We're half-way through 2013. Like I've done in
years past, this week I'll be featuring some of the
best new tech tools of 2013 as well as some of
the most popular posts of the year.
I'm currently in the process of developing new
digital handouts for my blogging workshops. One
of the items that I'm adding to my handouts is a
list of terminology and definitions for terms that I
frequently use while talking about building blogs.
My preliminary list is posted below. Are there
terms that you think should be added to the list?
Theme: WordPress and many other blogging
platforms use “themes” to describe the look of a
blog. The theme can include the color scheme
and the layout of elements on the blog.
Changing the theme does not change the
content of your blog posts.
Template: Blogger and some other blogging
platforms use the term “template” to describe
the look of a blog. The template can include the
color scheme and the layout of elements on the
blog. Changing your template does not change
the content of your blog posts.
Tag: Tags are applied to WordPress (Kidblog,
Edublogs) blog posts to identify the key ideas or
purpose of a post. Tags make it easier for people
to search and find older posts on your blog. For
example, if you write a post about your
Revolutionary War lesson, tag it with “revolution”
or “revolutionary war” so that at the end of the
school year when you have 150 posts on your
blog your students can quickly click on the
“revolution” tag and jump to the post that have
that label. It’s a lot easier to locate older posts by
tag than it is to click through archives by date.
Label: Labels are applied to Blogger blog posts
to identify the key ideas or purpose of a post. For
example, if you write a blog post about your
Revolutionary War lesson plan, label it with
“revolution” or “revolutionary war” so that at the
end of the school year when you have 150 posts
on your blog your students can quickly click on
the “revolution” label and jump to the posts that
have that label. It’s a lot easier to locate older
posts by label than it is to click through archives
by date.
Tag Cloud and Label Cloud: Tag and Label
clouds can be added to your blog’s homepage to
make it easy for visitors to see the tags or labels
that you use, click on one of them, and jump to a
list of all of the posts that have that particular
label.
Categories: In WordPress-powered blogs you
can use categories for broad descriptions of posts
in addition to using tags. For example, on
iPadApps4School.com I use the categories “pre-
K,” “elementary school,” “middle school,” and
“high school.” I assign each post to a category
and use tags for describing the academic topic of
the post. This way if someone visits my blog
looking for math apps appropriate for elementary
school he or she can click on the “math” tag
then click on the “elementary school” category
to find all of my posts meeting that search
criteria.
Embed: To display a video, slideshow, audio
recording, Google Calendar, Google Map, game,
and many other multimedia elements in a blog
post you will use an embed code provided by
service hosting that media. Embedding media
into a blog post does not make you the owner of
it and as long as you follow the guidelines set
forth by the hosting service you are not violating
copyright by embedding something you didn’t
create. For example, when you find a video on
YouTube that you want your students to watch
you can embed it into a blog post and ask
students to comment on the blog post. If the
owner of that video decides to take it offline the
video will no longer play through your blog post.
Embed Codes: An embed code is a piece of
code, often HTML, that media hosting services
like YouTube provide so that you can easily
display the media that they host in your own
blog posts. On some services like SlideShare.net
an embed code will be clearly labeled as such
next to the media you’re viewing. On other
services the embed code will be one of the
options that appears when you click on the
“share” option. YouTube, for example, currently
requires you to open the “share” menu before
you see the embed code option.
Widget: A widget is a small application that you
can include in the posts and or pages of your
blog. A widget could be a game, a display of
Tweets, a display of RSS feeds, a tag cloud, a
calendar, or any other application that offers an
embed code.
Gadget: Gadget is the term that Blogger uses
for a widget. A gadget and a widget do the same
things.
Plug-in: A plug-in (sometimes plugin) is a small
application that you can add to the software that
powers your blog. Unlike widgets and gadgets
plug-ins operate in the background and visitors
to your blog will not see them working. A plug-in
can add functions to your blog such as
suggesting related posts to your visitors or
detecting the type of device a visitor is using to
view your blog then automatically displaying the
mobile or desktop version of your blog’s layout.
Post: “Post” can refer to an entry on your blog
as in “a blog post.” “Post” can also be used as a
verb as in “I am going to post a new entry on my
blog.”
Page: A page on a blog is different than a post
because a page is designed for static content.
Pages are good for posting information that you
want visitors to your blog to be able to quickly
access. For example, my classroom blog had
pages for curriculum outlines and review guides.
Permalink: Each blog post is assigned its own
separate URL this is known as a permalink
(permanent link). This URL is the one that you
would share if you wanted someone to directly
access a post rather than going to your blog’s
homepage then searching for the post.
Monday 30 September 2013
How to Avoid Common Beginner Blogger Mistakes
As tempting as it is to start a blog, there is a lot
more to it than meets the novice's eye. All that
smooth, easy-to-read, and interesting writing that
you've come to admire from your favorite
bloggers doesn't just appear randomly or without
a certain amount of sweat and a great deal of
revision!
Steps
Things You'll Need
Tips and Warnings
1
Be original. More than anything else, what
really matters about your blog is that it
represents you and is genuinely unique. While
you still need to attune your messaging to what
people want to read, whatever you write must
be infused with your unique take and style.
Discard any notions that it's alright to harvest a
bunch of news stories and drop them straight
into your blog; nobody will want to read that
when they've probably already read them
somewhere else. Instead, take those news
stories and add your angle to them – give people
your opinion on the news story, providing your
conclusions about the consequences or moral
involved.
2
Don't copy. Directly related to being original is
the issue of not copying. Don't assume that no-
one will recognize "borrowed" material; they will
without doubt. And think of it the other way
around – would you want someone "borrowing"
your hard efforts? It's common courtesy (and
the law), to tell your readers where you got your
information from. Blog readers are both
discerning and widely read; they'll spot a copied
story a mile off and won't appreciate it. Although
it can seem very tempting when you're starting
out to use the words of others, resist doing so
and persist with writing original content. Start
small and get into a rhythm; over time, it'll get
easier.
Being original with your content increases
your reader's trust in you. Your readers will
soon grow to know, appreciate, and expect
your writing style.
Cite your material. Not only is this decent
morally but it also takes care of potential
copyright problems - if you want to copy, do
so by using quotes or paraphrasing with the
referencing made very clear. Another benefit
of referencing is that it enables readers to
visit your sources and learn more for
themselves, something that many blog
readers appreciate and expect.
3
Understand the legal issues surrounding
blogs . Even if you're not a lawyer or a journalist,
it's vital to understand how you might
accidentally walk into a legal minefield if you
make certain errors. The basics of main
importance to grasp include copyright,
trademarks, defamation, and illegality.
Another potential minefield is trusting one
research source without backing it up with
another one - basically, adding hearsay upon
hearsay. If you're not sure, keep researching
to have several sources boosting your
assertions.
