While it’s been a while since I’ve posted here it’s not because I haven’t been writing or following other blogs. I’ve had a few things happen in my personal life which took alot of my time away from this blog as well as others I currently have.

But I have managed to keep writing on a couple of them.

I thought I’d write a little piece on here about some more helpful ressources I’ve always found useful and enjoy.

One blog I’ve been following for some time has been Serradinho Blog which covers topics related to blogging… lot’s of stuff on Wordpress. The blog’s author George Serradinho also has lot’s of great free E-Books on affiliate marketing for download as well as a long list of Wordpress plugins.

I’ve also been enjoying the Blogussion site that focuses on Blogging. I’ve always found great tips on writing and blogging on that site. Lot’s of stuff on growing your blog and ultimately learning to become a better blogger.

Just thought I’d share a couple of things.

Something that I need to do is set a few goals and topics for this blog. It fell by the way side as I’ve been focused on my personal life and also writing on a couple of other blogs.

I’m convicted of that by simply writing this article…. time, effort and goals… all essential ingredients in developping a site. Part of my learning experience!!

Hope you are well!

Since I started this blog which is about my experience in learning to be a better blogger and also learn to generate income online, I think I’ve come to a couple of conclusions.

1. I believe more then ever that creating a successful blog where you build a readership takes serious time and effort.

2. Starting with 1 may be a good idea

I picked 2 topics that I’m passionate about one of which I had begun writing about 10 months ago… so the idea was to try and better develop what I had started. After that it was work on my second blog.

As I started working on my second blog it came quite clear that to do each site justice requires time.

Writing material that’s worth reading takes effort and trying to get out there and participate in the blogging community also takes effort…. and a great deal of time.

So I’ve probably taken on a bit much to start with. Really, to be honest, sometimes I envision in my mind that things will happen much easier then they sometimes do… that might be a touch of nievity but it’s also a touch of inexperience when it comes to writing lots of content and connecting with people. Building my readership…. as I participate in readership on other people’s blogs.

My goal first and foremost is to develop these 2 particular blogs…. building readership and as mentioned participate in readership among other bloggers.

Would I love to generate income from this?

Yes. Of course.

As tempting as all those “wonderful” programs out there that automatically spew out content sound… because it makes it sound as though you’ll prosper for nothing… building a readership is connecting with people. I don’t believe people will or can connect to a site built with robot blurbs.

At least, that’s what I think.

Have I jumped ahead too much taking the task of developping 2 blogs?? Possibly. Hindsight will tell.

There’s a ton of web hosts out there. Some have huge data centers and some are the mom and pop type. I personally lease a server for various projects but when I was thinking about webhosting for the blogs I wanted to start in my trek to learn how to develop blogs and income online… I decided to go with another hosting solution. And found a great deal.

A few days ago I started looking at hosting packages suggested on various sites and from the Wordpress site. Since I was going to use Wordpress as my blogging platform I thought looking over there made sense.

I happened to stumble upon another hosting company that wasn’t mentioned on the Wordpress site (at least I don’t recall that they were) and saw a deal I couldn’t pass up.

1&1 have quite a package. It’s called the 1&1 Home package, 2 domains and 1 year free hosting for $4.99 per month. You pay for the first month and have the year free. This package comes with a 2 year term, so the second year you’re paying the monthly fees. But with the storage, the domains and the extras that are included in the package… it’s well worth it!

I’ve transfered a blogger.com site over to my new 1&1 account and I have to say that Wordpress runs very well on that account. I have no complaint at all.

If anyone is currently looking for a hosting package for a Wordpress blog check it out. There’s only 6 days left on this deal.

Ever want to build a new business? Ever have ideas on how you would do things a bit differently and get excited about it? Ever day dream about what “the results” would be? I have!

Only problem is that wanting to do something, ideas about something, excitement about something and foreseeing what the possible results would be are only a starting point. At least that’s what I’ve found out.

If your dream is to build a new business or create that great blog or website that’s going to generate passive income then all those elements mentioned above are great assets. Good ideas, excitement, the dream…. they’re all important ingredients.

But along the way some things will surely happen as you’re “trudging the road of happy destiny”….

Personal challenges

You may come across situations where someone in your life is not supportive of your idea or your dream and may try to shoot it down. Ridicule you and you’re idea… It becomes very hard to focus and to believe! And believing is certainly vital to any successful venture.

I’ve come across MANY personal challenges in my small business. Currently going through personal challenges!

But speaking with other entrepreneurs and reading about others experiences has always inspired me and show me that others have gone through some of the same trials.

Remember the “Pet rock”?? Some of you might, some might not…. I personally wouldn’t have thought of it as a great idea at all… but someone did and believed… and sold a great many!

Financial challenges

Quitting a job and trying self-employment can be scary. It seems like jumping into the unknown at times. And many options like getting financial credit for cards or a house may not be easy for a while.

