My process on how to write a blog entry

What have I been doing all month? "Where are the updates?" my readers have been asking. Have I been snuggled up to my cat in her basket? Why yes, I've been working on other projects, from writing, to a website, to making crafts for Vancouver Fan Expo.

I recently signed up for article writing on one of the many websites out there for that purpose. Constant Content, Scripted, Helium, etc. I was bemoaning my waste of time, as it can take hours and hours to set up a profile, when suddenly, article orders started coming in. It's still not enough to quit my day job, but I have to start somewhere. Oh wait, this IS my day job. 

Today I thought I'd write about how I go about writing a blog. Since I'm writing to order, they give me the topic and the website. So, let's post in a numbered format, and I'll let you know how I actually accomplish this task. 

1. Research the topic. Generally my client will give me their website URL. They'll give me keywords to optimize SEO. This will significantly allow me to narrow down the topic. For example, the website is about a lighting company. I could despair of ever finding a topic to write about, but my client has given me the keywords of "LED lighting", "low-cost", and "energy-saving". So, right there, I have my topic. I'll write about effective low-cost and energy-saving LED lighting, tailored to the products on their website.

2. After I know what I'm writing about, I'll start making point form notes. 

3. Next, I'll start writing the article. If there's some research that needs to be done, I'll just leave brackets for information to be added later.

4. Now I'll do a read-through. I'll correct grammar. I'll add in the missing research, make sure owner's names are spelled correctly. I'll check and make sure I've made my word count. 

5. This next read-through will confirm word count, as well as ensuring that all key words can be found in my text. I'll correct any highlighted spelling errors. Depending on US or Canadian markets I'll adjust spelling. I'll make my article engaging and clever.

6. The final editing and proofreading stage. I'll read my story out loud to be sure it sounds engaging and friendly.

7. Submit through the website portal. One last chance to double check that everything is correct. 

Rejoice! My homework is done! Mix and repeat.

One hour of surprises!

After a lifetime of working various careers, jobs, and for myself, I've come to realize that I need to set aside one hour a day for surprises. It doesn't matter how much time I spend working out my schedule at the beginning of the week, or how much work I want to get done, invariably, at least once a day, the surprises come.

Surprises come in many shapes and forms. One day the toilet breaks, another day a pipe leaks. A phone call comes from a sick family member. Or my cat barfs all over my bed. I suddenly realize I forgot to buy insurance yesterday. Or a friend says they're going to Las Vegas and I want to figure out if I can go too.

Surprises also come in the form of happy events. For example, today I was all set to work on a short story and my new website. I decided to take a break and check my email. Not only did I sell another article but an author invited me to join her Facebook Like for a Like event today! The article is not due until later in the week, but the Facebook Author's Page promotion is only on for twenty-four hours. Many authors signed up, so this took a great deal of time today. But it was a great idea, as my Facebook page was in sad need of promotion. It was also a fantastic idea that I hadn't had time to think up for myself. Sometimes when you connect with others, they have fabulous networking ideas.

Today I lost an hour of working time, but it was for a great cause. Be sure to keep an hour free from your schedule each day for those daily surprises!

Can you really make money with Gigbucks, Google Adsense, Ebay, Craigslist and Fiverr? The Results are in!

A couple of weeks ago I decided to test out some old and new market websites to see if I could actually make any quick cash online. I decided that a one-week time frame for each website was fair, as well as making five items available for sale, approximately $5 to $10 each. Dealing with some of these websites was an exercise in frustration, with mixed results.

Let's start with the top-performing ones and go from there.

It was no surprise to me that I'd make the easiest bucks with Ebay. I've been on Ebay since August 1997. This was the year that Auction Web decided to buy their ebay.com URL. I can't find what the original URL was, likely it was the host company's and involved numbers. Anyway, I probably spent about an hour taking photos of items that I wished to sell, making up descriptions and listing them on Ebay. Three of my five items sold, in this case, dolls wearing outfits. The dress without a doll didn't sell, nor did the magnet that I had made. You can list up to 50 items for free on Ebay, but the fees were a killer after that. I think the final valuation fees were around 10% of what I made, plus Paypal took another 12%. Paypal fees are a bit hazy, depending on where your seller is located, and whether they pay by credit card or existing Paypal balance. My two buyers bought three items and these were two ladies that I already knew through Facebook doll groups. They were both friendly and I gave them both A+ positive feedback and would be happen to deal with them again. I messed up and shorted myself $2 on shipping one of the items. I calculate I spent about 1.5 total hours selling items through Ebay. I made $50 after all the fees and postage were subtracted. While this sounds great initially, likely I paid more for the dolls originally than $50. But from the point-of-view of clearing out my closet, I MADE $50!