Check out the Electronic Foundation Frontier
for good layperson's legal information on
blogging.[1]
4
Do some research about blogging. If you're
absolutely serious about becoming a good
blogger, it's important to learn from bloggers
who have already trodden this turf well and
worked out what does, and does not work. If
you're targeting people other than your very
forgiving family and friends, knowing what other
bloggers have done is vital. Read what the best
bloggers have to say about their experiences of
blogging and their advice to new bloggers.
Some good bloggers to check out include:
Heather Allard, Darren Rowse, Chris Garrett,
Corvida Raven, Tim Ferriss, Leo Babauta,
Jessica Faye Carter, Dan Zarella, Seth Godin,
Chris Brogan, Meryl K. Evans, Men With Pens,
etc. There are plenty more great bloggers out
there but this should be a good start for you!
[2]
News blogs are also good to learn from. News
blogs such as The Huffington Post, etc., take
news stories and provide their opinions on
the story. You'll need to discern for yourself
the political and other agendas behind each
blog. Sometimes the best blog is one that
aims to be neutral or seeks to reflect both
sides of the spectrum - look around before
deciding how you'll approach your own
blogging.
Do a search for "Top Blog Posts", or "Top
Blogs on Cars/Dogs/Babies/Skiing", "Top
women/men bloggers", etc. Whatever your
interest, there will be someone blogging on it
already. You can also search for fields such as
"Top mommy bloggers", "Top daddy
bloggers", "Top celebrity bloggers", "Top
farming bloggers", etc., to see who readers
are voting as the best in their genre.
Note that some bloggers are more willing to
discuss their craft than others; keep an eye
out for the bloggers who take the time to
share blogging advice. Where possible, look
for blogs that give advice without trying to
sell you all the answers (it happens even with
the best, so be prepared to cherry-pick and
cobble together your advice tidbits!).
Whether or not advice is offered, at least
learn from reading the popular blogger's
writing styles to work out what keeps them
connecting with readers.
5
Consider your writing style. If you're used to
writing in a technical, academic, or formal way,
blog writing might come as a bit of a shock. Blog
writing style tends to be more conversational,
peppered with a lot of your own opinion
(however outrageous!), and above all, it needs
to be interesting. The writing style best suited
for you will come down to the content of your
blog and its likely readership. Clearly, a blog that
is more technical in nature can carry more
technical writing but even then, your readers
will want you to break down the latest techno-
whizz gadget to terms that they can understand
and digest quickly.
Be careful to avoid preaching at your readers.
For many blogs, readers are looking for you to
meet with them eye-to-eye, not to sermonize,
scold, or seem superior to them. Treat them
as equals. Expect to be humble, and to share
foibles that each of us experiences in daily
life. A sense of humor and humility are always
important for a good blogger.
Political blogs can easily become bogged
down in angry rants or intolerant tirades if
you wear your heart on sleeve without
involving your head. Seek to maintain a
serious tone in such blogs without resorting
to name-calling and deprecating comments.
Be very careful when cursing. If your blog fits
cursing and the occasional "eff" word makes
great sense in the context, then fine, go
ahead and use it. But a blog peppered with
abusive commentary and little else than
cursing will put readers off. Letting off steam
is one thing, being a swear-o-holic is quite
another. And cursing all of a sudden when
you've never done so before will lose some of
your readership.
6
Think about your blog's layout carefully. Do
a lot of research on this to find what works best.
Use the lessons others have already learned;
some key things to get you started include:
Genre: Generally it pays to stick to one genre
per blog if you're an individual. For example,
unless you have an amazing knack, readers
are less enthused by a blog that combines
political opinions, recipes, an examination of
existential angst literature, your latest movie
reviews, and how to sew clothes for kids all in
the one blog. The exception is for
instructional sites that put themselves out
into the blogosphere with a cadre of writers
writing across different fields. If you want to
spread yourself more broadly, there are two
avenues - either have a variety of blogs if you
have the time to maintain them, or dedicate
one blog to the "self-introspective" stuff for a
hobby and maintain another serious single
genre or topic blog separately, with an eye to
making it popular with readers.
Length of posts: There is no hard and fast
rule because it depends on the content, the
quality, the message, and the audience.
Certainly, a lot has been written about brevity
being important but so is getting the full
picture where this is warranted. Keeping in
mind that most online readers have fleeting
attention spans, judge length by how your
readers respond, the utility of your
information, and the subject matter. Consider
mixing up lengths of posts, to give readers a
break in between the more lengthy and
"erudite" ones!
Layout: Headers are useful; subheadings help
break up large topics and pictures and give
the eyes a rest. Block quotes can work well,
and leaving space allows the reader to feel
relaxed, not rushed or overwhelmed. Try to
use short paragraphs, no matter the length
of the post. Use bolding to draw out
important points and to capture the attention
of the reader (bolding also interests the
search engine but that's another matter).
Frequency: Too few posts and people will
think you've wandered off; and so too will
they. Too many and you'll wear readers out –
remember that they have other things to
read and do! Reader and writer burnout is a
real issue when you over-post, so think
through carefully what works best for you.
Keep in mind the reality that search engines
like a good frequency of regular posts.
Editing: Check your spelling and your
grammar. Never underestimate the
importance of this. Your expertise in the blog
content won't shine if your spelling is
questionable.
Revise, revise, revise: Cut it out if in doubt
and say it with less. The polishing aspect can
sometimes take longer than the original
write-up but it's worth the effort to ensure
that your readers remain captivated.
7
Be creative. Even if you're a brilliant author,
words alone won't make a blog. Most readers
expect the blog to look impressive, and to be
accompanied by at least one photo or image.
Visuals add sparkle and capture people's
attention. As with anything, don't overuse them
– just seek to get the balance right.
Use your common sense when assessing how
much is too much – if you're adding a
photography, how-to, or recipe post, you'll be
able to get away with more photos than say,
a political or opinion piece blog post.
8
Think about what you're going to title your
blog posts . You could have the most relevant
information on the topic, but if it has a boring
title, it won't be read. Use headlines that draw in
readers and that search engines latch onto. The
search engine element is an art in and of itself
which you'll eventually find yourself learning
more about. For now, however, some key
pointers to bear in mind include:
Use words that marketers use to capture
attention. There are several "Top 10 English
Words" lists available online used by
marketers to grab attention (do a search for
one). Adding words like "you" to the title may
sound banal but according to marketing
research, strategic use of the top 10 words
can bring readers to open links to your post.
Ask questions in headings or create dangling
information that has the reader wondering
what the next piece of information will be.
Make your heading tantalizing so that it prods
the reader into wanting to read more - if your
heading speaks to a need in a reader, then
they'll love it. Top of the list is "How to..."!
Keep the title simple. The simpler, the better,
and try to keep the title less than 40
characters and the search engine will also
love your blog!