Being challenged with the finances is something that I’ve been faced with quite a few times. I’ve been fully self-employed on and off since early 2004. At times it seems as though everything is coming together… coming together quickly… and then boom… everything slows… money is tight.. etc.

Through those times it’s very hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel. This I know from experience.

One of the most encouraging things that I’ve ever done is speak with others (again!) who have small businesses or have been there.

I remember speaking with a man who runs an insurance company and I started asking him questions while I was there on business. Eventually we got on the topic of starting up a small business and the financial ups and downs. He went on to tell me some stories about himself, about some of the very things I had gone through and yet here he was running this stable company employing several people.

I’ve always found encouragement speaking to others who’ve walked the path before me. Even if their business was different then mine there can be many similarities.

Reading blogs is very inspiring for me… in learning to create different types of websites.

Starting up any new venture takes persistence… takes time.. and you gotta believe! Gotta want it. Gotta do it. Then you can make it happen.

At least that’s what I think.

While I’m not a writer I’m enjoying the experience and also learning alot. Learning about some things I had never given thought. The art of writing effectively is one I’ve never really thought much about, at least until now.

So while reading different blogs today and putting my Google Reader account to good use I stumbled upon this blog article on ProBlogger titled “How to Write Sharp adn Snappy Blog Posts“.

In the article there are many great tips on how to write effectively. I’ll just mention 2 of the 5 points outlined in the ProBlogger article.

1) Write in Short sentences.

Sometimes I have a tendency to stuff as much into a sentence as I possibly can. Since I started making an effort to build a couple of blogs I’ve been taking the time to read some of my articles and it’s been helpful. At first while re-reading what I had written it often felt as if what I wrote just wasn’t clear. After about a month and a half of re-reading my articles I think I’ve gotten better… at least I can understand what I write a bit better.

5) Write in a conversational tone

Writing in a way that makes it easy to understand, like when I’m trying to explain something to someone, I try to make myself easily understood. When I find a blog I really enjoy I’m usually not concerned with the length and technicalities of the texts. The blogs and websites that I do enjoy have easily understood texts.

Even in the case of technical blogs and/or forums, years back when I first learned how to setup servers and work with Linux I was helped immensely by well written blogs and forums. Somehow those people had been able to take their advanced knowledge on a subject and write it so that I (the beginner) was able to understand.

For me there is great value in a clearly delivered message.

The article mentioned above is very well written and is totally worth reading.

Today I decided to listen to a couple of podcasts rather then listen to music while working and I discovered that I was already subscribed to a podcast that caught my eye. I found them very helpful to once again state what I’ve been learning that building a passive income online takes some time and effort.

The podcast series I listened to today is “Internet Marketing Secrets Podcast” and the 2 podcasts I listened to were about Traffic Generation.  There is a 3rd in the series and I’ll be listening to that tomorrow.

The 2 first parts of the podcast were quite interesting and I heard over and over again some of the very points I’ve been finding on reputable blogs on building a passive cash flow from websites.

You need good content.

All the websites and scams that preach the good news about making money for nothing. Don’t believe it. At least, I don’t believe it.

When I just think about it a bit… if I go to a website:

What keeps me there and what brings me back?

It’s not the Google AdSense on their page! It’s the content that they’ve published on their site. It really is. If I find a website that has information on it that I find useful in anyway then there is a higher chance that I will return on that website.

The Internet entrepreneur’s interviewed in these podcasts also seemed to write for the viewer first and search engines second. Basically writing their content on their blog in a clear fashion for the viewer while keeping in mind to use certain keywords in their texts and titles.

The subject of link building came up and their general consensus was to stay away from all forms of auto-pilot systems that generate links and instead (once again) focus on the content being presented while trying to build relationships by commenting on other blogs and websites to join and or create conversation. It was mentioned a couple of times that if other bloggers or websites find your content interesting and well written they may eventually link to you creating “organic” linking.

I found it very interesting and did learn a great deal.

The point I see once again by these successful internet marketers and entrepreneurs is that it takes time, effort and persistance just like building any other business.

There are many other business and blogging related podcasts to be found in iTunes.

About a week ago I wrote an article titled “Great Internet research tool – Google Alerts” and that it was a very valuable tool for anyone who were doing research online. Today my focus is on another great tool, Google Reader.

For anyone not familiar with Google Reader it is an RSS reader that allows you to easily keep track of blogs, news sites, job sites…. any site that offers RSS feeds. Essentially when one of the sites your tracking is updated it will show up in Google Reader in a short time. This means you don’t have to constantly visit the websites that interest you to see if they’ve been updated which can save you quite a bit of time and makes it very convenient.

I use Google Reader on a daily basis. I have been for a couple of years.