Let's talk about Craigslist next. It probably took me about half an hour to take the photos for the five items I wanted to sell on Craigslist. Listing was even shorter than on Ebay. Their simple web interface allowed me to add a description and load photos in minutes. I quickly figured out how to turn off the map, as you don't want strangers knocking on your door before you've had a chance to screen them through email and a telephone call. With five items, I only had three people contact me. The first person wanted my cake decorating kit. I gave them all my info. They never called me at the appointed time, nor to even send me an email to ask to reschedule. A second person wanted the kit for his wife. He sent me a few emails and agreed to show up at 1 pm on a certain day. I was just about to head out the door when he called me, an hour late. But at least he showed up. He looked at my other items for sale, but ended up buying only the one item. So for about an hour's work, I made $5. I hadn't originally paid any money for the item, it was a gift that I already had, I didn't need two. But I think the aggravation of waiting for people probably added a few hours to my hourly rate. The third person that contacted me wanted to buy my teacups and saucers. I almost thought I had the sale, until they offered $10 less than I was selling. These are teacups that sell in an antique shop for $25 each, and I was offering for $10 each. I suspect this was a dealer contacting me. I never heard back from them after I said no, I didn't want to take less cash.

My third revenue option was Google Adsense. I added it to this blog. How it works is that Google place ads within my blog. If readers click on the ads, then I make a few pennies. I think the scale goes up from there but I'm not certain how it all works. I made about sixty cents in one week.

The last two revenue options were Fiverr and Gigbucks. Fiverr was such a big waste of time. They were so fussy about my photos and the guidelines weren't all that great. After fiddling around a bit for two full days I finally had five micro gigs posted. I took those five gigs and copied them directly to Gigbucks. Gigbucks was a whole lot easier to use and they aren't as fussy about copy or images. But in the end, I bombed on both of those websites.

In conclusion, Ebay was the best quick and easy source of revenue for me. If you're cleaning out your closets anyway, it doesn't matter if you take a loss on your item. Chances are that item would have been tossed out or given away eventually. So making a bit of cash is great. Make sure you know your postage rates and add a few dollars in for Ebay fees and Paypal fees. I think the $50 I made on there was well worth it.

Don't waste your time with Fiverr or Gigbucks. If you start a blog, go ahead and set up Google Adsense but just be aware that unless you blog daily, you likely won't make more than a few dollars to buy a coffee each month.

As for Craigslist, they can go stuff it. I'm not wasting my time on there anymore.

If anyone else knows of any other revenue options on the web that have worked for you, please post a comment below.

Google Hot Trends Today

It's time for a microblog! 

Did you know that Google has a web page set aside just for Google Hot Trends?

Here's the top six web searches for today.

1. Shrove Tuesday

2. How I Met Your Mother

3. Bates Motel

4. Dancing with the Stars

5. CM Punk

6. NHL Trades

So apparently today, people are mostly interested in TV shows, sports, music and holidays. Sounds good to me!

Can an individual really make money on Gigbucks and Google Adsense?

If you've read my first four blog posts today you'll see that fourth and fifth attempts at making money on the internet this week will be through Google Adsense, as well as trying out the new micromarketplace Gigbucks.

Google Adsense allows you to add ads to your blog, so that you can earn some cash. Readers may click on the ads on your blog which then earns the writer some bucks. No, you can't click on your own ads or you get banned. The program is really strict and the payment plan is so convoluted that unless you are already a millionaire, there is no negotiating the rates. Their FAQ can be found here, which tells you the details of their program. 

I've had Google Adsense added to my blog for over a year now. I must say it is not a good way to earn cash. Pennies accumulate so slowly so unless you are Stephen King or Nora Roberts, you might as well forget about paying your mortgage with this tool. 

I've written five blogs today, so I'll be monitoring my Adsense account to see how much money I make as compared to the auctions that I posted on Ebay, the items I'm selling on Craigslist, the gigs I'm selling on Fiverr and the gigs I'm selling on Gigbucks. I'll tally up all the totals in a week's time and offer my recommendations as to total amount of income earned, ease of website use, and any other issues such as payment delivery.

I've been doing this for some time now so I already have a clear idea what the results will be, but I'm sure that you the reader will be curious about the sales figures.

My next attempt was to sign up for Gigbucks. Gigbucks is for microlancers. You can sell all sorts of homemade crafts and services on here. Sign up was relatively simple. I verified my email address and posted my first gig. 

