Sunday, March 30, 2008

Wealth In Writing by Donald Whitehead

Did you know that the biggest selling product on the internet happens to be information products and has been since almost the beginning of the internets debut. A computer happens to be a very, very powerful tool and most people probably aren't even aware of this fact. A computer is a word processor capable of writing any and everything that you can think of to write about, and a desktop publishing system that can make you rich beyond your wildest dreams and famous too. You can literally get a flood of cash pouring into your home office from your writing. Your computer can be turned onto autopilot flying high off the ground into cyberspace, and The computer desktop publishing system can make it all possible.

Truth is many writers today are now making big money writing with no more experience than you have right now. All you have to do is take hot selling articles and write a chapter at a time and turn them into short e-books of 20, 50 or a 100 pages. People do it everyday and these e-books sell like crazy on the world wide web. Remember that the hottest selling products on the internet is information, now, today. People around the world want to know "how to do things" and they buy millions of "How To Do It Books." Actually one person can do what once took typesetters, writers, proof readers, printers, engravers, book binders and sales people to do and do it in less than half of the time.

The biggest thing is to just "GET STARTED." That's right, just do it. You will make mistakes along the way, but that's part of learning. Do the research, ask writers questions to find out what they did to become successful. read constantly and study how other writers write. Take from what you learn and write and hone your writing skills. Most importantly don't give up. Remember people do this everyday and with great success. You may think that there is a secret and you are right. The secret is to write, write and write, that's it.

It really doesn't matter what you write about just as long as it is something of value, and by that I mean that the information being provided MUST BE WORTHY in that it serves a means to the reader, or solves a problem, or provides an avenue towards a solution. The information must offer the reader some type of value and the more value that what you have written holds the better chance of your e-book or any book have of getting world wide notoriety possibly beyond your own wildest imagination. Do some research and see what's a hot topic, research the topic, then just go to work writing the first chapter then the second chapter and so on until you have 12 or 15 chapters, put it all together as an e-book and start promoting it with press releases etc.

You can write poetry, stories, autobiographies, how to, business information or information products there is a huge world wide market on the internet. Millions of dollars are spent for books and almost every one buys books to learn how to live in todays complicated world among other things. There are many ways to come up with book ideas. Talking with friends is one way, or take college courses, read books,subscribe to newsletters, learn about book writing, publishing from research on the web, there is literally no end to the possibilities. You can even go to the public domains and find old out dated material and refurbish it and put a spin on it. People do it all the time. The material is free and it won't cost you anything in most cases.

One last word of encouragement is, that the more of yourself that you put in your writing the more you will reap. Sow a good seed and the harvest that you will reap will be enormous. Plant deep, meaning to advertise it in every possible way and place.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Donald is owner of Writing My First E-Book Why not start writing your first e-book today! Promote your ,website, products, and or e-book with Your Articles Learn to write your own articles.

Find More Than 777 Icons

777icons.com offers literally hundreds of icons that depict various objects and concepts, drawn in different styles and grouped in numerous themes.

Need an icon to represent an action on a newly designed wizard? A new logotype for your site or software? A few toolbar buttons? Whatever you need for your Web site and software graphics, you've got it! 777icons.com packs a variety of sizes and formats with each icon you purchase, allowing you to use an icon as a bright logo, an illustration to a particular action of a wizard, as a part of a Web site navigation or application toolbar.

Save time on crafting or outsourcing icon design to freelance artists! Ready-made icons are available right here, right now. Each theme collection offered at 777icons.com is a matching set of icons that work perfectly well when used together. Matching color palettes, visual styles and drawing concepts allow you to choose a perfect style for your new site or software product. Want that modern hi-tech look that everyone is after? It's here, in the Hi-Tech section! Prefer a classic concept? The Classic icons are readily available. Want cartoon-like icons for a new game or entertainment application? The Cartoon icons are here as well, ready to enhance your new creations.

