Writing SEO posts is an easy task, that is enhanced when you have tools that serve to optimize the process. Last post, I mentioned some tools that help with SEO writing. There is a comparable analytics plugin for WordPress, called Keyword Statistics. Keyword Statistics is a plugin that analyzes your post text and gives you data in real time.

Benefits of using Keywords Statistics Plugin

• Real time keyword data, and keyword density received while you’re writing.
• No need for visiting another site to check your work.
• Since it’s built into WordPress, it operates on whatever browser you use.
• Since reports all data, you can see what words you’ve overused, as well as what’s not used enough.

5 Steps: Get the Most from Keyword Statistics Plugin

1. Begin writing your post draft using your researched keywords.
2. When you return to your draft to revise and edit, review keyword density before you begin.
3. Make adjustments to your content to get the optimization that you want.
4. Edit your post to make certain that you’re not stuffing keywords. Your optimization should not drown out your message.
5. Consider manually filling in your keywords and description fields, instead of relying on automatically generated meta data.

A Warning, a Resource, and a Reminder

Automatically generated data is not always the best. Generally, I choose not to use automatically generated anything until I’m very well versed in how the plugin functions. So, even though the keywords are generated, I don’t fully rely on what’s automatically generated. What I’ve been doing is populating the keywords field manually, with both my researched keywords and some of the plugin’s generated keywords.

Try to always have good resources. For detailed SEO training, you may find it helpful to get a resource that you can turn to regularly to address your SEO needs. For me, one such consistently high ranking site is SEOBOOK a site that offers free and paid training.

Remember to search for training for the new tools you want to implement. If the plugin site doesn’t give enough of how-to details, and the plugin is rated, then it’s likely that there’s more information online. And consider using Twitter searches to see you might be discussing what you’re looking for.

Related posts:

• Easy Blogging SEO

There are lots of things you can do, and thousands of dollars you can spend to optimize your blog. But you don’t have to. I want to introduce you to key practices you can begin using after just a little reading and watching the videos.

Now, I’m not going to tell you again that you first need to write excellent copy. Everybody says that. I’ve said that. And more importantly, you know that if you don’t attract your visitors with your content, you won’t have a chance to convert them to customers or clients. Right? Enough said. On to the optimizing strategies.

Where did I get these tips?

Most of the tips included are optimization strategies used in web content articles I’ve written. I learned about how well they worked by listening to the number crunchers’ analysis of the ROI from optimization and other efforts.

I read about them at SEO sites. And, I watch how other successful people do it. The bloggers who apply these practices say that their traffic is raised which helps them to build their community. I’ve picked the actions that cost time only, for now. In another post, I’ll discuss the ones that cost.

Finally, I’ve learned of them from using them on my own blogs, though rather sporadically. Since I’ve decided to use it regularly, (at least here on my work blog), I thought I’d share with you some of what I’ll be using, as well as what I may try later.

How do I get started with SEO?

1. Use good keyword tools to find the best words to attract readers. These are two free tools that do the job well. And you should know that Wordtracker has a nifty little plug-in for Firefox.
   • Wordtracker’s free tool
   • Google External Keywords tool
2. Decide on the best keywords and use them in your content. It may be that you don’t select the top ranked words. Whichever words you choose, incorporate them into your website in the following areas, but don’t go overboard. You don’t want to get into keyword stuffing. Use your keywords about three times, in the following several of the areas:
   • in the body of your post
   • in the anchor text
   • in your post title*
   • in a bold or title heading (h1 or h2 title tags)
3. Use your keywords in all the following area:
   • in your multimedia ALT tags*
   • in your meta tags, and title text*
   • in your meta description
4. Use analytics tools to review the results of your SEO efforts, and adjust accordingly. Yes. Google does have a free tool for that too. Try out Google Analytics. It takes a few steps to get it installed on your blog and a little while for it to collect enough data show any measurable outcomes.

These are the tools and practices that I use, which are not unique to any blogging platform.

* The last two I want to share with you are plugins in WordPress that will allow you to manipulate your meta tags listed above.