9
Encourage comments. People will read your
words of wisdom but they won't tell you what
they think because the majority of people (and
that means around 99 percent) won't unless
prompted. You'll get a significantly larger
number of comments if you ask for them.
Don't close down your comments feature. It's
important not to fear comments - they're a
pulse on your blog, letting you know that
people are responding to your blogging,
whether negatively or positively. If your blog
is really good, you'll get both sides of the
responses, which is ideal!
Make it easy for your readers to comment.
Readers don't want to jump through hoops.
Balance making them sign in and using
CAPTCHA fixes before they can say a single
line with the fact that this will cause many of
them to not bother at all. The fewer hurdles,
the better, especially where personal
information is concerned.
Always end your blog posts encouraging
comments by asking questions, or asking for
experiences and suggestions from the reader.
Without fail, respond to your commenters.
Not only is that polite to the person who took
the time to comment but it lets other readers
know that you care and engage with them.
They are looking! An obvious exception is
spamming or flaming, in which case, either
remove the comment (spam) as soon as
possible, or let it stand on its own lack of
merits ( flaming) unless you have a witty and
kind response.
Remove spam as soon as you can. It looks
unprofessional. Invest in a way of keeping
spam off - there are plenty of programs
available. Find good ways to clean up spam
that don't involve chasing off your genuine
readers.
10
Spread the word about your blog and new
posts . Use today's social media to the max.
There are many platforms to choose from. Use
one, or preferably, many of them. Twitter,
Facebook, Digg, and Tumblr are just a few.
Take time to visit other blogger's blogs and
leave comments with your name and link in
them. Get known as someone who cares
about what other bloggers are saying and
creating, and they'll repay the favor.
11
Encourage others to guest post on your
blog . Guest posting is an excellent means for
getting well-known, quality bloggers to increase
the profile of your blog. Offer guest posts in
return, so as to get your blog's link into other
people's blogs.
Guest posts increase variety for your readers.
And if you get well-known bloggers on your
blog, this will help your readers to connect
you with the guest poster, which will increase
your profile.
12
Love your readers and give back to them.
Show your readers that you appreciate them.
Give back to them by:
Responding to your reader's comments
promptly.
Visiting your reader's blogs if they have them.
Leave supportive comments and even
suggest they guest blog for you now and
then.
Facilitating your readers' interaction through
quizzes, competitions, surveys, featuring your
readers, etc.
Always provide a quality read that is of
interest.
Tips
Tag your articles. Learn about tagging and use
it. Tags make a huge difference in your
readership.
32 Helpful? 1
This article is an overview of what a good
blogger practices. It is a good launching point
for you to realize you never stop learning. There
are many new avenues that you will go down as
you increase your readership and improve your
blog.
18 Helpful? 2
Consider how your blog connects with and
supports your other online activities, as well as
your offline business. Plan in advance so that
you can make the most of the linkages. Update
the purpose of your blog, as needed, and
evaluate the support role on a routine basis.
more to it than meets the novice's eye. All that
smooth, easy-to-read, and interesting writing that
you've come to admire from your favorite
bloggers doesn't just appear randomly or without
a certain amount of sweat and a great deal of
revision!
Steps
Things You'll Need
Tips and Warnings
1
Be original. More than anything else, what
really matters about your blog is that it
represents you and is genuinely unique. While
you still need to attune your messaging to what
people want to read, whatever you write must
be infused with your unique take and style.
Discard any notions that it's alright to harvest a
bunch of news stories and drop them straight
into your blog; nobody will want to read that
when they've probably already read them
somewhere else. Instead, take those news
stories and add your angle to them – give people
your opinion on the news story, providing your
conclusions about the consequences or moral
involved.
2
Don't copy. Directly related to being original is
the issue of not copying. Don't assume that no-
one will recognize "borrowed" material; they will
without doubt. And think of it the other way
around – would you want someone "borrowing"
your hard efforts? It's common courtesy (and
the law), to tell your readers where you got your
information from. Blog readers are both
discerning and widely read; they'll spot a copied
story a mile off and won't appreciate it. Although
it can seem very tempting when you're starting
out to use the words of others, resist doing so
and persist with writing original content. Start
small and get into a rhythm; over time, it'll get
easier.
Being original with your content increases
your reader's trust in you. Your readers will
soon grow to know, appreciate, and expect
your writing style.
Cite your material. Not only is this decent
morally but it also takes care of potential
copyright problems - if you want to copy, do
so by using quotes or paraphrasing with the
referencing made very clear. Another benefit
of referencing is that it enables readers to
visit your sources and learn more for
themselves, something that many blog
readers appreciate and expect.
3
Understand the legal issues surrounding
blogs . Even if you're not a lawyer or a journalist,
it's vital to understand how you might
accidentally walk into a legal minefield if you
make certain errors. The basics of main
importance to grasp include copyright,
trademarks, defamation, and illegality.
Another potential minefield is trusting one
research source without backing it up with
another one - basically, adding hearsay upon
hearsay. If you're not sure, keep researching
to have several sources boosting your
assertions.
Check out the Electronic Foundation Frontier
for good layperson's legal information on
blogging.[1]
4
Do some research about blogging. If you're
absolutely serious about becoming a good
blogger, it's important to learn from bloggers
who have already trodden this turf well and
worked out what does, and does not work. If
you're targeting people other than your very
forgiving family and friends, knowing what other
bloggers have done is vital. Read what the best
bloggers have to say about their experiences of
blogging and their advice to new bloggers.
Some good bloggers to check out include:
Heather Allard, Darren Rowse, Chris Garrett,
Corvida Raven, Tim Ferriss, Leo Babauta,
Jessica Faye Carter, Dan Zarella, Seth Godin,
Chris Brogan, Meryl K. Evans, Men With Pens,
etc. There are plenty more great bloggers out
there but this should be a good start for you!
[2]
News blogs are also good to learn from. News
blogs such as The Huffington Post, etc., take
news stories and provide their opinions on
the story. You'll need to discern for yourself
the political and other agendas behind each
blog. Sometimes the best blog is one that
aims to be neutral or seeks to reflect both
sides of the spectrum - look around before
deciding how you'll approach your own
blogging.
Do a search for "Top Blog Posts", or "Top
Blogs on Cars/Dogs/Babies/Skiing", "Top
women/men bloggers", etc. Whatever your
interest, there will be someone blogging on it
already. You can also search for fields such as
"Top mommy bloggers", "Top daddy
bloggers", "Top celebrity bloggers", "Top
farming bloggers", etc., to see who readers
are voting as the best in their genre.
Note that some bloggers are more willing to
discuss their craft than others; keep an eye
out for the bloggers who take the time to
share blogging advice. Where possible, look
for blogs that give advice without trying to
sell you all the answers (it happens even with
the best, so be prepared to cherry-pick and
cobble together your advice tidbits!).