The professional style is what makes great products stand out of the crowd, but not everyone can afford to spend the time and money specifying hundreds of custom-made pieces of graphics. Just go to 777icons.com and browse the collections of icons to discover one that matches your style, and enhance your project with professionally designed graphics.

Website: http://www.777icons.com/

Call For Entries For Art All Around

The Maine Center for Creativity (MCC), a Portland, Maine-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting the growth of the arts and creative industries in Maine, today announced the official call for entries for its Art All Around(TM) international design competition. The grand prize winner will receive a cash prize of up to $30,000 and the winning design will be painted on 16 of the most visible tanks, including tops, at the Sprague Energy Corp. tank farm in South Portland. The goal of the project is to underscore the importance of creativity as a driving economic force for Maine. Art All Around represents one of the state's largest public art projects to date.

Participants of all ages, backgrounds and locations are invited to submit designs showing how the tanks could be transformed to celebrate their prominent location and status as a gateway to Maine. To enter, contestants simply download four views of the tanks and upload their finished designs. The deadline for entries is June 25, and complete rules and entry forms can be found online at http://www.artallaround.com/.

The five semifinalists will receive a monetary award of $7,500 and be eligible for up to an additional $2,500 stipend for other costs and travel. The grand prize winner will be awarded an additional $20,000.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

3 Clever Ways Creative Women Entrepreneurs Can Finally Get Organized

Award-winning success coach Kendall SummerHawk has just released a series of free articles on her web site. The article, 3 Clever Ways Creative Women Entrepreneurs Can Finally Get Organized! is available for immediate download at http://www.kendallsummerhawk.com/free-articles.html

What organized people don't understand about creative souls is that the thought of being organized seems to be in conflict with the woman entrepreneur's creative spirit. Accurate or not, creative types feel that if everything is neat and tidy then their creativity will be contained as well.

"Well, I'm about to bust that myth," challenges SummerHawk, "Because I am a both highly creative and organized woman business owner. In fact, it's when my papers, email and office are the most organized that I am the most creative."

Myth buster SummerHawk argues that women entrepreneurs' creative side can actually help them become more organized. The creative woman business owner can customize a system that works for her.

"...remember that being creative actually gives woman small business owners an edge when it comes to being organized because you can create the organizing solution that works for you!"

In this refreshing article, the successful woman entrepreneur shares three creative organizing tips that can help any woman small business owner get organized - and stay organized. Each tip comes with a myth-busting action item that will help the creative types customize their organizational system to match their style.

In upcoming articles, SummerHawk will address additional strategies, as well as tips on smart ways for women entrepreneurs to turn their hectic organizations into smooth-running, fun, six-figure money-making dreams. You will learn:


Distraction a problem? Here are 10 easy solutions
Is Hiring a Virtual
Assistant Right For You?
Surprising Marketing Shortcut
How to Get a Big
Project Done Faster

Friday, March 21, 2008

Learn the Secrets Freelancers Use to Create Low Cost Info Products

So, after much research, you have figured out what niche market you want to target with your home based business. Now, you aren't sure what product you want to sell. The truth is, the answer is easier to arrive at, and much less expensive to implement than you would imagine. Let's learn the secrets gurus use when creating a product.

In case you are wracking your brain trying to figure this out, relax. In fact, you probably have already guessed it. It's the dreaded ebook! The moaning and groaning is beginning now, but ebooks really aren't that bad! Ebooks have been around for years, but most people in your niche likely will have had only limited experience with them.

Why ebooks? They continue to be cool, and are viewed as cutting edge. They also are easy to create, inexpensive, can be developed quickly, and can be bought while you sleep. It doesn't get much better than that!

Now, the real secret to ebooks is . . . . Drum roll please! DON’T CREATE THEM! Now, if you are a professional writer or just love to write, then this article isn't for you. The rest of you, hang in here! The truth is there are much easier ways to create an ebook than trying to do it yourself. They are:

1. Have someone else do it for you or,

2. Legally steal someone else's book (public domain).

There are sites where you can post your projects, and where freelance writers can take a look, and make bids on your projects.