SEO Tools in WordPress

The WordPress tools I use are very popular, right now. And that’s a good sign. These plugins allow you to manipulate your meta tags. The plugins are All in One SEO Pack, and Headspace2.

The first is All in One SEO Pack, which is what I’m currently using. It gives you control over your meta description and tags. You can take a look at this SEO Tutorial Video to get a good overview of how the plugin works.

The other WordPress plugin is called Headspace2 SEO. It is a powerful tool that has global features, similar to the other tool. And, I found a really excellent video, Headsapce2 SEO Tutorial Video, that will show you a lot about how the plugin works.

So why do all this?

The whole reason behind the development of SEO practices is to improve traffic to your site. Think about it: Your site is your store and you can’t sell anything if you can’t get the people through your doors. Or in this case, you have to get them to your site. Enter SEO practices, the great attractor. The power is yours to wield! Use it wisely.

Now, what did I miss? What are the best practices you use to attract the audience you want?

Remember Spelling tests when you had to know how to spell the word and what it meant? Way back when I was just learning to read and understand words, my mother would quiz me on my weekly list. She told me back then, that you never define a word with the word or a form of it. That meant I couldn’t take the lazy way out.

Really it’s only logical. Consider this fictitious conversation:

Person A: Obfuscate?! What is that? What does that mean?

Person C: Obfuscate? You don’t know what that means? Man! It’s a verb–you know, to obfuscate…the act of obfuscating? Dang! Don’t you know anything?

Writing copy is an important endeavor. The smart writer knows this and knows enough not to underestimate their readers or disrespect their clients by trying this. It takes time to make your point and it makes all the difference to your clients and your reputation. And if you do a shabby job, be grateful if someone takes the time to let you know you suck!

Be Clear

Getting your point across can be a lot like the above fictitious exchange, if you’re not careful. You’ve seen them. You know the articles that leave you saying What!? In your copy, you’re generally teaching or persuading. To do it effectively, you need to be clear and detailed. And don’t define your topic with the topic. So, how do you make yourself clear? Just—be clear.

Kidding.

It’s good to be ordered in your delivery. Go step by step when you’re explaining how a product or service works. What you’re going to explain to your readers is what they really need to know. You need to explain what what your client offers, how it works for some, what the benefit is to your readers, and why your client is the best choice.

Get into Character

One way to get clear is to get into the heads of your groups, your clients and your audience. Become the client. As the client you offer the great selling points of your product or service. You list the attributes in the best words to clearly explain your fine item. You may discuss the development of the product, the years of development and revision to come to your latest services procedures. How you know it works. You discuss the trail and error, because people learn a lot from the holes that were plugged as well as the successes your client has had.

Then, become the potential client. In your best audience stance, you ask the questions: Why do I need this? What will it benefit me? Who’s using this? Who is the best provider I should do business with? This is the back and forth that’s good and productive. Clearly, it’s not the stuff that makes ambivalence, but has the potential to clear it up. Answer these questions to your satisfaction as a buyer and you will likely have a good article.

Close with what hits home. Deliver the client’s key selling point that fills the customer’s key needs. One not-so-hard-fast rule: be thorough in articles and a little less rigid in blog posts. The rationale behind the blog rule is that you want to engage your readers. You want to leave room for your readers add or ask something, to encourage sharing.

Thank you for visiting my blog. So, what did I miss? How do you make your points to your readers? I’d love to read your ideas.

Writing to people is a joy. But make no mistake, it’s a job too. It requires focused attention and the desire to learn and teach. And throughout your writing, for various types of clients and subjects, you can develop routines to improve your efficiency.

Particularly when you are writing about a new topic, you need to ask the questions to fill in the wholes in your knowledge base. It’s helpful to know the questions that are important to your subject matter. Being inquisitive is a big help when you need to find answers. Another thing that helps is knowing what points will resonate with your target audience. With these two traits present, you are well on your way to cranking out your assignments.

