Soccer win and reflection

 

This past Saturday my daughter’s second grade soccer team had a game. It is the fourth game they’ve had; it is the first game her team has won the score was  4-0. Even with the recent losses my daughter’s team had a blast, which is great.

As I told her two Saturday’s ago, win or lose I do not care, just do the best you can and that is good enough for me, remember that. Now I know my daughter was not doing her best at previous games. She was nervous, facing strange kids  were a new experience. She was not as bold as she usually is around her teammates or when we played soccer. I was OK with that. She would get over her fear or realize that she did not want to play soccer. This past Saturday she came out of her shell, and played as if she were playing against her teammates. She made use of her talents, speed (she’s faster than anyone out there) and her ability to manage the ball effectively. When the opposing team came towards her, she did not dance away from them (like she did in the past) she met them head-on, and in many cases took the ball from them.

Sitting on the sidelines, is a brand-new experience for myself. I can imagine how my father must have felt at the games. My brother and I dragged him too. My brother and I were athletic, very competitive, and fairly adept at the sports we played.  We only became skilled at those games because we practiced, a lot. Dad was out there with us, and he encouraged us to do our best. My father is competitive; however, he never made my brother or I feel ashamed about our abilities, he did encourage us and at times gently challenge us to make use of our talents, and not be happy with just getting by. The  encouragement we received from both of my parents had always made me want to do my best, even at times when I felt overwhelmed and just wanted to learn enough to get by. Thinking back to the first role models I had, I just could not do that.

Initially, I was a lot like my daughter, but with the urging of my father, brother, and my friends, well I became skilled at the games I played. I can remember being outside, after our homework was done playing basketball until it was too dark to see.  We had friendly competitions in sports and grades too. We pushed each other to do better. A few years later, my father installed a light outside, so we could play after dark. I remember one year both of us coming home with most valuable player awards in sports. We received recognition in academics too, honor roll each semester. It wasn’t just about sports with us. 😉

There’s nothing wrong with being competitive, as long as you do not make others feel inferior if their talents do not happen to be the same as yours. We are all different things that come easily for one person, might not be easy for others. I think we all have things that we’re naturally talented at, some time it takes a while to figure out what that is. I still apply a lot of the lessons I’ve learned from youth to some of the challenges I face now, some times I do need to regroup, just like sports sometimes I need to become better before I tackle a project.

 

 

Staying organized with FlexTime for Mac

 

FlexTime for Mac

Recently, my schedule has become hectic. Working on projects, it’s easy to get sucked into my work and block everything out. However, there are times when I need to snap back into reality and do important things such as prepare meals, pick my daughter up from school, take a break, and exercise. When my daughter is home, I step away from my projects and spend time with her.

My problem isn’t motivation. When I’m focused on a project, at times I have to force myself to stop. It isn’t always easy. Last evening, I finally got around to purchasing FlexTime for Mac. Think of it as a productivity planner for your computer, it keeps tabs on the projects that you’re working on, and alerts you when time expires. Setting up tasks is easy. I’ve already added numerous tasks for myself,  and I’ll be adding more. Currently, I’ve had a warning set up, 10 minutes before I want to stop working on a project. It’s my gentle reminder that its time for me to wrap up my thoughts, slow down and change my focus.

If you’re a Mac user and want to try out FlexTime, pop by Daniel Jalkut’s (owner & developer) website and download FlexTIme. You’ll be able to try out the product for thirty days. I first tried out FlexTime in 2007, I tried the free trial, loved it but really had no use for it. I do now. FlexTime is only $18.95, if you’re a Mac user, and enjoy productivity tools, check it out!

Although I do affiliate marketing on this site (Amazon, I only recommend products I’ve used) I’m not paid anything for recommending FlexTime. I simply like the product. Daniel Jalkut does a great job of responding to his clients, via email and through his forums, so I’m happy to point others to his fabulous applications. I also use MarsEdit, another app developed by him, it’s an only blog editor. As with anything I like, I’ll recommend it to others. I know a few of my readers are Mac users so if you want to check out an amazing productivity product that’s free to test for 30 days, try it out.

Question: Does anyone else using a productivity application? If so let us know what you use in the comment section.

 

My first Demand Studios payout

A few days ago, I received an email from a Celebrate Life reader, they follow me via Celebrate Life’s RSS feed but don’t comment. Which is normal, if you look at your stats, in many cases you’ll find you have more people that regularly visit your site without commenting.