Tips to remember when you go to post your projects include the following:

1. Give as much detail as possible so that freelance writers know exactly what you want. Some writers will be so eager for your project that they will write up a sample chapter based on your information just to get your business. Make sure you also ask the bidder to sign a non-disclosure agreement. This information can be found on the site. You always must register, as well. Buyers can register for free.

2. Always ask bidders for writing examples; otherwise, who knows what fluff you might end up with!

3. Don't ever pay anyone until you have completely reviewed the final product.

With these tips in mind, now on to the second way to create an inexpensive ebook. If you remember, the second secret given was to legally steal someone else's book. How can this be done? The secret is using public domain materials. Anything published before 1923 in the United States is considered public domain. This means that no one owns the copyright of the material, and therefore, anybody can use it.

It gets even better than this. Some books published between 1923 and 1963 may be public domain material if the copyright was not renewed by the 28th year. To be on the safe side, it always advisable to consult a copyright attorney before publishing any work you might find. That said, there are membership sites on the web that have done all the work for you! You just pay a small monthly fee and get lots of great public domain material.

After you get your original book, you will want to have it scanned in digital format. When looking for a company to do this for you, keep these important points in mind:

1. Make sure they do not destroy the original book. The book needs to be returned to you.

2. The company needs to do more than just scan the book. The work has to be editable so you can add your own introduction.

3. There needs to be a week's turn around.

4. Work is kept confidential.

5. The fees are not unreasonable. Examples of approximate prices are:

1-100 pages-$100
101-300 pages-$150
301-500 pages-$200
501+Pages-$250

Now you know the secrets the gurus use to create low cost products for their niche markets. Your home based business can now explode!

Recommended Resources:


How To Write Your Own EBook(R) In 7 Days! - Write And Publish Your Own Outrageously Profitable EBook(R) In As Little 7 Days - Even If You Can't Write Or Type!

Ideas that Matter Call for Entries - $6,000 to $50,000 Grants

Sappi Fine Paper North America today announced the call for entries for the 2008 Ideas that Matter program, an international grant program that provides funding to designers and design companies for the development of unique print-based campaigns promoting social, environmental and humanitarian causes.

This year, Sappi created a powerful brochure campaign speaking directly to the design community to focus on the enormous impact they have to instill change in our society. The thought-provoking brochures address the very real challenges that individuals struggle with everyday, including: domestic violence, addiction and homelessness.

Last year's North American Ideas that Matter program awarded 15 grants to fund campaigns for non-profit organizations of the recipients' choosing. Sappi received over 100 applications from North American designers and awarded grants ranging from over $6,000 to $50,000.

Entries will be judged by an independent review panel of top North American graphic designers and representatives from leading non-profit organizations. All judges based their decisions on each proposal's creativity and potential effectiveness, and expressed confidence in the designers' vision.

The deadline for the 2008 Ideas that Matter grant submissions is May 31, 2008. For more information on Sappi's North American Ideas that Matter program, please visit www.sappi.com/ideasthatmatter

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Web Site Design Secrets for Freelancers to Improve Usability

Many amateur freelancers use too many unnecessary web design tools that add little value to their websites. This has resulted in hundreds of "junk" websites that contain too many graphics, animations, and text. Some of these web pages have as many as seven or eight distinct content areas enclosed in an 800 by 600 pixel screen: a flashing header graphic, several paragraphs of text, an opt in form, Google ads, Amazon ads, affiliate links, audio and/or video buttons to push, and sometimes even more.

Don't tempt yourself to make such glaring, embarrassing mistakes. Most web visitors will feel overwhelmed and unsuccessfully navigate such a site. Such a poorly-designed website forces visitors to make too many decisions because of too many distractions. More importantly, a poor layout impoverishes the content.

What is the answer? Most successful freelancers (i.e. freelancers who have visitors returning to their site) will tell you to create a clean and simple web design. Usability is the key.