Once you write a few articles for your client, and read what good things they’re already using, you begin to get a feel for the writing that works for them. Your goal isn’t to ghostwrite unless that’s what you’ve discussed. You do, however, want to maintain the flow of the site by delivering a document that strikes a tone similar to the other good quality articles that are on the site. You can develop a writing routine to easily deliver documents that are in keeping with your client’s favored means of communication. And you can make them as uniformed or different as suits your need.

Build your Skeleton

• Match the Tone: You just need to match the tone in the client’s other documents, or has directed by your client.
• Match the Tempo: This is accomplished by using sentence and paragraph lengths similar to what is present in related documents.
• Tie in with other Documents: You can refer to other documents in the website by linking to the related content.
• Create your Outline: It can be really helpful to write within an outline when you’re cranking out articles in a short period of time. Some clients may even give you a template to write to.

Be sure, when you review the other documents, that you review like genres. Your posts should align with the client’s posts, and web content with like content, and so on.

Finally, there is often overlap in writing to different formats and genres. If there is any question about which are the appropriate documents for you to emulate, be sure to have it clarified by your client.

You see how this is quick, right?

If you think that’s really structured, you’re right. But there is art in organization, as well as in the freedom that organization allows. Developing a routine for laying the ground work makes things go smoothly and that means you reach the  halfway mark fairly quickly. New topics and longer documents will affect the time each phase takes.

Conduct your research or interviews as you need, and begin to shape your document. Start by filling in the areas of your outline with all the information you know or unearth. Then just flesh it out so that your sections flow smoothly. It really is quicker to build the body of your article, post, letter, ad, press release, and more when you have a solid clear skeleton.

Remember to always note any reference materials you use. If you’re responsible for the article image, make sure you have the proper permissions to use it.

Do you take advantage of the benefits of writing routines? What writing routines make your work flow smoothly?

Writing longhand is GREAT! I’m all for editing, note taking, and drafting on paper. Over the years, I’ve invested a lot in composition notebooks and Moleskines. But writing longhand is only the beginning if I have any intentions of sharing my writing with the public.

Sending snail mail is always an option. Aside from personal or in-house use, it’s counterproductive to leave things in your handwriting, even if it is really pretty.

There is a time and a place for technology. If your goal is to free up time to smell the roses, to share your work with many, via publishing to print or the web, technology holds the bevy of tools you need. If you want to send an email, scanning and faxing what you write may be faster than regular mail, but it’s not your most efficient route. Now, you can guess what my answer will be to the title question, right?

The Answer is a Resounding Yes—Way!

I’ll tell you why. The ability  to fully refine your document is very important. Even low tech people are still technology-friendly. Mel Gibson’s character in Conspiracy Theory was a one-man operation. And from his foil-lined home, he researched, cut, typed, scanned and stuffed his newsletter for mailing.

You can achieve that corporate look from your office nook at home. Many businesses don’t accept a hand-written documents like a resume, or manuscript, or query letter for that matter. For these types of tasks, even low-tech typewriters will improve chances of getting read. I had a professor a long time ago who wouldn’t accept written documents. he said he didn’t get paid enough to have to decipher handwriting. Those papers, he assured us, would get Fs.

Computer programs sometimes catch mistakes and have tools to look professional to people you need to impress (like backers). Technology has mostly retired correction tape, starting over, scissors to move content either. We can do it all on computer, collaborate via email, and send out mass mailings of the final document, whether it’s snail mail or email.

The Drawback of Efficiency

These days, group settings to work on a big project , what once took weeks to accomplish, can now be done in days, sometimes hours. People working on projects don’t have to see each other, thanks to email, texting, instant messaging, and publishing capabilities of many word processors. Even in the same office, I didn’t need to talk to my co-workers for projects. We just did our parts and emailed them to the one uploading.

To counter that loss of community, people have gravitated to social media applications like starving college students to a free buffet. You can get involved in virtual communities with others through 140 characters or more, and cultivate a comradeship in cyberspace. All the while, you’re putting the finishing touches on the newsletter with pictures, and content that sent to your Inbox.

As for the criminal possibilities, they are inherent in everything and have been around seemingly forever. Technology offers opportunities for criminal activities, as does virtually anything else in life. Learn to use technology and learn precautions to safeguard your life and your work.

