OK, so you’ve taken the time to read my article about how to avoid Common Mistakes Web Marketers Make, you know the Top 10 Web Site Mistakes That Businesses Make and you’ve read How even a College Student can Make Money on the Internet but now that it comes down to it … you’re totally stuck and have no idea what to write about. Never fear, I’m here to help you with that as well.
Recently Under Employed?
Wow, I gotta tell you recessions are awesome. I know most people hate them but I’m 34 years old and in the tech industry. For me, I started my career in the recession of the early 1990’s and watched the Southern Ontario steel industry implode. Then … I went into computers and watched the millennium bug evaporate along with all the jobs, followed by the great IT bubble burst of the early 2000’s and the Nortel collapse that followed. My entire professional career has been in a recession so guess what, the fact that you lost your job is the best thing that ever happened to you.
Remember, you’re not unemployed … you’re haven’t been downsized … you got dumped like a cheerleader the morning after the prom so it’s time to buck up and take your life by the horns. It’s time to learn everything you need to know about blogging, making money online and building your expertise so that you’re no longer working for others, you’re working for yourself.
In my blog over the past few months I’ve told you how to register your domain name and setup a website without hiring somebody like me to do it for you, and I’ve told you how to find the best software like WordPress to run your website and I’ve told you how to increase traffic to your website. In fact, I’ve told you everything you need to know to be successful on the Internet, so now the big question … what should you write about?
Here are five easy ideas for you to write a blog about and say goodbye to a hard day’s work forever:
Write about your industry
I was amazed the other day when another blogger (I totally forget where it was now) made the comment that there’s always somebody behind you on the learning curve. That’s so true! If you’ve been let go, take advantage of your years of knowledge and write about your industry. This will do a few things, first it will help you make money but more importantly it’ll help build your expertise on a subject. There’s nothing like sending out resumes to people when you have a successful, industry recognized blog with your name on it to back that up.
Write about your hobbies
The interesting things about hobbies to me is that we do these things because we like them. The chances are, if you like them … so do other people. My hobbies? I like photography, cycling and designing websites (geek) so guess what I write blogs about? Yep … you guessed it and do you know what? Over a hundred thousand people a month like to read my websites.
Write about your community
People often over look the things around them, which is funny because I have a lot of friends who live on Prince Edward Island (home of Anne of Green Gables) and yet not one of them write a blog about the island. Actually when I tell them they should write about PEI they look at me like I’m nuts. Who would want to read about their dull little island (no offense, I love PEI)? According to Google, 1,233,143 people searched for information on their home in January! That’s insane, 1.2 million people are searching for a subject and they’re not blogging about it?
Write about your life
There are 303,824,640 people living in America today … come on, you’ve got to have something in common with some of them. Write about it! If you’re a woman, write about being a woman in America. If you’re a man, write about that. If you’re a Cantonese American then write for the 65,000 people who search for more information on that subject in January.
Write about your TV schedule
Honestly, I’m not making this up. Let’s say that you’re unemployed and still a little depressed so you’re spending a lot of time sitting in front of the TV watching reruns of old Scooby Doo episodes … (I know I’m going to regret this) … write about it! If you’re watching it, others are watching it too and just like you, they want to know what are in Scooby Snacks.
Tell me what subjects you like to blog about, include a link below to your own blog!
May
2009
10 simple ways to say thanks to a blogger you enjoy reading
When I was working at Yorkville University I met a fellow IT manager named Glen who shared a theory about technology people. If I remember this correctly, his former manager once told him that IT people needed money, toys or interesting projects to keep them motivated. Most of the time people assumed it was money but to people in the technology field, money wasn’t the most important thing.
I feel that way about making money online here at thisismyurl.com, which is why I don’t believe asking for donations is the right way to go when it comes from receiving support from people who read my blog. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I think most bloggers feel that way. So how can you say thanks to somebody for a blog post you’ve really enjoyed? Here’s a few ways that I can think of off the top of my head:
Support their sponsors
One of the easiest ways to say thanks for a job well done is to simply take a couple seconds and look at who’s buying ads on your favorite blogs and if there’s something being marketing which interests you, click through to check it out. The act of clicking an affiliate link doesn’t put money in your bloggers pocket but it does reinforce with the affiliate company that the blog has pushed traffic to their website and this act alone is valuable to both the blogger and the advertiser.
Support their commenters
One of my favorite ways to support a blog is to read their comments and click through to supportive, helpful commentators. Again, this doesn’t make the blog owner any money but what it does do is prove to the person who left the comment that the time they spent leaving a comment was well received. I get to learn a lot from a lot of great bloggers this way but it also helps encourage people to leave helpful comments which is the best way to support a blog.
Tweet about them
People blog for a number of reasons but regardless of why a blogger takes the time to write posts on the web, telling your followers on Twitter is a great way to help encourage them to continue writing great comments. You can also Digg them or list them on Stumble Upon if you’ve really enjoyed their content.
By ads on their website
A lot of bloggers sell ads on the side of their sites, why not help them out by promoting your own products and services?
Post a link to their story on another website
If you enjoy reading something on one blog and think it could help support and article on another, why not take a few minutes and share the link there? I often post supportive, helpful links in the comments of a blog to help the owner know about other great blogs. It helps both blogs become stronger, better and more co-operative!
Send money
If there’s no other way for you to say thanks, sending the blogger a couple dollars to help keep them infused with coffee is always nice.
Support their plugins and themes
If your favorite blogger writes plugins or themes for something like WordPress, take a few minutes and download it, comment on it or rate it on the public directories. A lot of bloggers get significant portions of their traffic directly from these directories and your supporting their plugins helps build visitors to their websites.
Leave comments
I can never stress enough how much a great comment encourages a blog owner. If you’ve taken the time to read a blog post and found it helpful, spending just a couple seconds to leave a thank you note and encourage the blogger to continue writing is a great way to say thanks. If you can add to the conversation, correct a glitch or improve the bloggers understanding of the subject matter … all the better!
Post a link to their blog
The holy grail of compliments to a blogger? Posting a link to their content! If you run a website of your own and find something a blogger has written to be helpful, post a link and tell your visitors why you liked what you read. It’s amazing how much this helps a blogger build a bigger audience and how easy it is to do.
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Posted in Blogging, Web Site Advice