All went well except for two issues. One is that your gig does not show up right away, it has to be approved first. I'll provide you the link to my page and hope that something might show up tomorrow. The second issue I had was that you are only allowed to post one gig a day. A positive aspect of this site is that it allows gigs up to $50 for even a newbie. I guess I should have tried that first.

Stay tuned next Wednesday for my online sales report! Is it really worth spending time on the internet selling products and services?

Can an individual really make money on Craigslist and Fiverr?

I'm going to have to combine some of my website topics as I have to fit four subjects into two posts. I'll give my reasons in my next blog.

Let's start with Craigslist. This is a relatively simple marketplace website. Sellers post items they wish to sell locally. An interested buyer clicks on the button which sends a secure email to the seller. The seller then decides whether to send the buyer their contact information.

I quickly set up five items for sale, all household goods. I already had the photos on my computer, so keep in mind that if you want to try it now, you'll still need a good hour to find items to sell, clean them off, take photos and upload to your computer.

The listing only took minutes between entries. Craigslist does require your postal code now, likely for security reasons. Don't forget to unclick that map or else you'll be telling the world you have a $10,000 gold coin for sale at 555 Five Avenue, Anycity.

Here are my listings of my household items for sale. This should clear out one whole cupboard in my kitchen. I'll let my readers know how I did on this site by next Wednesday.

RED CUPCAKE/CAKE/TREATS CONTAINER/CARRIER

WILTON 12 PIECE CAKE DECORATING KIT

SET OF TWO CAT CAKE PANS

SET OF 5 ROYAL ALBERT AMERICAN BEAUTY TEACUPS AND SAUCERS

BEADED RED CANDLE HOLDER ORNAMENT DECORATION

I'll now relate my experiences with Fiverr. Just who are they? While you can make crafts to sell online, this website is far from an online used products marketplace. Here people pitch their gigs starting at $5, from cute little crafts to making videos and writing articles. There's even some fun stuff on here. People will do tarot card readings, they'll dance for you, they'll paint your house or promote your ideas. Anything within reason as long as it's family-friendly.

You can find my five gigs here by clicking on my profile. While I had some gigs up for more then a week, I posted the fifth one yesterday, so I'll give it another week to see how I do.

Initially you can only post a gig for $5. Once you have some sales, you can start pitching for $10 or more. I found the website tricky to use. First of all, it doesn't work on Explorer, you have to use Chrome, if you are on a Mac. If you're a PC user than likely you need to use Firefox or Chrome also. The requirements for the photos are so finicky I wanted to throw my computer out the window. Even when I had five gigs posted, the editors emailed me and said my photos weren't up to their standards. I couldn't figure out what exactly was wrong with my photos. Then they'd just remove my photos and without photos my gigs were suspended. I'd view other gigs and find ones with terrible photos so I don't know where I went wrong. Finally, after about ten hours on this site I had five gigs posted and ready to go. I think even the editors were happy.

In other words, don't expect to get rich quick on Fiverr. If you want to have some fun, great. If you're a writer who normally makes $400 a day then you'll want to skip it.

Stay tuned on next Wednesday to find out how my sales went on Fiverr and Craiglist.

Can one individual really make money on Ebay?

My blogging marathon continues. My third blog of the day will focus on whether I can make any money on Ebay.

I've already laid the foundation of five auctions. To be fair to each product, each will be allowed seven days to see what revenue comes in.

Since I'm involved in the mini fashion doll community and I love to craft, I put up some cute little doll outfits on Ebay. I'm not going to post links to every single item. One link to my About Me Page on Ebay - View Items for Sale should suffice. All items will be promoted to social media though.

As you can see, I have five items up for auction and two already have bids. There are only three days left in the auctions, which end Friday afternoon. This means that I'll have made at least $20 US for my efforts. I can only hope that the other three items will receive bids and sell.

These items are listed in the "Dawn Doll" Category on Ebay. Around 1998/1999 when Ebay selected the name "Ebay" for their site name the collectors petitioned Ebay for their own Dawn Doll category. It took a few years but eventually our own category was created. Today there are 1402 items in the Dawn Dolls category. Most of those auctions will last for seven days on the site. I'm going to calculate that about 200 new items are added each day. I'm saying that the odds of selling in this category are quite high. If we look at an electronics category on Ebay, for example Cell Phones and Accessories, there are over 500,000 items today.

Perhaps the secret to Ebay is finding your niche. Let's also keep in mind I've been on Ebay since before it was called Ebay. Established sellers likely do better due to reputation on Ebay and in the collecting community.

I'll post a follow up on Friday afternoon to let everyone know how my auctions did.