Anyway this reader was curious about Demand Studios. They asked me whether it’s legitimate, and more important do they pay on time. Being that I’ve only started writing at Demand Studios, the information I could give them was limited. I know they’re legitimate since a few bloggers I follow are writing for the company. I sent them a few links to writers who’ve been writing with the company for a long time. This morning, when I opened my personal email, I received a note from them telling me they had gotten accepted into Demand Studios. I sent them a congratulatory mail, and a few links that I thought would be helpful.

Demand Studios

Demand Studios; payment for one article

The above screenshot, is the first payment I’ve received from Demand Studios. This payment was for the first approved article I’d written. Livestrong pays their writers $25 per article. Demand Studios pays their writers twice weekly; Tuesdays and Fridays. That’s a first for myself, since I’m used to being paid either biweekly or monthly for online work.

With print articles, I don’t receive payment until after the article has been published. If I remember correctly, the longest I had to wait for payment was about seven months. Naturally, the payment received was a lot more than what I make at Demand Studios.

Wayne Howard of Wayne’s Business & Pleasure, has recently started writing for Demand Studios. He’s recently written about it on his own blog, if you’re looking for additional information, stop by and read his post.

Writers Market is a great resource for writers looking to for tips for both online and print publications. You will have to pay to join. Their membership fees start at $5.99 monthly, however, if you purchase their book Writer’s Market Deluxe, you’ll also receive a code that can be used to activate your online membership. I’ve been a member since 2006. Writer’s Digest is another great online resource.

Keeping it Simple; The Elements of Style

Elements of Style: William Strunk & E.B. White

The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White has graced my bookshelf for numerous years, I can’t find my copy.  During the house renovations it was packed (or given) away. I was familiar with E.B. White, having read Charlotte’s Webb (along with a few of his other books) as a young child. However, I hadn’t heard about William Strunk until reading the book. Many times, I’ve curled up with the book and read it like a novel. It helped a lot with my freelance writing.

I appreciate the rules, listed within the slim book but I don’t always follow that style in my personal writing. In freelance writing, I usually follow this style when writing health related articles. This book is a reminder that I don’t need a lot of words, to make a point.

Writing for Livestrong magazine, I realized quickly not following guidelines, the copy editor will send back my work with a rewrite request. Admittedly, I needed a gentle reminder with my first article. I tried to sneak in unnecessary words, even though I’d read the guidelines. Naturally, it was sent back with a rewrite request, I made the changes, my rewrite was accepted and the article published.

Admittedly, the hardest part (for me) was writing in third person (avoiding “I”, “we”, or “you”) while still writing in active voice. I haven’t done that in a while. Because of that, I took my time to write the articles before submitting them.  The three topics I wrote were; Ways to lower your cholesterol, benefits of B12 and iron, and how to burn 750 calories. I enjoyed working in vegetarian choices with the first two. Admittedly, I can write those articles without thinking, since those are topics I’ve researched religiously. However, I do  include references supporting my claims. Livestrong requires that with all its writers.

Yesterday I ordered the 50th anniversary edition of The Elements of Style. It arrived at my doorstep this afternoon, now that’s efficient service.

Busy as a bee; Taking care of customers and additional writing projects

Honeybee

My natural beauty business keeps me busy throughout the year. However, the colder months is hectic. During these times, I don’t do too much personal writing. Besides spending time with family, the majority of my attention is focused on my business.

Recently, I decided to kick things up a notch with my writing, so decided to take on a few freelance writing projects. In addition to writing on a few sites I own, I’m writing for others too. I’ve always been a fan of residual income, since it means I get paid whether I work or not, so you’ll tend to see me focusing a lot of energy on writing projects that way.  Up front pay  is nice, however when it comes to online work I tend to gravitate towards projects that will offer keep paying me no matter how long it’s been since I’ve written an article (or updated a website.)

Using freelance writing to purchase another 17″ MacBook Pro

I decided that I’d finally update my 17″ MacBook Pro, although I have the money to do that now. I’m holding off, and will use one of my newer freelance jobs to make that happen. I recently got accepted at Livestrong Magazine as a media writer. In order to work for them, you have to apply with Demand Studios.

