In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not that active around here right now. Well, it’s summer and life is swinging between frantic and relaxed. Either way, I’m just not posting as much. Think of it as a little summer hiatus.

You can still find helpful stuff for your online writing aspirations, by browsing around the categories there on the right or use the search box. Of particular interest might be:

• Writing for HubPages
• Writing for Suite101
• Writing for About.com
• Web Site Tips
• Earning with Commission Junction
• How to buy a domain name

So, enjoy your summer and keep checking back. I’m not completely gone

All it takes is one mis-key or a brief power interruption, and you can find yourself staring at a blank screen. Usually after struggling with some particular difficult bit of phrasing. Hit the save key OFTEN. After every sentence wouldn’t be a bad idea. A nice and simple tip for today, and yet it can be pretty important.

And it also carries over to the work you might do online, directly into a database or CMS system. Save frequently in these instances too. There is an extra saving tip I have here as well. If you are working for someone else, and write your material directly into a CMS, I highly recommend you cut and paste a copy into a word processor and store on your hard drive. You could even take a screenshot of the finished piece. You may find yourself without access to your work at a later date, due to technical difficulties or the company you work for closing up shop. I lost a big chunk of work this way just last month.

Save often, even the material that you aren’t writing directly onto your hard drive. And of course it goes without saying that you do a regular back-up of that hard drive, right?

Web design is as varied as any other kind of design, and not everything will appeal to everyone under every circumstance. But there are a few unwritten rules that any successful website should follow. If nothing else, keep these tips in mind when you are designing the layout, theme and format of your website. These are specifically tips on design, not tips for content or anything like that. … Keep reading »

This post is aimed at those who are trying to promote their own websites, but even if you are writing content for someone else, you can still make use of these submission links to help promote your work.

Though using proper keywords and meta tags are the right way to getting your website to rank high in search engine results, your first step to even getting a major search engine to notice you, is to let them know you exist. … Keep reading »

If you never listen to another word I say, I beg you take this one little suggestion to heart:

… Keep reading »

Ok, I’ve moved and have lived with no central heating for a week. Woodstoves are fun, but tend to take up all your time if you’re not used to them. I’m still living out of boxes and my house smells like smoke. So I’m posting a quick cop-out with the newest online writing jobs from ProBlogger. … Keep reading »

Just a quick update for the site. I’m moving in less than 2 weeks and my time is completely taken up with packing and trying to get ahead with some work so that I can concentrate on getting moved and settled later in the month. So not many updates on the site until then, so watch for some new posts around mid-April (around 2 more weeks). If I get all motivated, you might see me again before that 

Since so many people seem to be interested in working with About.com, I thought I would post the occasional update on what topics are open. They are adding a LOT of brand new topics to the network, and all this growth means more opportunities for freelancers to get their foot in the door. Here are the latest additions to the list of topics (you can find the whole list on their site). … Keep reading »

Commission Junction is one of several large affiliate networks that can be an important part of your money-earning strategy. A network like this is great because it pools all your income from multiple affiliates, meaning you get paid faster and more often. Commission Junction is the network that I use, so that is the one I know the most about (hence this article). Linkshare is another big one that you could try. … Keep reading »

I wrote some time ago that BlogExplosion was dead. Nobody was approving blogs and the whole system was on auto-pilot. Well, the site seems to be under new management and is running again. My blog got approved and I’m hearing that the backlog of applications is either very small or totally gone.

So if you’re looking for some exposure for your blog (must be a blog-format site to be included) go take a look. Once you sign up, you surf around and look at other people’s blogs to earn credits. Those credits then are used to display your blog to other people doing the same thing. I’ll be doing another blog later on these traffic-exchange systems, but for now this is just an announcement that BlogExplosion is running again.