Whether or not advice is offered, at least
learn from reading the popular blogger's
writing styles to work out what keeps them
connecting with readers.
5
Consider your writing style. If you're used to
writing in a technical, academic, or formal way,
blog writing might come as a bit of a shock. Blog
writing style tends to be more conversational,
peppered with a lot of your own opinion
(however outrageous!), and above all, it needs
to be interesting. The writing style best suited
for you will come down to the content of your
blog and its likely readership. Clearly, a blog that
is more technical in nature can carry more
technical writing but even then, your readers
will want you to break down the latest techno-
whizz gadget to terms that they can understand
and digest quickly.
Be careful to avoid preaching at your readers.
For many blogs, readers are looking for you to
meet with them eye-to-eye, not to sermonize,
scold, or seem superior to them. Treat them
as equals. Expect to be humble, and to share
foibles that each of us experiences in daily
life. A sense of humor and humility are always
important for a good blogger.
Political blogs can easily become bogged
down in angry rants or intolerant tirades if
you wear your heart on sleeve without
involving your head. Seek to maintain a
serious tone in such blogs without resorting
to name-calling and deprecating comments.
Be very careful when cursing. If your blog fits
cursing and the occasional "eff" word makes
great sense in the context, then fine, go
ahead and use it. But a blog peppered with
abusive commentary and little else than
cursing will put readers off. Letting off steam
is one thing, being a swear-o-holic is quite
another. And cursing all of a sudden when
you've never done so before will lose some of
your readership.
6
Think about your blog's layout carefully. Do
a lot of research on this to find what works best.
Use the lessons others have already learned;
some key things to get you started include:
Genre: Generally it pays to stick to one genre
per blog if you're an individual. For example,
unless you have an amazing knack, readers
are less enthused by a blog that combines
political opinions, recipes, an examination of
existential angst literature, your latest movie
reviews, and how to sew clothes for kids all in
the one blog. The exception is for
instructional sites that put themselves out
into the blogosphere with a cadre of writers
writing across different fields. If you want to
spread yourself more broadly, there are two
avenues - either have a variety of blogs if you
have the time to maintain them, or dedicate
one blog to the "self-introspective" stuff for a
hobby and maintain another serious single
genre or topic blog separately, with an eye to
making it popular with readers.
Length of posts: There is no hard and fast
rule because it depends on the content, the
quality, the message, and the audience.
Certainly, a lot has been written about brevity
being important but so is getting the full
picture where this is warranted. Keeping in
mind that most online readers have fleeting
attention spans, judge length by how your
readers respond, the utility of your
information, and the subject matter. Consider
mixing up lengths of posts, to give readers a
break in between the more lengthy and
"erudite" ones!
Layout: Headers are useful; subheadings help
break up large topics and pictures and give
the eyes a rest. Block quotes can work well,
and leaving space allows the reader to feel
relaxed, not rushed or overwhelmed. Try to
use short paragraphs, no matter the length
of the post. Use bolding to draw out
important points and to capture the attention
of the reader (bolding also interests the
search engine but that's another matter).
Frequency: Too few posts and people will
think you've wandered off; and so too will
they. Too many and you'll wear readers out –
remember that they have other things to
read and do! Reader and writer burnout is a
real issue when you over-post, so think
through carefully what works best for you.
Keep in mind the reality that search engines
like a good frequency of regular posts.
Editing: Check your spelling and your
grammar. Never underestimate the
importance of this. Your expertise in the blog
content won't shine if your spelling is
questionable.
Revise, revise, revise: Cut it out if in doubt
and say it with less. The polishing aspect can
sometimes take longer than the original
write-up but it's worth the effort to ensure
that your readers remain captivated.
7
Be creative. Even if you're a brilliant author,
words alone won't make a blog. Most readers
expect the blog to look impressive, and to be
accompanied by at least one photo or image.
Visuals add sparkle and capture people's
attention. As with anything, don't overuse them
– just seek to get the balance right.
Use your common sense when assessing how
much is too much – if you're adding a
photography, how-to, or recipe post, you'll be
able to get away with more photos than say,
a political or opinion piece blog post.
8
Think about what you're going to title your
blog posts . You could have the most relevant
information on the topic, but if it has a boring
title, it won't be read. Use headlines that draw in
readers and that search engines latch onto. The
search engine element is an art in and of itself
which you'll eventually find yourself learning
more about. For now, however, some key
pointers to bear in mind include:
Use words that marketers use to capture
attention. There are several "Top 10 English
Words" lists available online used by
marketers to grab attention (do a search for
one). Adding words like "you" to the title may
sound banal but according to marketing
research, strategic use of the top 10 words
can bring readers to open links to your post.
Ask questions in headings or create dangling
information that has the reader wondering
what the next piece of information will be.
Make your heading tantalizing so that it prods
the reader into wanting to read more - if your
heading speaks to a need in a reader, then
they'll love it. Top of the list is "How to..."!
Keep the title simple. The simpler, the better,
and try to keep the title less than 40
characters and the search engine will also
love your blog!
9
Encourage comments. People will read your
words of wisdom but they won't tell you what
they think because the majority of people (and
that means around 99 percent) won't unless
prompted. You'll get a significantly larger
number of comments if you ask for them.
Don't close down your comments feature. It's
important not to fear comments - they're a
pulse on your blog, letting you know that
people are responding to your blogging,
whether negatively or positively. If your blog
is really good, you'll get both sides of the
responses, which is ideal!
Make it easy for your readers to comment.
Readers don't want to jump through hoops.
Balance making them sign in and using
CAPTCHA fixes before they can say a single
line with the fact that this will cause many of
them to not bother at all. The fewer hurdles,
the better, especially where personal
information is concerned.
Always end your blog posts encouraging
comments by asking questions, or asking for
experiences and suggestions from the reader.
Without fail, respond to your commenters.
Not only is that polite to the person who took
the time to comment but it lets other readers
know that you care and engage with them.
They are looking! An obvious exception is
spamming or flaming, in which case, either
remove the comment (spam) as soon as
possible, or let it stand on its own lack of
merits ( flaming) unless you have a witty and
kind response.
Remove spam as soon as you can. It looks
unprofessional. Invest in a way of keeping
spam off - there are plenty of programs
available. Find good ways to clean up spam
that don't involve chasing off your genuine
readers.
10
Spread the word about your blog and new
posts . Use today's social media to the max.
There are many platforms to choose from. Use
one, or preferably, many of them. Twitter,
Facebook, Digg, and Tumblr are just a few.
Take time to visit other blogger's blogs and
leave comments with your name and link in
them. Get known as someone who cares
about what other bloggers are saying and
creating, and they'll repay the favor.
11
Encourage others to guest post on your
blog . Guest posting is an excellent means for
getting well-known, quality bloggers to increase
the profile of your blog. Offer guest posts in
return, so as to get your blog's link into other
people's blogs.