I had thought I’d already done this, but when I went to their log on screen last week, I realized this wasn’t the case and so I had to go through the process of submitting an application, which included attaching a writing sample, and linking to one of my sites that is solely focused on heath related issues. Less than 24 hours later, I received an approval letter from Demand Studios. I also received an approval letter from Livestrong magazine. It’s an online magazine I’ve been following since it was created, so naturally I’m happy to work for them.  The beauty of it is; I can work when I want too. I don’t have any quota. The money I make writing articles for them will go towards the purchase of my new MacBook Pro; I should have it within a few weeks.

Getting accepted at Demand Studios; Writing for Livestrong

Unlike a lot of your freelance writing sites, Demand Studios is on the higher end of the pay per article scale. The articles average about $15 per article of 400 – 500 words. For online content, that is considered “good pay.” Livestrong is part of Demand Studios, and their articles start at $25. When it comes to writing for others online, $25, and above is what I’m used to receiving, so Livestrong fits me perfectly, and it’s writing about topics I’m completely comfortable with; Health & wellness, and natural products.  Although accepted, I haven’t started writing for them yet. My business has been keeping me busy, however, once my daughter goes back to school this week, I’ll start submitting a few articles.

Patricia, a lovely lady who writes about the lavender herb and the many things you can do with lavender essential oil recently commented on an article I’d written about freelance writing. Did you know lavender can be used for hair loss prevention? It’s true, I have a product that does exactly this, although I don’t market it as such even though there are scientific data to back up the claims, making those claims on a product can get you in a lot of hot water.

Patricia had mentioned she’d check out the DS. Unfortunately, Demand Studios is only open to those who live within the United States, however, Suite 101 is open to international writers.

Making money with residual Income

DeAnna over at WriteMoms has done a great review of Suite 101, and I’d encourage you to drop by her site and check it out. I can’t forget Felicia, at NoJobForMom, she has a huge lists of articles focused on writing for Suite 101. Suite 101 is a great site to check out if you want to make some residual income. I have articles at one website where I don’t write anymore, however, I still get an average of $250 monthly from those articles, and that’s only one site. Although $250 monthly might not be significant, remember I’ve been getting that monthly for around two years. I don’t write there anymore. With those articles, I made more money over time, than I ever would have made upfront. I have residual income coming from other places too (mostly my own sites).

How profitable is residual income? Well, I can pay 75% of my monthly bills that way. That’s not bad at all, residual income can be extremely profitable, however it’s not going to fall in your lap. It didn’t happen overnight with myself; you’ll have to work to make it happen. If you listen to the naysayers, you won’t make it. Be prepared to make sacrifices, like dipping into your me time. For myself that meant cutting my gaming time, and a few other social activities I did. I wanted to turn my dreams into a reality and that wasn’t going to happen if I acted like the grasshopper who spent their time partying, gaming, etc., Just like the industrial bee, you’ll be busy, but it can be worth it.

But back to Patricia… She happens to be writing about one of my favorite herbs, so you know I have her site, Lavender Uses in NetNewsWire (my RSS feed aggregator). I also follow her tweets on Twitter.

The Vanishing of the Bees

The Disappearing Honey Bees: Beekeepers on what’s happening.

Occasionally you might see me slip bees in my titles or see them woven within some of my articles. The reason is simple; I have a lot of respect for them. Although I’m not like the honeybee where I’m constantly working. I do work a lot to achieve the goals I’ve set out for myself. Honeybees have to be my all time favorite insect (ants are a close second). As a child I spent a lot of time just studying the bees in the yard. I admired their work ethic, and was fascinated at the way they were constantly working. My parents, seeing my interest in these amazing insects supplied me with the books focused on bees that further encourage my fascination with them.

Unfortunately, Colony Collapse Disorder has seen a significant decrease in the honeybee population. On a local level, I started noticing a decline even before hearing the term. Next year, I’ll be adding honeybees to our property and am hoping I can do my part to increase their population.

Right on track; Compromised websites and Interesting stats with newest sites

Train track

Over the past few days, a few of my sites have been out of commission. Although I back up my sites religiously, I forgot to back up the site on September, 2, 2010 so if you left a comment on my last post where I talked about the back to school week and freelance writing. Well, your comment is gone. I do apologize for that.

Thanks to Google webmaster tools, I was made aware of the compromised sites, and I instantly alerted my hosting provider. My site was pulled offline for a few days; during the downtime, phishing files were removed, and my sites came online today, a few additional security measures have been put into place. I’ll be writing more on what interesting WordPress Plug-ins I’ve added, along with some of the other security features I’ve used in a later post. However, until then why don’t you check this site to see how you can increase the security to your WordPress site.

