Designing A Successful Writing Career While Standing Behind the 8 BallWritten by Susan James
Several years ago, I received a call from a friend of mine in a city about 2 hours away. She and another had just started an new company in medical consulting and needed someone to come and do about 3 days of data entry. She asked me, know- ing I was in between careers, and familiar with Medical Terms and Technology, would I come and spend 3 days and do computer work.My first reaction was, "No", because I did not know anything about a computer, and or data entry stuff. I had used a lap top in previous work I was in, but it was not "data entry" stuff. So I said, "I'd think about it." My friend then had her teenage daughter call me, because she really liked me and so she sweet talked me into going. I went for 3 days, and what came from that was begin- ning of what is now my livelihood, which I run completely online. As I was getting familiar with their business over those 3 days, and since I have a knack for promotion, I saw potential they were missing. So I said, here is where you are, and here is where I can help you go, if you want to go . They said yes, and I became VP of Marketing. Along with growth came new computers, and Internet, and me learning some new things & expanding my knowledge of how Internet worked. Up until that time, I had taken up residence in that distance city, but ultimately wanted to return home. I had done all I could do for them as they soon began some partnership squabbles, and it came time for me to move on, as I'm not interested in that energy. They asked me to stay. I said, "I'd stay if they would open up a satellite office in my city, and I would do my part from there." That's when things really began to happen for me online. During that time, more partnership squabbles, they then began to lose money because they would not agree and they were always fighting and not working business in a productive way. Then they got behind in payments to me. And long story short at end of it all, I kept computer & other office materials to compensate a small percentage of arrears in payment to me. I had begun playing on some Internet forums. I got to be known as someone who knew her stuff. I then decided to put out 2 of my own free newsletters, when I still was not sure what I was doing or how to do it. At this point I had not thought of writing a book, although I did have a handbook that I began promoting on line in my newsletters. Folks wanted my newsletters, which was such a grand feeling!
| | Writing For The Web: Where To Get Article IdeasWritten by Richard Lowe
A friend and I were talking other day about writing. He liked to write, but even so his biggest problem was finding things to write about. My friend was astounded at volume of writing that I do - at least one article and something as many as six, per day. Where do I get all of ideas from?I, in turn, was astonished myself. Why on earth would anyone have any trouble finding things to write about? In fact, my main problem has been I have so much to write about that I often find myself locked in a silent battle over which subject should be put on paper first. People find it even more amazing when I tell them I try very hard to only write about positive events and provide helpful articles. Only rarely will you find any of my writings containing criticism, complaints or, worst of all, whining. Occasionally I will write an article which recommends against purchasing a product, seeing a movie, reading a book or visiting a web site, but these are exception. The world is a huge, amazing, wondrous place. Things are going on around us all of time. There is so much good to see and do all over planet, so very many wonderful things going on all over place, that it's easy to find something to communicate about if only you open your eyes and look. One of my passions is internet. I've written over 1,000 articles about all aspects of this massive communication medium. Much of this is taken from my 23 years of experience in computer field, and rest is from research, reading and, most of all, questions from other people. Although much of my writing is about internet, I also find time to communicate about many other subjects as well. These include relationships (marriage and romance), raising children, building a career, handling office politics, current events, hobbies and history. I have yet to find a subject which I don't have something useful to contribute to other people. How do I find so much to write about? Let me tell you some of ways: Many of my article ideas some from real life - For example, I have a long and happy marriage, so I like to write articles which help people with their relationships. I've also worked hard most of my life, as have most people, building a career, which is another area where I enjoy passing along tips to help others. Question and answer sites - Sites like askme.com and askjeeves.com are perfect places to visit once in a while looking for ideas for articles. I visit and just scan questions (and there are thousands of them), looking for anything which looks interesting. When I find something, I write an article.
|