In Conclusion

So, can you really call isolation a drawback? You get your work done quickly and cleanly. Social media and instant messaging kind of make up for the shortfall. You can connect over an article you read or a game of tennis. So, relative isolation isn’t entirely a drawback.

What we have today is a different way of being and working together. Keep it in perspective, and keep your personal parts alive and well-fed. Don’t just embrace technology. Squeeze all you want out of it. You can work smarter and more efficiently, freeing more time to do the things you enjoy.

What’s your take on technology? Are you more or less weighed down because of technology? Please share your thoughts and experiences.

I am a fan of keyboard shortcuts. And the more I write and research, the more they come in great hand (no pun intended). Even after I got my fancy trackball mouse with a ton of buttons, (4 to be exact), I still like my keyboard shortcuts.

It’s often quicker to use the keyboard than to find the pointer and set it to where I need. Some examples are closing tab and opening tabs. Say I need to search for something related to a page I’m on but I don’t want to change the current page. I use these keys: Ctrl T, then TAB to my search box to type my search.

Believe me, that was longer to type than to execute. And quicker than using the mouse. The reason it beats the mouse is because there’s no need to reorient yourself. I’m already on the keyboard. I don’t have to navigate anywhere to find the tab or button to add a new page. I don’t have to reposition the cursor to the search box to start typing.

My Most Used Shortcuts

It doesn’t save you a ton of time. Instead it shaves seconds in actual implementation. But seconds matter too.

Do you want to know how to move between site tabs? Ctrl TAB moves you left to right, one tab at a time. Ctrl SHIFT TAB will take you back.

Following are some that work in Firefox for sure; you’ll have to experiment with Explorer. But they are mostly windows shortcuts so some should work the same.

• Ctrl F4 closes the tab you’re on
• Ctrl + (that is plus sign) increases the font on the page you’re viewing
• Ctrl – (that is the minus/hyphen sign) decreases the font on the page you’re viewing
• Ctrl F opens a dialogue box in the lower right of your page. It works like word processing find tools to get you to the exact location of the term you need to read about.
• Ctrl H opens the history so you can search for the page you accidentally closed before you read it
• Ctrl P opens your print dialogue box
• Ctrl U reveals the web page code. (I tried this in Explorer—doesn’t work)

Do you prefer keyboard shortcuts when you can use them? Maybe you could add to my very short list. What shortcuts do you find useful?

It’s important to keep your resume up to date for several reasons beyond job hunting. It takes work to focus on the work you do, and then to sell it to others. It’s your most important sales letter and you need to be very familiar with it.

Connecting with Where You Are

When you review your resume, you have to closely consider what you do. Look at the work you choose to do. Note what you love about it. Those details will provide you the selling points you need to include in your sales document, your resume.

A Good Time to Evaluate

Ask yourself: Is this the work I meant to do? It’s easy to get caught up in a project and pulled in different directions to make it all come together.  For the moment, dismiss the “Other Duties as Assigned” and focus on the main reason for you choosing the work you do. Is it what you really want to be doing? Get to the answer.

Consider the other-duties-as-assigned parts of your job and ask two more questions. Do you spend more time on these tasks? And the more important question is: Do you like them better than your title? You want to be sure you’re selling what you happy provide.

Switching Gears

I was an administrative assistant for many years. I noticed that I didn’t really care for the secretarial aspect so much as the other duties. What attracted me was the writing, the software updates, training, audio visual work, reviewing other people’s documents, and group projects. Of them all, writing was my favorite. Whether it was writing a contract or an introduction letter, or a one hundred twenty word magazine ad, I was up for it.

So, I focused on writing. It took me years to let go of the Administrative Assistant job searches because I didn’t hate the job. There’s a lot of good feelings associated with being a facilitator, which is what I see that job as. And all the different tasks gave me the opportunity to find out what I really wanted to be doing—writing.