Guest posts increase variety for your readers.
And if you get well-known bloggers on your
blog, this will help your readers to connect
you with the guest poster, which will increase
your profile.
12
Love your readers and give back to them.
Show your readers that you appreciate them.
Give back to them by:
Responding to your reader's comments
promptly.
Visiting your reader's blogs if they have them.
Leave supportive comments and even
suggest they guest blog for you now and
then.
Facilitating your readers' interaction through
quizzes, competitions, surveys, featuring your
readers, etc.
Always provide a quality read that is of
interest.
Tips
Tag your articles. Learn about tagging and use
it. Tags make a huge difference in your
readership.
32 Helpful? 1
This article is an overview of what a good
blogger practices. It is a good launching point
for you to realize you never stop learning. There
are many new avenues that you will go down as
you increase your readership and improve your
blog.
18 Helpful? 2
Consider how your blog connects with and
supports your other online activities, as well as
your offline business. Plan in advance so that
you can make the most of the linkages. Update
the purpose of your blog, as needed, and
evaluate the support role on a routine basis.
A Mother's Touch
Memories are a treasured secret;
sometimes we bury these memories in the
back of our minds and one day something
will remind us to look back and appreciate
all that our mother has done for us.
by jaelpn Jan 22, '11
"A mother is she who can take the place of all
others but
whose place no one else can take."
-- Cardinal Mermillod
There is a place in everyone's heart that will
always remember "Mom"...the touch of a gentle
hand that is placed on our foreheads when we
are running a fever, a kleenex swiped across our
tiny noses when we have a cold, a hand that
reaches out to us when we cross the street.
Memories are a treasured secret; sometimes we
bury these memories in the back of our minds
and one day something will remind us to look
back and appreciate all that our mother has
done for us.
As a nurse- I have witnessed many of my
alzheimer residents searching for "mom"...
forgetting that their mother has passed away
years ago. There is something in all of us, that
no matter how far our mothers may be; no
matter how old we may become- we still need
our mother's touch. I have often sat next to a
scared resident and allowed them to talk about
their fears until they have drifted off to sleep.
I've kissed a forehead, I have walked hand in
hand down the hallway to show them their room
when they have lost their way. In a way, I have
become the mother of a child. I have wiped
runny noses, I have put on many socks and tied
shoes. I have done something as simple as put
on a band-aid and I see the gleam of someone's
eyes as if to remember when mom use to cure
all boo-boo's. As I am passing my medications,
taking doctor's orders, assessing someone who
has fallen on the floor- I have heard people pass
by and say "Thank goodness I don't have that
job..." I would be lying if I told you that nursing
was an easy job. Even when I leave work and
come home- I am still a nurse. There is not a day
that goes by, that something doesn't remind me
of caregiving.
A mother's heart is golden. She gives birth to us,
she feeds us, bathes us, teaches us, disciplines
us, and most of all- loves us. I know that my
mom had her hands full with five children. She
made sure we had our homework done, took us
to the library to allow us to explore the world of
reading and to gain knowledge, made sure we
had a nice warm house with plenty of food. I
couldn't have asked for better parents than my
mom and dad. We were never spoiled; we did
chores every day, we worked hard for our
allowance. We had movie nights, we caught
fireflies outside on a summers night. When I look
back on my childhood, I remember making a
kite with my mom and going out in the field
when the wind was strong and watching the
kite go way up in the sky. It kind of reminds me
of how it is when a mother lets a child go; which
ever way the wind blows, mom has to allow her
children to take off in life. She still has the kite
string to pull us back if the wind current gets
too strong, and yet we are free to fly as high as
we can in life. Someday, when my mom is much
older and needs me, I want to be there for her
as much as she was there for me. One day,
when I have children of my own, I hope that my
hands are gentle and as caring as my own
mother's touch.
"Please take care of my mother. Although she
may not remember me, she still is the most
important woman in my life." This is what one of
my residents daughters told me. Although I may
only seem like the one that gives out the
medications and makes sure she is safe, the
resident's family believes that my hands may be
the second most important thing beyond a
mother's touch. Those are pretty big shoes to
fill, but I'd like to think that maybe I can make a
little bit of a difference.
sometimes we bury these memories in the
back of our minds and one day something
will remind us to look back and appreciate
all that our mother has done for us.
by jaelpn Jan 22, '11
"A mother is she who can take the place of all
others but
whose place no one else can take."
-- Cardinal Mermillod
There is a place in everyone's heart that will
always remember "Mom"...the touch of a gentle
hand that is placed on our foreheads when we
are running a fever, a kleenex swiped across our
tiny noses when we have a cold, a hand that
reaches out to us when we cross the street.
Memories are a treasured secret; sometimes we
bury these memories in the back of our minds
and one day something will remind us to look
back and appreciate all that our mother has
done for us.
As a nurse- I have witnessed many of my
alzheimer residents searching for "mom"...
forgetting that their mother has passed away
years ago. There is something in all of us, that
no matter how far our mothers may be; no
matter how old we may become- we still need
our mother's touch. I have often sat next to a
scared resident and allowed them to talk about
their fears until they have drifted off to sleep.
I've kissed a forehead, I have walked hand in
hand down the hallway to show them their room
when they have lost their way. In a way, I have
become the mother of a child. I have wiped
runny noses, I have put on many socks and tied
shoes. I have done something as simple as put
on a band-aid and I see the gleam of someone's
eyes as if to remember when mom use to cure
all boo-boo's. As I am passing my medications,
taking doctor's orders, assessing someone who
has fallen on the floor- I have heard people pass
by and say "Thank goodness I don't have that
job..." I would be lying if I told you that nursing
was an easy job. Even when I leave work and
come home- I am still a nurse. There is not a day
that goes by, that something doesn't remind me
of caregiving.
A mother's heart is golden. She gives birth to us,
she feeds us, bathes us, teaches us, disciplines
us, and most of all- loves us. I know that my
mom had her hands full with five children. She
made sure we had our homework done, took us
to the library to allow us to explore the world of
reading and to gain knowledge, made sure we
had a nice warm house with plenty of food. I
couldn't have asked for better parents than my
mom and dad. We were never spoiled; we did
chores every day, we worked hard for our
allowance. We had movie nights, we caught
fireflies outside on a summers night. When I look
back on my childhood, I remember making a
kite with my mom and going out in the field
when the wind was strong and watching the
kite go way up in the sky. It kind of reminds me
of how it is when a mother lets a child go; which
ever way the wind blows, mom has to allow her
children to take off in life. She still has the kite
string to pull us back if the wind current gets
too strong, and yet we are free to fly as high as
we can in life. Someday, when my mom is much
older and needs me, I want to be there for her
as much as she was there for me. One day,
when I have children of my own, I hope that my
hands are gentle and as caring as my own
mother's touch.