There are a great number of different topics that I follow, like technology, news, business bloggers, sports news and sports bloggers…etc. Google Reader gives me the ability to check for new content from many many different sites all in one place. If it wasn’t for these RSS feeds and a program like Google Reader I don’t think I would follow nearly as many websites. I would have to be constantly “surfing” from one site to another.

I’m easily able to view new content and read the articles I want to read all in one place and in much less time.

Another big advantage that I find with Google Reader is that it is web based. This means that I don’t need to download a program and install it on my Mac or my PC. So I just visit it in a web browser.

You can create folders to categorized the sites you are following. I find this makes it quite a bit easier to sort through.

All you need is a Google account, you can find the Google Reader website here.

A couple of days ago I was writing an article for one of my blogs and wanted to put a picture in the article but wondered what was the best place to look. After looking in a couple of places I found a new site I’d never seen before.

At first I searched on Flickr’s Creative Commons website but couldn’t really find what I was looking for. Flickr’s Creative Commons site is a great place to look if you need some stock photo images.

Then I stumble across a site that I had never heard of. A website called PicApp.

What I was looking for was a couple of pictures, both of hockey players. Hadn’t found the guys I was looking for over at the other site but when I searched on PicApp a bunch of pictures were found.

Check out the PicApp website and take a look at PicApp’s advantages page.

They even have a WordPress plugin that you can find here on the PicApp blog.

Although I haven’t been writing like mad on this blog I have been on one of my others. Mentioned this blog before and while I’ve been making an effort to develop it I’ve been learning about blogging, about myself and about others.

First and most important thing I’ve learnt and am still learning is Love. If it’s blogging or developing a new business (they can be one in the same) you need to love what you do.

I’ve read many blogs which I enjoy very much on the subject of developing blogs and websites and a common theme is choosing “your niche”. Choosing a subject which you enjoy.

The last few days I’ve been participating in 2 different web forums and in the discussions that I’m reading along with the comments I’m prompted to write it’s just a joy. I love it. In fact, it’s motivating me so much to write that a part of me wishes that I could spend a few hours per day just writing and researching this subject.

I love it.

Honestly, if anyone has been thinking about blogging either as a hobby or to try and monetizing find a topic that you enjoy.

For me, the monetizing part is not important. At least not with this blog. Because I love it. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t mind making a dollar. But it does mean that even if it never happened the blog in question will always be in operation.

Do it with love.

Finding what to write about when you don’t know what to write about.

Hm… writer’s block. Although I’m not really a writer.

One of the things that I told myself I would do from now on, let’s say the next year at least, is write a blog article everyday or as close to it as I possibly can. So what to do when nothing’s clearly coming to mind??

This morning on another one of my blogs I wrote an article and had fun doing it. This blog involves one of my favorite sports teams and I truly enjoy it. Doing a bit of research, following discussions on Twitter or reading all the other blogger’s articles to find a topic or inspiration. Maybe even a bit of YouTube.

In fact I rarely have writer’s block for that blog, maybe in the beginning but not recently. I could easily find a topic, read up, crunch some stats… write an article. Now granted I’ll say it again.. I’m not a writer. It’s not what I have trained in as a profession. But it’s certainly something that I love to do.

For this new blog the experience is a little different and I thought I would share a bit.

Learning something new is a challenge. And it seems (for me) even writing about this challenge is a bit of a challenge. Maybe because I’ve never done this before.

I’ve read many articles in these last few days.. last couple of weeks actually. I thought I’d share about and article that I’ve read that was helpful for writer’s block.

From “2 Create a Website ”
Do You Struggle With Creativity
I thought this article kind of hit the spot with what I was experiencing today with this blog. Although I had read some articles and learned a couple of things I just wasn’t inspired for an article on this blog… or maybe it was just that “the thoughts” weren’t aligned??

In any case, some of the simple points in the article were quite helpful. (points are not in order)

1. Get Involved in your niche.
Read some fellow bloggers, chat on twitter on participate on a forum. Something that I do a fair bit of and never fail to be inspired.

8. Just do it!
This is great advice. Sometimes when you just start, words and inspiration will follow. I wondered about creating this blog for a few weeks after I got the idea. I wondered if I could write well enough, if I would be interesting enough…etc. All of my wondering almost became reasons to not do it. And this wondering and thinking and contemplating almost stopped me from creating this other blog that I’ve been having a blast with.

Once I just started and “got in the flow” it got easier with the other blog I’ve been mentioning. And now I love it.

And honestly, whether or not it ever brings me a dime doesn’t matter. It has already brought me joy and fulfilment in meeting new people, writing about something I love and participating in conversation  with many other bloggers.

And that brings me to the last point that I’ll mention from that article.

7. Need an attitude adjustment?
Here there is something very important mentioned (I believe) and I’ll paraphrase.

“Do you love what you do?” Do you love blogging about what your niche blog is about?

Please take the time to read the article in it’s entirety.