Is it Time to Build Your Own Big Website?
Retiring Like the Masses vs. The Internet Entrepreneur Method
Why would anyone want to work from home when they have the good fortune to intermingle with colleagues, share ideas, work towards a common goal or socialize together? In corporate America one has the luxury of access to state-of-the-art equipment, training and perks like health insurance and retirement benefits.
Statistics will bear out that most of the working class will seek out the aforementioned work environment. Looking forward to their retirement plan, they are content to drive or take public transportation to work each week and collect their pay checks. These people whose talents are staggering in scope have. through their skilled work, made America the most powerful country on earth.
It’s not the fault of the American worker that we find ourselves in our present recession. They can’t be blamed for the destruction of our economy. They just have to live through it.
OK, so what reason would someone choose to work from home? Well, if we’re talking about work-at-home-moms (WAHMs) it’s because they want to spend time raising them and not handing them over to a day-care center. Many also have that entrepreneurial drive that can only be satisfied by doing their own thing in their unique home-based businesses.
Corporate security doesn’t appeal to all men. Many are driven to succeed in their unique home-based businesses.
OK, so what are these bathrobe-clad entrepreneurs doing to make a living? The majority of them are sitting before there computers working on their blogs or websites. They are networking, copy writing, emailing and otherwise marketing themselves and products or services to the world. They have discovered that the potential success of their on-line businesses far outweighs the security of a conventional job. The incomes generated for these at-home pioneers can far exceed those of their corporate counterparts. Many make in excess of ten thousand dollars per month and can easily afford to buy their own health insurance or retirement plan.
Do all of them make that kind of money? No, some make considerably less but some make a whole lot more. It depends on what their business is and how they go about promoting it, etc. But they all cling to the dream of making it.
Succeeding in home-based online business is only accomplished by learning what to do and what not to do as can attested to by those who have failed. Internet businesses are just like any other business in that there are right and wrong ways to go about growing them and capturing market share. Work-from-home entrepreneurs are not exempt from learning how to do it right because they can fail just as easily as uninformed brick and mortar business owners.
Fortunately, there are some fairly simple ways to ensure that an online business becomes successful. The first thing a newbie absolutely should do is associate him or herself with someone who already is successful in this method of business. Nobody should have to learn to re-invent the wheel. I made enough expensive mistakes myself before I learned this lesson. The second thing I would recommend is to polish up your article-writing skills as this can be a fantastic method of attracting people to your blog or website. Call it luck or a blessing, I have found a way to make that method of promoting oneself far exceed anything else that’s available.
Now you can decide for yourself if continuing to work at your conventional job or venturing into uncharted waters as an Internet entrepreneur will suit you and meet the needs of your future.
Content Creation: How To Write Well For The Internet
Writing content for blogs and websites is an art form, and should be treated as such. Content creation is a professional skill that takes time to develop. Just as with anything else, the more you practice, the better you get. Engaging your audience is key. You have got to make them want what you’re offering.
Big words will not get you anywhere. Making your blog easy to understand is a top priority. Using too many big words or a lot of tech speak can alienate you from your audience. Most people expect easy to understand reading on blogs. Try to keep your articles conversational and easy to read.
Emotional response is another priority when it comes to writing. Whatever the response may be. Make them angry, sad, happy, lonesome. Just get a response. If you stir peoples emotions chances are they will be back to your site. Stir them the right way and they may even tell their friends about your site!
When you write content or when you blog, people should be able to identify with you. Do you ever read something on the Web and find yourself nodding your head in agreement, or find yourself getting fired up and ready to take action? It’s because the words that you’ve read sparked something in you. You were able to identify with the author, at least for that little bit of time. The more a person is able to do that the more successful he or she will usually be at content writing and blog creation, and the more readers and customer he or she will ultimately get.
Plagiarism is the enemy of any writer. Do not do it. Do not steal other peoples words. Everything on the internet is recorded these days, and with websites like CopyScape its pretty easy to catch people who are ripping off the work of others. If you get caught stealing you definitely won’t have many readers left! So stay away from copying!
Bloggers must choose a niche. Content writing should always be specific and to the point. But, blogs need to be even more niche specific. Stick to things you know well. Sticking to the topic will keep people reading for a long time.
It’s also very important, whether you’re writing for content creation or for effective blogging, that you know who you’re talking to. Sure, anyone could find your blog or your site and read it, but who are your normal, common, or standard reader? What age group are they in, what do they like to do, and why are they interested in what you have to say? No matter what you’re writing, if you want people to read it and respond to it, knowing your target market and catering to it is the most important thing you can do for success.
Writing Great Content For Your Blog
Know your audience. It’s been said a million times. But, this is the most effective skill that a professional blog writer can have. Writing creative, engaging content takes time and practice. Knowing your reader does too. If you want to be a great blogger, you’ll have to make your readers want to come back. You’ll have to find your voice.
Don’t talk over people’s heads with a bunch of technical jargon that they won’t understand. Most people don’t like that, unless you’re writing something very technical for a very specific market. Most of the Internet writing and blog writing is written between a sixth and an eighth grade level. That doesn’t mean that people are stupid, but only that they don’t want to have to work too hard to understand something. They are busy. They have things to do.
Emotional response is another priority when it comes to writing. Whatever the response may be. Make them angry, sad, happy, lonesome. Just get a response. If you stir peoples emotions chances are they will be back to your site. Stir them the right way and they may even tell their friends about your site!
Finding your voice is an important part of writing. Don’t be afraid to spice things up with some personality. After all, getting people to relate is easy if there is a real person behind the words. Voice and personality in writing is something that has to be discovered and cannot be taught. But it is essential to creating quality content.
Another thing you’ll need to consider for effective content creation is that people can and do plagiarize. Don’t do it. There are many ways to get caught anymore, and if you do you can get in a lot of trouble. It’s also not fun to find that your content has been ripped off by someone else. If you steal from others to fill up your site or blog you’ll lose all of the credibility you would have had with your audience, too, and who wants that? It certainly won’t keep people coming back!
Bloggers must choose a niche. Content writing should always be specific and to the point. But, blogs need to be even more niche specific. Stick to things you know well. Sticking to the topic will keep people reading for a long time.
It’s also very important, whether you’re writing for content creation or for effective blogging, that you know who you’re talking to. Sure, anyone could find your blog or your site and read it, but who are your normal, common, or standard reader? What age group are they in, what do they like to do, and why are they interested in what you have to say? No matter what you’re writing, if you want people to read it and respond to it, knowing your target market and catering to it is the most important thing you can do for success.
