Posts Tagged ‘ home based business ’

Writing Site Updates: Media Piston

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Writing Site Updates: Media Piston

One of my most “popular” writing site reviews was the one I did on Media Piston. Admittedly I was fairly new to the site when I wrote it and to be honest, I’ve had sufficient amounts of work that I really have not spent much time on the site.  I was aware that as an oDesk contractor, I could sign into Media Piston with my oDesk login but never did it that way because this change seemed to occur after I signed up. After a couple of weeks, I discovered that oDesk users were confused about Media Piston as you…

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Small and home business tax planning

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Small and home business tax planning

Tax prep time Every year, thousands of small business owners rush to gather documents needed to complete a tax filing. As if the tax forms were not challenging enough, small business owners often spend hours gathering the documents needed to fill out tax forms.Getting started with small business tax planning at the beginning of the year can help make tax time far less stressful. Make tax time easier with these simple tips. Starting From Day One The best way to begin planning for tax filings is to start at the beginning of your fiscal year. Smart small business tax planning…

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Clients who are bloviating windbags

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Clients who are bloviating windbags

People who are pompous and arrogant certainly will send me into a fit of temper.  These are the folks who think they have the market on righteous indignation cornered. Nothing that is wrong is ever their fault and if you question their “problem” (real or perceived) their answer is to attack you.  You know the type: The bloviating customer 1 – Cheaper is better Warning: DO NOT write us and BID some big CRAZY price. *  All the WORLD is in a recession, BUSINESSES are hurting…so if YOU are *SMART* you will find those GROWING like US and JUMP on…

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Internet Marketing and Ethics

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Internet Marketing and Ethics

For my regular readers, you already know that I typically call a spade, a spade. Other times, I’m not as flattering as that.  I write about things I believe, I do not accept assignments that I consider questionable, contain bogus health claims and I almost always avoid product reviews.  However, after working on my other blog where I call out work at home scams, something occurred to me…..As I’ve mentioned in other posts. In fact, I spent some time writing up a page on HubPages called “The care and feeding of Internet scams” – it suddenly dawned on me today…

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Freelance site to steer clear of

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Freelance site to steer clear of

As most of you know if I am going to use a freelance site, I do prefer oDesk. While it does take some time to get your first assignment, over time, oDesk in my opinion is the best. This does not stop me from looking at other sites to see what they are offering. And for the record, Elance has an excellent reputation; I do not use them because I do not like their “buy credits” system as I believe that if I am going to land a freelance assignment I shouldn’t be paying for service until AFTER I land…

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Writing Site Reviews: Media Piston

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Information search

I recently found a site called Media Piston where they encourage writers to sign up and earn money for submitting articles. This site is similar in some ways to Textbroker and offers writers “one of” assignments at a fairly low rate of pay. However, there is no minimum amount of writing that you can do and you are paid on a weekly basis for assignments that are accepted by editors and by the client. My experience on Media Piston I only signed up on Media Piston recently. The process was relatively painless, you sign up with your email address and…

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Brand building: Your online presence with pictures

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Brand building: Your online presence with pictures

I think I must be getting more ornery in my old age – and I don’t really consider myself old. However, there is something that really does annoy me online when people are joining BUSINESS networks. Notice I said business….I mean sites like LinkedIn, oDesk, etc. Those that require you to put up a profile that people are going to review for potential hiring reasons. Your mother isn’t going to hire you Stop putting your high school (or college) photograph in your profile. It does NOT help your credibility. Chances are pretty high that your mom isn’t going to hire…

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Defending content writers

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Defending content writers

While some people bash those who write for sites like Demand Media, Crowd Cloud and Textbroker as being “unprofessional”, I’d like to defend those who elect to use these sites to earn money.  After all, this IS about earning money and not always about the level of professionalism that is displayed by the writer. There are many excellent writers who depend on these sites to earn their weekly and monthly income.  The fact is that not everyone can write for the Wall Street Journal or other “high profile” publications. Like it or not – immediate payments Textbroker, Media Piston and…

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Suffering overload

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Suffering overload

Are you suffering from overload? This can occur when you have too many social media sites to follow, when your workload seems impossible to manage or when you simply have too much on your mind. It’s not that uncommon among writers who are working long hours that involve not only writing but promoting their work and searching for their next assignment. This feeling can be overwhelming and if you find yourself feeling that you’re overloaded, chances are that you will not get as much done as you normally would. You have to be able to organize your work to make…

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What you should know about blogging

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How to make a free blog look professional Why your blog needs a privacy policy Your blog should have a site map Gaining credibility as a blogger Why your blog should have evergreen content SEO Tips and Tricks How to write effective SEO copy Proper use of anchor text Should you outsource your blogging How often you should post on a blog Plan to drive traffic to your blog Great content does not make a blog successful Inline text advertising Why blogs fail Prevent blog content theft [adsenseyu3] About Doreen MartelWell-rounded freelance writer who contributes to various blogs, paid to…

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Posting frequency matters

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Posting frequency matters

For most bloggers, it is easy to think about not posting to a blog on a daily basis. After all, most bloggers are not earning enough money from AdSense or other advertising programs to make posting daily a really profitable past-time. However, for those bloggers who take a look at their accounts, there is an argument to be made for posting on a daily basis. Keywords in posts For the most part, those who post to their blogs tend to work on the same basic theme all of the time. Depending on the individual niche, bloggers work in their keywords…

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Online portfolios matter

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Online portfolios matter

Many online writers depend on clients being able to go to the various sites where they write and find their portfolio. Most writers (myself included) apply for roles and include links to their various work. I’m guilty of the same thing! Recently however, I had several emails from people who found me online and wanted to know if I would be willing to write a series of articles for them. They “found” me through Google and looked at some of the articles I’d written. However, there are some simple ways to create an easy to use online portfolio.  One of…

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Understanding Online opportunities

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Understanding Online opportunities

While there are numerous opportunities available online, it is important to understand how to evaluate them. There are a number of sites that make grandiose claims about how much someone can earn online. Before accepting any online opportunity, it is crucial to evaluate the validity of the claims being made. What to watch for: · Do not accept any online opportunity where there does not seem to be a valid contact name, address or contact phone number; · Be wary of online opportunities that ask you to pay a significant amount of money upfront to “start working”; · Check the…

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Blogging and income

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Blogging and income

For those who maintain their own blogs, chances are that you have discovered that the income from those blogs tends to be very erratic. It seems that regardless of how frequently you post, how rich in keywords your posts are or how well written your blog is that there is simply no rhyme or reason to your earnings. In some cases, this is not only frustrating but, it can also feel like you are wasting a lot of time working on your blog (or blogs) for very little return. Because most blog income is a result of page views, the…

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Purchasing Domain Names

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Purchasing Domain Names

Recently I ran across a site that sold web domain names. There was one in particular that intrigued me. I’m going to avoid naming it because I don’t want to give this jerk any fodder for his outrageous behavior. The story went like this: Finding a domain for sale I was searching for something completely unrelated and I ran across a web name that was for sale. I was intrigued because the name was something I felt could be developed into something worthwhile. As many people know, I have a very strong belief that helping people learn how to make…

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