DESIGN TIP # 1

A great website design encompasses three basic values: simplicity, clarity, and speed. In other words, you need a visually-friendly website, but at the same time each web page downloads quickly and users can navigate easily.

DESIGN TIP # 2

To design a site that shouts visual appeal, you can use simple graphics, color, and graphical text. At all costs, stay away from flashing animations and busy backgrounds. In fact, a white, cream, or light yellow background with black or dark blue text is best, if you want your visitors to read your text easily.

DESIGN TIP # 3

You don’t have to a graphic artist to design a visually-pleasing website. Grab a photo or two from a free stock photo site such as www.sxc.hu, add some colored text and a tagline using a graphics program like Windows Paint or Paint Shop Pro, and that's all you need for a header.

DESIGN TIP # 4

You should create a navigation with simple text links or buttons, either across the top, right under the header, or down the left or right side of the screen. Make sure you label clearly all text labels and images to indicate what the user will find when he or she clicks on them.

DESIGN TIP # 5

You can place an opt-in form and one or two simple ads in the left or right panes, with your content in the main center panel. Your content pane should be the largest area on the screen, so it draws the reader's focus.

DESIGN TIP # 6

Clean and simple web design extends to the layout of your content too. Text is most readable when you present it in "chunks." This means use short sentences and paragraphs of no more than two to four sentences each. Make liberal use of colored subheadings and bullets. Sprinkle a graphic or two per page to break up the text and add visual interest. Use margins (padding) around your text, so it doesn't bump up against the edges of your navigation and ad panels. Plenty of white space is important. Use a free readability tester at http://www.readabilityformulas.com/ to determine the reading-level of your text.

Remember, squeezing as much functionality into every page as possible is NOT the right approach. What will keep people on your site and keep them returning, is a clean, simple, easy to navigate design.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jesse Dawson is the author of "Can YOU Read Me Now? How to Use Readability Formulas to Write for Your Target Audience," a free e-book available at http://www.readabilityformulas.com/. He is a contributing writer for http://www.lousywriter.com/, a free website that helps writers and non-writers learn about english grammar. He also serves as a forum moderator at http://www.writinganswers.com/, where he helps writers and non-writers fix English writing problems.

You Can Write Powerful Copy! by Nick Summers

But how do you write this powerful copy (words which will sell your product), if you are not a copywriter?

Here are some basic guidelines:

Communicate directly to your readers, by writing as if you were talking to them. Correct grammar is not the most important issue - being understood is.

Don't be frightened to use large headings that are witty and eye-catching - newspapers and magazines make good research places for getting to grips with powerful headings.

Grab Your Readers' Attention

In the very first sentence! If you don't you may lose them. We live at a fast pace. Concentration is not high on our priority list. Just look at the designs of many of the popular magazines and you can see that short, snappy articles, interlaced with plenty of pictures, are the normal layout. Pick up any Dorling Kindersley book and see how they have revolutionised learning from books with their layouts.

Make what you have to say exciting and interesting.

Word Choices

Choose your words carefully. Be aware of the sound words make. For instance, let 's suppose you want to inject some humour into your text, certain words are funnier than others. An example of this is one of Beryl Reid 's lines when she was doing a routine, knocking her girlfriend, Deirdre. She'd say, "Deirdre says her complexion is sallow, I call it yellow, what with her yellow face and her little black eyes, she looks like a small portion of prunes and custard!"

This dialogue wouldn't have half the punch if Beryl had chosen to use apricots and custard, instead of prunes and custard, because prunes is a funny word and apricots isn't.

Another classic technique for working out a punch line is to use alliteration. Example: 'I bet he 's bonking some bimbo in the back seat! (Much funnier than, 'I'm certain he 's having sex with some girl in the rear of the car.' It means the same, but it certainly does not have the same impact.)

So if you're stuck for a powerful headline or a business/company motto, then try alliteration.