"Please take care of my mother. Although she
may not remember me, she still is the most
important woman in my life." This is what one of
my residents daughters told me. Although I may
only seem like the one that gives out the
medications and makes sure she is safe, the
resident's family believes that my hands may be
the second most important thing beyond a
mother's touch. Those are pretty big shoes to
fill, but I'd like to think that maybe I can make a
little bit of a difference.
Is An Inner Argument Holding Back YourProductivity?
Have you ever received the opportunity of your
dreams and sabotaged it by not responding?
Maybe you got an email about a possible book
deal, or an invitation to play an incredible gig, or
an inquiry from a mega-client. The dream
invitation came – and to your own surprise, you
ignored it. Why do we behave in such a clearly
counter-productive manner?
I would argue that we often do this because
we’ve brought the wrong part of ourselves to the
table. As creatives governing our own careers, we
have to bring many different skillsets — many
different selves, even — to the diverse activities
we do on a daily basis. When we bring the wrong
self to the table, we can get paralyzed.
That’s what happened to me. After I’d been
blogging for a couple of years, literary agents
began contacting me to ask, “Was I interested in
a book project?” I certainly was.
We’d meet for tea, and they’d ask me a series of
questions: “Who is the target customer for this
book? How would you say you differ from say, a
Martha Beck, or a Deepak Chopra? Are you doing
any major corporate speaking?”
When we bring the wrong self to the table, we
can get paralyzed.
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but what happened
next was this: I ignored their follow-up emails. I’d
wake up in the middle of the night, heart
pounding, thinking “Seriously, what kind of writer
who wants to do a book doesn’t respond to a
literary agent’s enthusiastic note?” I wasn’t sure
why I was stuck.
Months later, I saw the problem: My inner artist
had gotten spooked. Thinking these meetings
were about my writing, I brought my writer-self,
my super-sensitive inner artist, to the meetings.
And guess what? My inner artist is terrified and
paralyzed by conversations about how to market
her work.
That’s when I realized that there were other
selves, other advocates, that I could bring to the
table.
There are three voices within every creator:
The Inner Artist
The Inner Editor
The Inner Agent
To have a successful career, we must all learn
how to deploy each of them at particular times,
and keep them from stepping on each other’s
toes.
I would argue that most of the problems in our
creative lives stem from bringing the wrong part
of ourselves to the task at hand. Most of us under-
utilize at least one of the three roles and over-use
one of the other roles. A thriving creative career
requires consciously shifting between the three
voices, utilizing each at the right time.
In the early stage of the creative process, we
need the inner artist. The artist’s domain is
drafting, receiving ideas and inspiration, fleshing
them out. The artist thrives in an atmosphere of
curiosity, safety, and play. She needs shelter from
others’ opinions and respite from even thinking
about what the judgments of others might be.
In the second stage of the creative process, the
inner editor leads. The editor’s domain is revising,
trimming, structuring. Whereas the artist must
forget about what other people might think, the
editor brings the audience back into the process,
ensuring that the work effectively communicates
the artist’s intent.
Then the inner agent takes the baton. The
agent’s domain is developing marketing
messages for the work, communicating about the
work to external stakeholders, and finding
distribution. The agent is thick-skinned, brave,
and wise about the market.
Most of the problems in our creative lives stem
from bringing the wrong part of ourselves to the
task at hand.
Of course, the process is not entirely linear. A late-
stage problem that requires a highly creative
solution might require the inner artist, for
example.
Each inner archetype has a wholly different way
of being. The artist explores what he doesn’t
know. The editor brings to bear what he does
know. The agent advocates for what he wants.
If the inner agent shows up in the early stage of
idea conception or fleshing out a first draft?
Disaster. The agent will impoverish the artist’s
ideas by worrying too early on about what will
sell. She’ll unknowingly push the work in a
conformist direction. She’ll mute the muse.
The inner editor can also disrupt the work of the
inner artist — evaluating the work or creating
structure prematurely.
Bring the sensitive inner artist into the agent’s
domain — into, for example, a business meeting
about how to market a piece of creative work?
She can become so turned off that she’ll run for
the hills, resulting in months of creative
stagnation.
To find more ease and productivity in your
creative process, I suggest taking these steps:
1. Take a look at what’s been happening in
your creative life by answering these
questions:
Which of these roles is my default/comfort zone?
When do I fall into this role even though it’s
really not the best fit for the task at hand?
Which role is underutilized? Which role or roles
do I avoid stepping into?
Where do I have “trust issues” between the
three roles? Does the inner artist trust the agent
to bring her work to market without selling out?
Does the inner agent think that the artist is
never going to produce anything with
commercial appeal? Notice what resentments,
conflicts or issues of trust are happening
between the three parts of you. Just observing
and naming the issues will reduce their
intensity.
2. Get to know your three inner creative
roles.
Write down a list of words or phrases you
associate with each. Give each one a theme song.
Identify a color that expresses the personality of
each one.
3. Next, look over your calendar for the
coming week.
Notice which part of you is best suited for the
various tasks, meetings, and work periods you
have ahead.
4. As you move through the week,
consciously shift into the appropriate mode
as you do the work.
Thinking of the color or song you identified can
help you quickly access that part of yourself.
Notice when your default role shows up where it’s
not helpful, and mindfully move into the mode
that’s best suited for the task.
–
What’s Your Creative Identity?
What have you learned about your different
internal personalities? Has your creative work
suffered because you brought the wrong self to
your creative work?
dreams and sabotaged it by not responding?
Maybe you got an email about a possible book
deal, or an invitation to play an incredible gig, or
an inquiry from a mega-client. The dream
invitation came – and to your own surprise, you
ignored it. Why do we behave in such a clearly
counter-productive manner?
I would argue that we often do this because
we’ve brought the wrong part of ourselves to the
table. As creatives governing our own careers, we
have to bring many different skillsets — many
different selves, even — to the diverse activities
we do on a daily basis. When we bring the wrong
self to the table, we can get paralyzed.
That’s what happened to me. After I’d been
blogging for a couple of years, literary agents
began contacting me to ask, “Was I interested in
a book project?” I certainly was.
We’d meet for tea, and they’d ask me a series of
questions: “Who is the target customer for this
book? How would you say you differ from say, a
Martha Beck, or a Deepak Chopra? Are you doing
any major corporate speaking?”
When we bring the wrong self to the table, we
can get paralyzed.
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but what happened
next was this: I ignored their follow-up emails. I’d
wake up in the middle of the night, heart
pounding, thinking “Seriously, what kind of writer
who wants to do a book doesn’t respond to a
literary agent’s enthusiastic note?” I wasn’t sure
why I was stuck.
Months later, I saw the problem: My inner artist
had gotten spooked. Thinking these meetings
were about my writing, I brought my writer-self,
my super-sensitive inner artist, to the meetings.