New Sites; Getting noticed & online monetization

Interestingly enough, before my sites went offline, one of my newest sites received a lot of legitimate activity. The first day, that website went live it received 90 hits, and a few people followed up with me via my contact form. Nothing too big, since I haven’t publicized the site, and I only commented at two sites using the brand new url.  I’ll be watching that website closely to see how it fairs once it matures.

As I mentioned in my last post, the new site focuses on delivering natural information in bite sized posts that are health related. Quite a change from Celebrate Life, where I can write for ages, I know. Anyway, I’m enjoying the site and the change in my writing style. Unlike this site, I’m monetized that as soon as it was released. The main reason is that site was strictly made to be monetized. It offers valuable information for those that land upon the site, and I’m thinking I most likely will sell a few of my eBooks there too.

I have another site within the works, that I most likely will publish within the next few weeks. Surprisingly it has nothing to do with what I usually write about; health, fitness, nutrition, Mac technology, or gaming. However, it’s something I became increasingly knowledgeable several months ago, being that I was in a situation that forced me to do a lot of research. Imagine my disappointment, when I came up empty a lot of times, or landed on sites that didn’t have a lot of information related to the subject? Fast forward a few months later, and I thought about the possibility of turning that lack of information to my advantage, by creating a one stop resource for everything related to that topic.  From an adsense perspective, that site might give some of my highest earning sites a run for their money, but time will tell.

 

Enjoying our Labor Day

Here’s hoping those in the States are having a great Labor Day. My daughter and I spent a lazy day around the house. Lot of yard work was done by myself, along with power washing the house. I love my gadgets.

 



Breakfast Club: Right on Track

A successful week; Back to school, new site, & freelance writing info

 

Back to school is in full swing, and my daughter was one of many school aged children that were whisked off to school. Initially, she was nervous about it, not having seen many of her classmates since last school year. However, she wasn’t as nervous as last year. She’d seen a few of her classmates in Soccer camp this summer, she visibly relaxed when she saw the many familiar faces in school on Monday.

Since my daughter is away, I’m able to get a lot more accomplished, which is truly a blessing. It can be challenging to juggle your business and an extremely active seven-year old that simply doesn’t understand that mom needs to work, in order to make money. The majority of my work was completed while she was sleeping.

Thanks to the extra time on my hands, I was finally able to crank out a new site that’s focused on natural health. It’s something that’s been nagging me to be released, but I simply didn’t have the time. Unlike Celebrate Life, a site where I can write miles of text without a break in my typing speed, the articles on that site are very short. I’m offering bite sized bits of information to those who happen to land on the page. It’s a great practice, doing something I normally don’t do.

calvinonwriting.06.18.10.jpg

Freelance Writing

Recently, I’ve been thinking about picking up a few more freelance writing assignments, for the most part I’ve been away from it for a little over two years, however, as odd as it may seem. During my break, I did write on a few gaming websites under a pseudonym. I love video games; I used gamer tags. I learned quickly that although I enjoy playing games, and writing about them on my personal gaming blogs. I didn’t like writing for others.

But back to the freelance writing…

I actually miss writing for other people/sites about health, nutrition, technology, and so I’m slowly getting my feet wet again. However, I do it on my own terms. During my quest, to interact with some new freelance writers, I stumbled across Felicia Williams website.

Felicia’s virtual corner is filled with wealth of information for the new or seasoned freelance writer. I’d encourage anyone who’s interested in making some extra money to stop on by her home. Be prepared to stay for a while, Felicia’s site has a lot of informative articles focused on freelance writing.

Don’t forget to pick up her free eBook, titled So You Want to Be A Freelance Writer. This ebook is truly free, so you won’t have to sign up for her email list before you’re allowed to get the book. Click, on the link, download, read and enjoy! You can keep up with Felicia Williams by subscribing to her RSS feed. I was able to read through the ebook in a few hours, and I know I’ll be recommending this ebook to those who’re interested in freelance writing.

If this book had been around when I started freelance writing, it would have saved me numerous hours of searching for information. Not to mention my bookshelves would have been several pounds lighter too. However even with lighter bookshelves, I know I’d still want I still to want to purchase an Apple iPad.