Emotive Text

Stories or headings that appeal to our emotions and trigger fond memories, are powerful selling allies. For many people, life today is too stressful. We are bombarded from all sides, with calls on our mobiles at any time of day or night, emails to check, forms to fill in and too many rules to live by imposed on us by unworkable politics.

Any references to (say) the 60 's , conjures up images of much simpler, relaxed fun-filled days. It 's not important that the era was not perfect - no era is - or that they didn't reap the benefits of the incredible technology of mobiles or the Internet.

Text which is geared towards family life, is also a powerful marketing tool, simply because the world can be a very frightening place, and the throw away society (which includes throwing away relationships) is taking a swing towards a desire for more stability through lasting relationships.

The Reason for Copywriting

The only reason you're creating strong headlines and text is to sell a service, your ideas or products. So, if you want to write great copy, make sure it will produce the desired result of increased profit. Decide on the mood and pace that will initiate the highest sales in your particular marketplace.

Don't forget to actually ask for the outcome you want! Sounds simple I know, but its amazing how many people forget to actually ask the person on the other end of the communication to take some action.

If you have no desire to write your own copy, then there is the option of employing a copywriter on a freelance basis as and when you need copy, or you could take on a marketing person as an employee if the volume of work is sufficient.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick Summers runs Content Cow Article Directory, a directory dedicated to offering the best of the web 's articles formatted the way you want them. Visit http://www.contentcow.biz/ today for all your content requirements.

Graphicstart.com Offers 400 sources from the creative, publishing and printing sectors

Designers, creative professionals, publishers and printers can now have one source for all of their graphic arts news, Graphicstart.com. Providing news, blogs, views and reviews from more than 400 outlets within the industry, Graphicstart.com is the destination for the print and new media sector.

Graphicstart.com is much more than just a site for statically listing news, it takes advantage of Web 2.0 culture and social environments. Features of the site include: a rating system based on users votes, and a powerful search feature of the site's rich database of graphic arts data.

Today, specific and useful data, updated by the minute is important for designers and prepress professionals. To help facilitate the transfer of information, Graphicstart.com employs a "Watch" feature, that alerts the user via an email (and associated RSS feed if desired) when their unique keyword and other relevant content has been found across the site. Currently, Graphicstart.com has millions of database entries and whenever keyword searches are executed, as an example, 'FlightCheck' the result will be directly related to the graphic arts sector, not an unrelated sector, such as aviation as other search engines produce when such a search is performed.

Within the 'Articles Section,' one will find useful resources, such as all graphic arts shows listings for 2008. As an example, the "Drupa 2008 Watch" page, which you can stream to your own site and Graphic Art Show Listing page are currently receiving many views per day.

Any subscriber, which is free, can submit articles and we invite all graphics artists, printer and publishers to submit news, views or press releases. Other features of Graphicstart.com include press release submission, most read articles, customized RSS feeds and much more!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

How to Save Money Setting Up Your Online Business

Are you starting an online business with a small budget? That's OK. Online businesses are one of the lowest cost businesses to run - if you know what you need to pay for and where to go.

Follow these suggestions for getting your website set up inexpensively while not sacrificing quality. There are some things you need to pay for (and this will tell you how much) and other things you can do just as well for free.

STEP ONE: GETTING A DOMAIN NAME

There's no reason to pay more than $10 for a domain name, so feel free to shop around. Domains are important because they give you credibility as a business.

Free websites do not enable you to have your own domain name so instead you end up with mybusiness.freespace.com instead of mybusiness.com. See the difference? Your customers expect you to put some money into your business and this is a clear tip off that you are not doing that - and for $10, why shouldn't you?

STEP TWO: FIND A HOST

Hosting plans vary considerably. Much of what you pay for will be determined by the features your hosting account provides with its service.

Are you setting up a simple, one page site? You could probably use a low cost host for $5 per month. Do you need some extra help with templates and layout or expect a high amount of traffic or downloads? You may have to pay more but it can be well worth the extra expense to have integrated webpages already set up or to ensure your host is providing you with enough bandwidth to handle the traffic on your site.