And guess what? My inner artist is terrified and
paralyzed by conversations about how to market
her work.
That’s when I realized that there were other
selves, other advocates, that I could bring to the
table.
There are three voices within every creator:
The Inner Artist
The Inner Editor
The Inner Agent
To have a successful career, we must all learn
how to deploy each of them at particular times,
and keep them from stepping on each other’s
toes.
I would argue that most of the problems in our
creative lives stem from bringing the wrong part
of ourselves to the task at hand. Most of us under-
utilize at least one of the three roles and over-use
one of the other roles. A thriving creative career
requires consciously shifting between the three
voices, utilizing each at the right time.
In the early stage of the creative process, we
need the inner artist. The artist’s domain is
drafting, receiving ideas and inspiration, fleshing
them out. The artist thrives in an atmosphere of
curiosity, safety, and play. She needs shelter from
others’ opinions and respite from even thinking
about what the judgments of others might be.
In the second stage of the creative process, the
inner editor leads. The editor’s domain is revising,
trimming, structuring. Whereas the artist must
forget about what other people might think, the
editor brings the audience back into the process,
ensuring that the work effectively communicates
the artist’s intent.
Then the inner agent takes the baton. The
agent’s domain is developing marketing
messages for the work, communicating about the
work to external stakeholders, and finding
distribution. The agent is thick-skinned, brave,
and wise about the market.
Most of the problems in our creative lives stem
from bringing the wrong part of ourselves to the
task at hand.
Of course, the process is not entirely linear. A late-
stage problem that requires a highly creative
solution might require the inner artist, for
example.
Each inner archetype has a wholly different way
of being. The artist explores what he doesn’t
know. The editor brings to bear what he does
know. The agent advocates for what he wants.
If the inner agent shows up in the early stage of
idea conception or fleshing out a first draft?
Disaster. The agent will impoverish the artist’s
ideas by worrying too early on about what will
sell. She’ll unknowingly push the work in a
conformist direction. She’ll mute the muse.
The inner editor can also disrupt the work of the
inner artist — evaluating the work or creating
structure prematurely.
Bring the sensitive inner artist into the agent’s
domain — into, for example, a business meeting
about how to market a piece of creative work?
She can become so turned off that she’ll run for
the hills, resulting in months of creative
stagnation.
To find more ease and productivity in your
creative process, I suggest taking these steps:
1. Take a look at what’s been happening in
your creative life by answering these
questions:
Which of these roles is my default/comfort zone?
When do I fall into this role even though it’s
really not the best fit for the task at hand?
Which role is underutilized? Which role or roles
do I avoid stepping into?
Where do I have “trust issues” between the
three roles? Does the inner artist trust the agent
to bring her work to market without selling out?
Does the inner agent think that the artist is
never going to produce anything with
commercial appeal? Notice what resentments,
conflicts or issues of trust are happening
between the three parts of you. Just observing
and naming the issues will reduce their
intensity.
2. Get to know your three inner creative
roles.
Write down a list of words or phrases you
associate with each. Give each one a theme song.
Identify a color that expresses the personality of
each one.
3. Next, look over your calendar for the
coming week.
Notice which part of you is best suited for the
various tasks, meetings, and work periods you
have ahead.
4. As you move through the week,
consciously shift into the appropriate mode
as you do the work.
Thinking of the color or song you identified can
help you quickly access that part of yourself.
Notice when your default role shows up where it’s
not helpful, and mindfully move into the mode
that’s best suited for the task.
–
What’s Your Creative Identity?
What have you learned about your different
internal personalities? Has your creative work
suffered because you brought the wrong self to
your creative work?
Sunday 29 September 2013
20 Productive Ways to Use Your Free Time
If you’ve got a big block of free time, the best
way to put that to use is to relax, have fun,
decompress from a stressful day, or spend time
with a loved one. But if you’ve just got a little
chunk — say 5 or 10 minutes — there’s no time
to do any of the fun stuff.
Put those little chunks of time to their most
productive use.
Everyone works differently, so the best use of
your free time really depends on you, your
working style, and what’s on your to-do list. But
it’s handy to have a list like this in order to
quickly find a way to put that little spare
time to work instantly, without any
thought. Use the following list as a way to spark
ideas for what you can do in a short amount of
time.
Reading file. Clip magazine articles or print out
good articles or reports for reading later, and
keep them in a folder marked “Reading File”.
Take this wherever you go, and any time you
have a little chunk of time, you can knock off
items in your Reading File. Keep a reading file on
your computer (or in your bookmarks), for quick
reading while at your desk (or on the road if
you’ve got a laptop).
Clear out inbox. Got a meeting in 5 minutes?
Use it to get your physical or email inbox to
empty. If you’ve got a lot in your inbox, you’ll
have to work quickly, and you may not get
everything done, but reducing your pile can be
a big help. And having an empty inbox is a
wonderful feeling.
Phone calls. Keep a list of phone calls you need
to make, with phone numbers, and carry it
everywhere. Whether you’re at your desk or on
the road, you can knock a few calls off your list
in a short amount of time.
Make money. This is my favorite productive
use of free time. I have a list of articles I need to
write, and when I get some spare minutes, I’ll
knock off half an article real quick. If you get
5-10 chunks of free time a day, you can make a
decent side income. Figure out how you can
free-lance your skills, and have work lined up
that you can knock out quickly — break it up
into little chunks, so those chunks can be done
in short bursts.
File. No one likes to do this. If you’re on top of
your game, you’re filing stuff immediately, so it
doesn’t pile up. But if you’ve just come off a
really busy spurt, you may have a bunch of
documents or files laying around. Or maybe you
have a big stack of stuff to file. Cut into that
stack with every little bit of spare time you get,
and soon you’ll be in filing Nirvana.
Network. Only have 2 minutes? Shoot off a
quick email to a colleague. Even just a “touching
bases” or follow-up email can do wonders for
your working relationship. Or shoot off a quick
question, and put it on your follow-up list for
later.
Clear out feeds. If my email inbox is empty,
and I have some spare time, I like to go to my
Google Reader and clear out my feed inbox.
Goal time. Take 10 minutes to think about your
goals, personal and professional. If you don’t
have a list of goals, start on one. If you’ve got a
list of goals, review them. Write down a list of
action steps you can take over the next couple
of weeks to make these goals a reality. What
action step can you do today? The more you
focus on these goals, and review them, the more
likely they will come true.
Update finances. Many people fall behind with
their finances, either in paying bills (they don’t
have time), or entering transactions in their
financial software, or clearing their checkbook,
or reviewing their budget. Take a few minutes to
update these things. It just takes 10-15 minutes
every now and then.