Make Your Point Relevant

Today, no one has just one resume. That’s because workers are expected to excel at many different tasks. And, we take advantage of years of being pushed into other duties as assigned by adding it to our resume. To make the most of the resume, always customize it to accentuate the skills that are germane to the job you’re pursuing.

A Caveat

It should go without saying, but it’s always worth reminding people to not lie. You want to dress up your resume in it’s best verbiage. And it’s important to use your action words, and show off the specific skills you have that a company wants. Integrity and personal ethics are ultimately your most important selling points. To undermine your own credibility with a lie is a great way to put yourself out of the running for good things you want. Don’t lie. Sell what you can back up.

I’ve been reviewing how I use my slow time, between assignments. It pleased me to notice that my routines are good—for the most part.

This review was sparked as I thought about friends and family who often tell me that I’m always doing something. Even when I’m not working, there’s something going on with me. When I get a call to chat, I have to stop doing something to spend time on the phone. Usually I’m writing, reading, or designing. And I may be doing nothing at all, too—which is something, when you’re otherwise always going.

So, I’ll share my findings, and maybe you can share your thoughts on the matter. I think the following activities are great for slow times if you want to maintain or improve your edge. Consider these activities as investments in your future. This short list has activities that are universal and adaptable to just about anyone. See if you recognize these in your free time routines.

Reading

It’s not just reading for fun that’s important. If there’s something you want to know, to learn, or to understand better, one of the great things you can do is read up on it. You don’t always have to go back to school, although that could be a great experience too.

Exercising

I try to exercise regularly when I’m working. In the slow times, I spend more time exercising, stretching, and walking. I’m trying to increase my exercise since I got so much out of the habit of doing the right things. Walking for the sake of walking is a great way to energize your brain and body. Rigorous physical activity produces endorphins which make me want to move mountains. Oh, the magic of endorphins.

Positive Thinking

I practice this because I struggle with hesitations due to self-doubt. My current note to self, in my office, is a postcard that reads “Maybe I can.” When I look up from what I’m doing, with any doubt that I might not be able to solve a particular problem, that little note makes me smile. Usually that’s the time that I will take a break and clear my mental palette with different work or activities.

Practicing

Practicing new and old skills helps to make you more efficient at execution. One of the things that I really enjoy doing is website development. I’m new at it, so there are things that slip away from me if I stop doing them for a while. When I learn new skills, I apply them on a practice website. It’s my way of tying everything in, making it easier to call up when I need to use them.

By the way, if you’d like to see the website that I developed, it’s for the Surviving Katrina and Rita in Houston project at http://www.katrinaandrita.org, and yes it was fun work.

What do you think? This list is by no means exhaustive of what productive activities you can populate your slow time with. What are your activities? What good things do they do for you? For others?

I really want to know because it’s what makes the difference for success. When I become a fan, I stick with the object of my affinity, be it a movie, actor, artist or whatever. Needless to say I’m pretty picky about what I give my affections to.

Before I continue, I have to say that I am not in any way claiming to be the ultimate judge of what is good taste. I am however quite knowledgeable on what moves me. For example, one of my all-time favorite movies is The Mirror has Two Faces, starring Barbara Streisand, (who also directed the movie), Lauren Becall, Jeff Bridges, Brenda Vaccaro, and many other greats.

I have the same sticky response to businesses and blogs I enjoy and find useful. Consider that your audience is picky and they picked you. Do business, run your blogs from that position, and many things will fall into place.

A Life Long Dream

The New Orleans Saints winning Super Bowl XLIV was 43 years in the making. In my home, even during the Brown Bag seasons, my dad answered the phone “Saints Headquarters” and close with something like what can I do for you or how can I help you. Because of our parents, grooming, our fan status was fated to be 1. for the Saints before any other teams, and 2. never reduced to fair-weather brand.

Two ingredients in having a strong fan base.

1. Presenting something that people will want, find useful or gain some sort of benefit from.
2. You have to have the right audience, people who are receptive to the benefit you offer.

It’s a tall order to have fans when you offer a really sucky item. So when you offer crap and you have an unswerving fan base, then you really have a gift. It’s a good idea to work on giving something back.