Never use a free host, unless perhaps you want to start with a blog or similar format while you get your own website up and running. Free hosting usually means you pay in other ways - lack of a domain name or a lack of quality. Many free hosting accounts are for personal use only and do not allow commercial accounts. Try to get recommendations from others when looking for a good host.

STEP THREE: DESIGN

As previously mentioned you can find professional templates on some hosting services. These can give your website a professional polish without the expense of hiring a designer. You are limited, however, on the look you choose depending on the variety of designs available.

Templates are also available to others so your site may have the same appearance as someone else. If you need custom work done consider hiring a freelance web designer from a site like elance.com or ask a local student studying web design. Freelance sites often put you in touch with new designers who will charge less while building on their experience and adding to their portfolio.

Spending money wisely is important when starting any business, but some free services will cost you in reliability or image. On the other hand there are some cheap deals you may not hear about so don't give your hard earned money (or worse - your credit) for a service you can pay less for and get the same results.

The Truth About Copywriting Careers

To do real copywriting you must think of copywriting as a job. And if you can write copy well enough, it is possible to have copywriting as your real, very well paying job. It is one of the very few extremely portable professions that really pays well.

There is a great deal of benefits if you work at copywriting as a job. The salary for a copywriter is much higher than the average wage in the US, at around $60,000. And copywriting is especially lucrative if you include bonuses and per piece mailed payments. This figure is a couple of years old now, but there has been nothing happening in the copywriting world except an explosion of demand for good copywriting.

Working as a copywriter does have a great deal more flexibility than many other jobs. Much copywriting work is done at the offices or home offices of freelance copywriters and if you work this way you can set your own hours. You don't have to worry about punching a clock or working at a particular time of day as long as you get your jobs done on schedule.

The great advantage of working this way is that you can do a lot of other things while you are brainstorming ideas for your copy. You could decide not to work on Tuesdays, for example, because that is when your child goes to soccer practice and you could go watch. Or if something else comes up in the course of the day that you need to handle, you can do it because your schedule is so flexible. This is a huge advantage over many workaday jobs where you have no control over your hours whatsoever.

If you do copywriting in an agency environment, this could offer huge benefits as well -- different than free lance work but for some people, just as enticing. You could get to work with other creative people who could bounce ideas off each other. You could work with a team of folks in other disciplines, such as graphic design. Ad agencies differ in size, from the two-person office to the huge corporate environment. In small offices you could have that close-knit family feeling. And in larger agencies you could enjoy the camaraderie that comes form working on a difficult project together as a team.

Copywriting is a job that never grows stale with new ideas, new creative adventures, new products and services to write good copy for. This is the cutting edge of the marketing world. Coupled with the flexibility of the freelance world or the team player aspect that comes from working with a great group of people in an office, copywriting as a profession has an incredible variety of benefits to offer.

If you want an exciting adventure filled occupation in the creative world, you like to write and you don't mind making more money in a year than most people even dream about - copywriting could be the job for you.

Stanford Offers New Workshop Series on Creating "Guerrilla" Video for the Web

Stanford Publishing Courses is offering a series of one-day workshops around the country on "Video on the Web." Taught by the Stanford New Media Group, these workshops are designed to teach publishers and media professionals how to produce inexpensive short video to enhance their sites, blogs and podcasts.

"Too many media folks are overproducing videos for the Web," says Holly Brady, director of the Stanford Publishing Courses. "With today's desktop tools and some new media knowledge, you can produce professional-quality short clips without elaborate equipment and expensive studio time. We call it guerrilla video."

Led by Craig Syverson and Kenji Kato of the Stanford Publishing Courses New Media Group, the workshop provides a complete overview of what it takes to produce, edit, and distribute short video clips via one's own site or external platforms such as iTunes and YouTube. Participant-produced videos are critiqued during the workshop.

"Video is easy," says Craig Syverson of the Stanford Publishing Courses New Media Group. "Audio, on the other hand, is hard."

