

Other stories in this section are:

"Never Underestimate ..." by Theodore Sturgeon

"The Doorbell" by David H. Keller

"Backfire" by Ross Rocklynne

"The Box" by James Blish

"Zeritsky's Law" by Ann Griffith

"The Fourth Dynasty" by R.R. Winterbotham

Part III. From Outer Space

In "The Colour Out of Space" By H.P. Lovecraft a surveyor discovers an abandoned farm with an old well at the center. The land is devoid of life and he inquires about the name - the blasted heath. An old hermit tells him the story. In the 1880's the farm was productive until a meteorite of indescribable color crashed beside the well. After hearing the terrifying circumstances that befell the farmer and his family the surveyor ends by saying he won't be coming back and wouldn't recommend drinking the water.

Other stories in this section are:

"The Head Hunters" by Ralph Williams

"The Star Dummy" by Anthony Boucher

"Catch That Martian" by Damon Knight

"Shipshape Home" by Richard Matheson

"Homo Sol" by Isaac Asimov

Part IV. Far Traveling

"Kaleidoscope" by Ray Bradbury is a heart-breaking tale of astronauts drifting through space after their ship is destroyed. They have contact with each other but no hope of being rescued. One man laments the fact he has accomplished nothing worthwhile but as his life ends he becomes a shooting star visible to a child on earth.

Other stories in this section are:

"Alexander the Bait" by William Tenn

"Nothing Happens on the Moon" by Paul Ernst

"Trigger Tide" by Wyman Guin

"Plague" by Murray Leinster

"Winner Lose All" by Jack Vance

"Test Piece" by Eric Frank Russell

"Environment" by Chester S. Geier

Part V. Adventures in Dimension

"Spectator Sport" by John D. MacDonald was first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories in February 1950. A man travels into the future and discovers nothing much has changed. Shortly after he left someone invented virtual reality and the entire population is permanently wired into it.

Other stories in this section are:

"High Threshold" by Alan E. Nourse

"Recruiting Station" by A.E. van Vogt

"A Stone and a Spear" by Raymond F. Jones

"What You Need" by Lewis Padgett

"The Choice" by W. Hilton-Young

Part VI. Worlds of Tomorrow

"History Lesson" by Arthur C. Clarke was first published in 1949. In the future a final ice age looms. A tribe of nomadic humans travels toward the equator but gets caught between two advancing glaciers. They hide a few 21st century relics in a cairn. Five thousand years later Venusian reptiles travel to Earth and recover the relics. They try to learn about life on the Third Planet - by analyzing a cartoon film reel

Other stories in this section are:

"The War Against the Moon" by Andre Maurois

"Pleasant Dreams" by Ralph Robin

"Manners of the Age" by H.B. Fyfe

"The Weapon" by Fredric Brown

"The Scarlet Plague" by Jack London

"Heritage" by Robert Abernathy

"Instinct" by Lester del Rey

"Counter Charm" by Peter Phillips

Omnibus Of Science Fiction

Groff Conklin

Publisher: Crown Publishers 1952

Pages: 562

ASIN: B000NZ56FQ

Gail Pruszkowski reviews for "Romantic Times BOOKreviews" magazine and her work has been published in the "Cup of Comfort" Anthologies

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