In work, you probably don’t have the 43 years the New Orleans had to improve your offerings. So, you have to do some fast grooming, endearing yourself to your visitors early and consistently so they become part of your community. Be vigilant and be good at what you offer. You don’t have to be the best, but you do have to be willing to learn and to improve your offerings, to stay competitive.

Our Big Game Plan

Recently I took off to celebrate the Saints in the Super Bowl. And I had a great time in New Orleans for the Super Bowl. My mom rode with me. And we stayed in a hotel, even though New Orleans is home and we have friends and family there. It was very convenient to stay downtown and it paid off, since everywhere I needed to go was within walking distance.

The plan was to be home for the New Orleans Saints’ first trip to the Super Bowl. It was the best plan of action. I stood for the first half of the game, in Masquerade, an area of Harrah’s Casino. My family was spread out, and I was with strangers. Several people mentioned where they traveled from. One man stated that he was from New Jersey and didn’t want to be anywhere but home for this event. You see, he was born and raised in New Orleans.

One young man proclaimed to me that he was “…so happy to be home with New Orleans Saints fans for this game. I was born and raised here, but we live in Oakland. I didn’t want to be in Miami for this game. I wanted to be home. I’m so happy to be here!” I shared with him that we’d driven in from Houston for the game. Two of New Orleans most prominent Jazz musicians Terrance Blanchard and Branford Marsallis made the local news with a similar proclamation, as did other famous people. We were in this together.

The Personal Business

This is the fan base you want. Nothing fanatical, just the tried and true, through thick and thin audience. Create in your audience, friends who visit to see what’s going on with your work, your writing, with you. Even business blogs are somewhat personal. This is the place people visit to connect with a person of the company. Your voice matters and your life matters.

Comments

When people take the time to share their thoughts, especially when you have low comment numbers, be sure to take a moment to answer. Acknowledge that you appreciate their comment and their time.

The Good and the Bad

Recently, on another blog, I received a comment about my blog setup. It was the complaints of a person who decided that it was important to tell me of her sheer frustration about an admin choice I made. I deleted the comment because it offered nothing of value to my readers.

In another comment she left, she started with an offensive (though not profane) exclamation, and another reference to the setup of my blog. While I didn’t want to edit her comment fully, I didn’t want to have that exclamation on my post. I deleted “Well, crap” leaving the rest of the comment in tact. Then I replied to the rest of her comment.

It’s all in it. You’re not going to be loved by everyone, and a bad comment doesn’t mean that you’re not appreciated. Take it, learn from it, and grow in your ability to respond professionally.

A Caveat: Consider Email

For the Reader: While it is important to be honest about your experience on a blog, if you’re going to take the time to write something, try to be positive. Be useful. And if you simply must send a negative rant, especially if you think it will be helpful, look on the blog for an email address.

For the Writer: On my contact pages, I put email addresses for just such occasions. Make sure when you update your contact pages, you keep an email address posted. I noticed that mine was left off this last version, so I’m definitely adding it back. It lets people know that you’re interested in what they have to say, without forcing them to leave a comment when they’d prefer to send a more private email.

So, what do you think? How do you create a strong fan base? Do you provide your community an email address to reach you?

There is a special blend of powerful ingredients that, when mixed, can make big things happen in your life. I’d almost forgotten about it until recently. I’m using it now. And even before I have new concrete results to post, I want to share the recipe with you.

Three Ingredients

Choose: It doesn’t work with indecision, hedging your bets or any form of hesitation. You have to commit. A friend told me once that he read or heard that when you make one step, the universe makes three, or something to that effect.

Faith: One way to shore up your commitment to the choices you make is to have faith. Trust that you made a the best choice.

Gratitude: In all things be grateful, is what I was taught as a child. It’s a powerful salve and reinforcement. Gratitude has an interesting way of soothing your bumps and bruises along the way, shortening your time in sorrows. Gratitude can help you see the lessons learned even if you don’t get all that you want.