Workshops will be repeated in Chicago on March 28 and in Los Angeles on April 18.

Website: http://publishingcourses.stanford.edu/videoworkshop/

Sunday, March 2, 2008

How To Attract Traffic To Your Home-Based Freelance Business

When you have your own business at home, getting into Internet marketing can quickly raise the status of your business. One of the most important facets to having success with Internet marketing is how you are generating traffic. Without traffic coming to your site it is impossible to have success. Therefore, you must evaluate how you are going to generate a high traffic volume.

The thing about running your own business at home is that you can never have too much traffic. You should always be looking to increase your traffic volume so that you can increase your income. Typically you want to find a few solid marketing techniques and stick to them as opposed to using several different techniques. But you may have to try out several before you find the most effective method for you.

One technique to raising your traffic volume with Internet marketing is submitting a site map to search engines. What this will do is give your site a better chance of being examined by the search engines. With more visits to your site from the search engines spiders, your sites will gradually climb higher on the search engines thus increasing your traffic.

Most people are aware of affiliate programs, but few are familiar with how they can benefit the site they already have. If you set up your own affiliate program for people to sell your product or service, you will have a business within a business. Not only will you have other people selling for you, your traffic will increase as well because of two separate businesses.

Perhaps the easiest method of increasing your traffic volume is posting in forums. There are literally hundreds of thousands of forums to choose from. The key is to post in forums with a lot of people that are all interested in the niche you are involved in. After spitting out some fresh and enticing information, you can reel people in to your website immediately.

The last method is one of the best on the Internet right now: article marketing. Article marketing can do a number of things for your site. First, it allows you to write fresh and enticing content that readers will be astonished by. Second, you can promote or write about whatever people are looking for here. Lastly you can place a bio box with your URL in it to direct customers to your site after submitting the articles to article directories.

Traffic is essential to having success with Internet marketing. It can be difficult having your own business at home, but using a few of these marketing techniques can make life much easier for you.

Freelancing to Make Money Online

Today, people use the Internet not only to gather information or as a communication medium, but also to market their products or services and thus, to make money. Many people try different ways to make money online, but they hardly get any success. By understanding the reason as to why they fail in their attempt to make money online and by looking at some proven ways of making money, we can effectively earn money online. In this article, we will look at what we could do to make money online.

We need to understand that the Internet is not a magical place or some sort of money- making machine. But it provides the cheapest way to communicate with lot of people. It helps you in reaching out to millions of people who use the Internet daily. In business, if you want to grow and make more money, you have to market your product or service quite well. In other words, you should try to make people aware of your business. This is where the Internet comes into play. As it provides cheapest way to communicate, it becomes an excellent medium to market your business.

Considering this, we can conclude that it would be a better option to have a business first and then use the Internet to market it. You can start a business to provide others with some kind of service, or to create and sell your product or to market other people’s product. Let’s look at how you can start with a service-oriented business.

In service-oriented business, you have to sell your skills. For example, if you know how to develop software, then you can become a freelance software developer. Another good example is, if you are good at writing articles, then you can become freelance writer and make money by writing and selling your articles. There are lots of freelancing websites on the net where people post different projects. You need to register as freelancer and then bid on the projects. In this way, you can start making money quickly.

Some people use a different approach. Instead of bidding on projects posted by others, they either develop some software or write an e-book and later on, market it online. In this way, initially you need to spend some time in creating your own product and then you need to focus entirely on marketing. The more you market, the more number of people will buy your product and more money you will make.

In the third approach, you don’t have to develop any product or sell your skills. You just need to help others in marketing their products and in return, they will give you some commission on every sale. This is known as affiliate marketing. The more products you market, the more you can earn.

No matter which approach you would choose to start your business, you must understand that, if you want to earn, you have to work hard. Think about which could be the best approach for you. You can also start with more than one type of business at a time. For example, while acting as a freelance writer, you can also write articles to market products created by others. So start working now to make money online.

International Call for Artists and Photographers

Photographers and artists are invited to apply for participation in the 2008 edition of the URBAN SPACE exhibition. URBAN SPACE is an international traveling exhibition for artists and photographers. Focusing on the aesthetics of large urban centers as a theme, URBAN SPACE unites internationally selected works and is hosted in the virtual galleries of wooloo.org. Works may include photographic documentation of performances and site specific actions, digital interventions as well as traditional film photography.

The 2008 edition of URBANSPACE is curated around the theme of "Urban Communities" and looks to examine the diverse formation of local communities, informal situations and other site-specific representations of contemporary urban existence. Anonymity. Survival. Decadence. Defiance.

Submitted works may include photographic documentation of performances and site-specific actions, digital interventions as well as traditional film photography.

To participate or learn more, please go to: www.wooloo.org/urbanspace.

First Online Community Of Advertising Internship Reviews and Postings

Two advertising executives and two undergraduate business students launched YouIntern.com - the first free online community of interns in the advertising and marketing industry, featuring advertising internship reviews, submitted by college students, and advertising internship openings, submitted by employers.

After noticing that students lacked a central resource for advertising internship information, and agencies lacked a central channel to connect with students, YouIntern.com's founders decided to fill this gap with a website that encourages and supports rewarding internship experiences for both students and employers.

Along with internship reviews and openings, YouIntern.com features "expert advice" from advertising professionals to help guide students toward their career goals. The founders also maintain a blog with stories from the field and from their experience in advertising. Everything builds on YouIntern's philosophy of "freedom from coffee and copies" that liberates students from the monotony of many of today's internships.

Internships are necessary for students who wish to build a competitive resume, and with services charging thousands of dollars for internship placement, competition and demand is higher than ever. Business Week recently reported that the National Association of Colleges and Employers noted that 62% of new hires have internship experience, and YouIntern.com's goal is to ensure that every stakeholder in the internship process has fair and equal access to information.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Need for Copywriting Jobs Increase for 2008

With an increase in budget comes an increase in demand for copywriting jobs in 2008. Most businesses use the majority of their marketing budgets in the first six months, therefore it is critical that copywriters, especially freelance copywriters make themselves known to their target market.

This is also good news for those who are thinking of switching to a career as a freelance copywriter. The desire to find a job to work from home in is increasing (and why not - it is a win-win for many working mothers) and copywriting is an in demand service.

With this increase in spending, copywriters are preparing for their own marketing efforts. Kelly Robbins, founder of The Copywriting Institute stated, "As a health care copywriter, I was excited to see this statistic. I instantly began working more intently on my marketing plan so that I could be sure the prospects in my target market knew I could take on any new projects they needed done in 2008. Unfortunately, I personally know many copywriters who are stuck in their marketing efforts and are not prepared for this increase."

The Copywriting Institute has an online course for freelance copywriters who are looking to build their copywriting business and attract clients in their target niche. The Build Your Copywriting Business Course is designed to help copywriters put systems in place to find clients in their target market. Copywriters learn how to get their name top of mind in their target market so that prospects will think of them before anyone else.

Copywriters who take the course learn what they need to do to become a high earning copywriter and learn what marketing methods work best for successful copywriters. They develop marketing materials in the course like a web site, business cards, sales letter, and create writing samples and learn how to get them published. Copywriters also receive coaching and feedback on all assignments and written materials.

Ina Gilmore, a graduate of the course, had this to say, "During the course, I found my micro-niche, and developed my marketing materials. I began working on my website and blog, both of which I completed less than two weeks after finishing the course. The course materials, homework, and gentle coaching were just what I needed to build my confidence and jump-start my business."

The Copywriting Institute's mission is to help copywriters and aspiring copywriters learn to make high profits and create their ideal life through great writing, by creating marketing systems to generate a consistent stream of prospects, and living joyfully.

Find out more about this program here: http://thecopywritinginstitute.com/buildyourbusiness.html