These are the three ingredients that are at the heart of what I use to work through my plans. Obviously, you can use an one without the others. However, if you want the full benefit, do all three. Try them out and see how they work for you. Let me know what happens for you. I’ll share my experience in an upcoming post.

What do you do to keep moving forward? Have you found what works for you to keep working on your goals?

Recently, I got in the mail an ad tactic that really blows. It’s based on intimidation. And while it may get some clients who are fearful when you touch their pressure points. It’s definitely the low road. And one I would suggest you not take.

I got this flier in the mail. It looked like a letter. It was an URGENT NOTICE with a File Number and  RE: DELIQUENT AUTO LOAN. The opening for the letter read STATUS: DEFAULT. By the way, I didn’t spell delinquent wrong, it was wrong on the letter.

The letter came from a company that wants to revitalize your loans to get you out of default status and reduce your payments. Their letter depicts how bad it could be by showing you what your letters might already look like. This is what you want to stop coming to your house. Even the envelope had an FINAL NOTICE on the outside.

Personally, I think this selling tool is wholly inappropriate. Really, if I were in trouble with a loan, they are the last people I would sign up with. Cheesy tactics to me indicate a cheesy company. Maybe even desperate. Certainly they are a company with less than the best ethical decision making process.

Perhaps they should get points for being frugal. And that’s only assuming they were smart enough not to have paid for this visually unattractive, content-poor marketing tool.

What’s your take? What do you think of intimidation as a tool to attract business? Do you ever get ads in the mail that you’re sure you can improve?

Six Figure Blogger Blueprint

by David Risley

Yesterday, I downloaded the PDF from pro blogger, David Risley. In his publication, he details how he got to being a six figure blogger. The premise is that others may benefit from his blueprint for success. That’s my hope.

What I Found So Far

Risley gives honest reactions to some of the crappy shortcuts people take. The fact that he calls out the bad practices is refreshing. That’s a big help for people who may get confused about which tactics are considered to be less than above board. The book is a detailed how-to. And just a quick perusal has shown why he’s getting such good reviews already. I see already that I’ll be printing it out to write my notes in the margins (a useful habit for historical review as well as learning and developing a plan).

I haven’t read the whole book yet. But I read through enough so that it sparked a sense of urgency and possibility. And, I didn’t want to wait to do a full review before I passed on this big news. You know, beating on the iron while it’s hot and all. This is a good process to look into any time, but this early in the year is great. You can still work it into the plans you’re already making. That’s what I’ll be doing.

If you’re working on a way to tie parts of your business together with your blog, or missing some steps, this may be the plan of action that helps you bring it all together and maybe get to six figures as a result. And so I’m wondering, can I do that? Maybe not, but it won’t be for lack of doing.

So, how do you pull together the parts of your ideas? Do you already have a detailed blueprint for growing your business blog?

Happy New Year! 2010 is as good a year as any to put your ideas into play as you get them, right? Of course it is. However…

If you’re anything like me and my friends, you get a ton of ideas at once in a massive new year deluge. The time of year when you’re awash with inspiration, creativity, desire, hope. Really you want to go for everything, I know. And you can go for more than one, in fact as many as you’re physically and financially able to pursue. But, usually you can’t pursue all your ideas at once.

It’s Important to Capture Ideas When you get Them

Even if you can’t pursue them all at once, you need to capture your ideas for future access and development. You should record as much detail as you can, too. There are two main reasons you should record your thoughts when you get them.

1. If for any reason you can’t immediately start in on your project, you need to keep the idea for later use, when time, funds, materials and skills permit.
2. Your ideas are freshest when the inspiration hits you. It’s the ideal time to capture the idea and hopefully the nuances that make the idea so appealing to you.

Later on, when the stars are aligned, funding and everything, you’ll want to evaluate it again to be sure it’s still a viable idea. Having good notes will make it easier for you to do review the plan before you get started.

Five Great Ways to Creatively Capture Ideas

Your ideas are great, innovative, and life-changing. Capturing them is important, and your means of capturing them can be equally as inspired. Taking action to remember ideas is better than trying to rely on memory alone. The following activities can help to hard-wire your ideas, making it easier to recall. I’ve used a few of these, and they do help to make them sticky.

1. Tell it to yourself. Use your recorder to tell yourself the story of what inspired your idea. Make it as detailed as time will allow. Use colors and scents that come to you when you ruminate on developing your idea. If you only have a short time, get all you can. You can return to it later to add details and other information.
2. Build a model. When you feel strongly about an idea build what you want it to look like. Use wire, paper, plastic, plaster, whatever you are comfortable with. You may come up with more insights when you’re working it out, that will show you obstacles as you think it through. You could use index cards
3. Draw a picture. If you can see it in your head, making a graphical representation is another way to make your notes. It could be a flowchart design to show parts and relationships in your process. It might be that you draw stick characters to populate your image. Use colors and words to annotate your image. It just needs to be something that will depict your idea in a way that keeps it alive for you.
4. Write it up on your whiteboard and take a picture. Ideas that are easy to list or draw on your whiteboard, to keep it for later, instead of vowing never to touch your whiteboard, photograph it. Then print it and put it where it needs to be–filed away or posted on your office wall.
5. Put it in your idea journal. If you don’t have one, get a book for your ideas. I suggest a 3-ring binder because that makes it easy to add to a particular subject.

BONUS: Don’t dismiss the Paper Scraps Method

I didn’t list the more traditional methods for taking notes. Not because they aren’t important, they really are. They’re the things that we do most of the time, often almost reflexively. These methods include writing your important notes on napkins, paper scraps, corners of junk mail, and collected for later. These are the tools we use when we have no time for anything more.

Think about this: J. K. Rowling, famed author of the Harry Potter series, wrote her first Harry Potter book, The Sorcerer’s Stone, on scraps of paper and napkins to sort through later. Look how far she got with that method!

A Caveat: If you do write on scraps of paper, napkins and such, let me suggest that you keep them in envelopes, files with pockets, boxes or other containers they can’t easily slip out of. After all, since it’s important enough to record it, you definitely don’t want to lose the papers.

How do you record your ideas so they stick with you? Or, do you believe that if you don’t remember it, it’s not a very good idea?

Answer to #12 of 12 Questions I think are important for commercial writers to know. I think these questions are especially important for people newly striking out on their own.

I don’t have a set number yet. The reason this question is a bonus is because I’m forcing myself to do this hard part. I wanted to say that I don’t pursue leads at all. I can’t say it because it’s too early in my freelance career. And, it’s too early because I think it will always be something I’m open to in case I come across a job I really want.

I really just do it according to my workload. If I have time to follow up on leads then I will do as many as five in a day. As long as I can effectively write my letters. And I watch for deadline conflicts to avoid any possible problems.

As soon as I saw the query free information from Jennifer Mattern, I started reading it, because I like the idea of not querying. Then some jobs came in that took all my working time and that was more incentive to put off querying.

As of 2010, I will be pursuing query free work more aggressively. But that doesn’t mean that I will completely dismiss the pursuit of leads. When I have a formula I will post it and update this question with new developments.

Answer to #11 of 12 Questions I think are important for commercial writers to know. I think these questions are especially important for people newly striking out on their own.

This is very hard for a new person on the grid, but it’s a great way to jump in, I think. I look for the leads that give information about the job and contact and tell you what they want concisely. I’d like to get more specific here but I think that would be best served in a full post on the subject. Right now, I’m still learning the things that appeal to me, and how my choices measure up in secured assignments.

I look for full details because I know me. If I have any doubts I may chicken out altogether. It’s important to me to have all the information I need to make a good impression. Sometimes I’m willing to take certain things for granted, things that fall under accepted rules of engagement. And that helps to make more leads acceptable to me.

I try to pick leads that look like they will come to an assignment. However, I don’t bank on it because I do understand that some companies are shopping for writers for future projects. While we tried to keep it to a minimum, that’s how it worked for a past employer of mine.

We used a group of ghostwriters, and would search for them in advance of the project we needed. We always told the writers the truth about the work they could expect and when it would be offered. Basically I treated them the way I would want to be treated.