Brainstorm ideas. Another favorite of mine if I
just have 5 minutes — I’ll break out my pocket
notebook, and start a brainstorming list for a
project or article. Whatever you’ve got coming
up in your work or personal life, it can benefit
from a brainstorm. And that doesn’t take long.
Clear off desk. Similar to the filing tip above,
but this applies to whatever junk you’ve got
cluttering up your desk. Or on the floor around
your desk. Trash stuff, file stuff, put it in its
place. A clear desk makes for a more productive
you. And it’s oddly satisfying.
Exercise. Never have time to exercise? 10
minutes is enough to get off some pushups and
crunches. Do that 2-3 times a day, and you’ve
got a fit new you.
Take a walk. This is another form of exercise
that doesn’t take long, and you can do it
anywhere — but even more important, it’s a
good way to stretch your legs from sitting at
your desk too long, and it gets your creative
juices flowing. If you’re ever stuck for ideas,
taking a walk is a good way to get unstuck.
Follow up. Keep a follow-up list for everything
you’re waiting on. Return calls, emails, memos
— anything that someone owes you, put on the
list. When you’ve got a spare 10 minutes, do
some follow-up calls or emails.
Meditate. You don’t need a yoga mat to do
this. Just do it at your desk. Focus on your
breathing. A quick 5-10 minutes of meditation
(or even a nap) can be tremendously refreshing.
Research. This is a daunting task for me. So I
do it in little spurts. If I’ve only got a few
minutes, I’ll do some quick research and take
some notes. Do this a few times, and I’m done!
Outline. Similar to brainstorming, but more
formal. I like to do an outline of a complicated
article, report or project, and it helps speed
things along when I get to the actual writing.
And it only takes a few minutes.
Get prepped. Outlining is one way to prep for
longer work, but there’s a lot of other ways you
can prep for the next task on your list. You may
not have time to actually start on the task right
now, but when you come back from your
meeting or lunch, you’ll be all prepped and
ready to go.
Be early. Got some spare time before a
meeting? Show up for the meeting early. Sure,
you might feel like a chump sitting there alone,
but actually people respect those who show up
early. It’s better than being late (unless you’re
trying to play a power trip or something, but
that’s not appreciated in many circles).
Log. If you keep a log of anything, a few spare
minutes is the perfect time to update the log.
Actually, the perfect time to update the log is
right after you do the activity (exercise, eat,
crank a widget), but if you didn’t have time to
do it before, your 5-minute break is as good a
time as any.
Got some productive spare-time tips of your
own? Share them in the comments.
way to put that to use is to relax, have fun,
decompress from a stressful day, or spend time
with a loved one. But if you’ve just got a little
chunk — say 5 or 10 minutes — there’s no time
to do any of the fun stuff.
Put those little chunks of time to their most
productive use.
Everyone works differently, so the best use of
your free time really depends on you, your
working style, and what’s on your to-do list. But
it’s handy to have a list like this in order to
quickly find a way to put that little spare
time to work instantly, without any
thought. Use the following list as a way to spark
ideas for what you can do in a short amount of
time.
Reading file. Clip magazine articles or print out
good articles or reports for reading later, and
keep them in a folder marked “Reading File”.
Take this wherever you go, and any time you
have a little chunk of time, you can knock off
items in your Reading File. Keep a reading file on
your computer (or in your bookmarks), for quick
reading while at your desk (or on the road if
you’ve got a laptop).
Clear out inbox. Got a meeting in 5 minutes?
Use it to get your physical or email inbox to
empty. If you’ve got a lot in your inbox, you’ll
have to work quickly, and you may not get
everything done, but reducing your pile can be
a big help. And having an empty inbox is a
wonderful feeling.
Phone calls. Keep a list of phone calls you need
to make, with phone numbers, and carry it
everywhere. Whether you’re at your desk or on
the road, you can knock a few calls off your list
in a short amount of time.
Make money. This is my favorite productive
use of free time. I have a list of articles I need to
write, and when I get some spare minutes, I’ll
knock off half an article real quick. If you get
5-10 chunks of free time a day, you can make a
decent side income. Figure out how you can
free-lance your skills, and have work lined up
that you can knock out quickly — break it up
into little chunks, so those chunks can be done
in short bursts.
File. No one likes to do this. If you’re on top of
your game, you’re filing stuff immediately, so it
doesn’t pile up. But if you’ve just come off a
really busy spurt, you may have a bunch of
documents or files laying around. Or maybe you
have a big stack of stuff to file. Cut into that
stack with every little bit of spare time you get,
and soon you’ll be in filing Nirvana.
Network. Only have 2 minutes? Shoot off a
quick email to a colleague. Even just a “touching
bases” or follow-up email can do wonders for
your working relationship. Or shoot off a quick
question, and put it on your follow-up list for
later.
Clear out feeds. If my email inbox is empty,
and I have some spare time, I like to go to my
Google Reader and clear out my feed inbox.
Goal time. Take 10 minutes to think about your
goals, personal and professional. If you don’t
have a list of goals, start on one. If you’ve got a
list of goals, review them. Write down a list of
action steps you can take over the next couple
of weeks to make these goals a reality. What
action step can you do today? The more you
focus on these goals, and review them, the more
likely they will come true.
Update finances. Many people fall behind with
their finances, either in paying bills (they don’t
have time), or entering transactions in their
financial software, or clearing their checkbook,
or reviewing their budget. Take a few minutes to
update these things. It just takes 10-15 minutes
every now and then.
Brainstorm ideas. Another favorite of mine if I
just have 5 minutes — I’ll break out my pocket
notebook, and start a brainstorming list for a
project or article. Whatever you’ve got coming
up in your work or personal life, it can benefit
from a brainstorm. And that doesn’t take long.
Clear off desk. Similar to the filing tip above,
but this applies to whatever junk you’ve got
cluttering up your desk. Or on the floor around
your desk. Trash stuff, file stuff, put it in its
place. A clear desk makes for a more productive
you. And it’s oddly satisfying.
Exercise. Never have time to exercise? 10
minutes is enough to get off some pushups and
crunches. Do that 2-3 times a day, and you’ve
got a fit new you.
Take a walk. This is another form of exercise
that doesn’t take long, and you can do it
anywhere — but even more important, it’s a
good way to stretch your legs from sitting at
your desk too long, and it gets your creative
juices flowing. If you’re ever stuck for ideas,
taking a walk is a good way to get unstuck.
Follow up. Keep a follow-up list for everything
you’re waiting on. Return calls, emails, memos
— anything that someone owes you, put on the
list. When you’ve got a spare 10 minutes, do
some follow-up calls or emails.
Meditate. You don’t need a yoga mat to do
this. Just do it at your desk. Focus on your
breathing. A quick 5-10 minutes of meditation
(or even a nap) can be tremendously refreshing.
Research. This is a daunting task for me. So I
do it in little spurts. If I’ve only got a few
minutes, I’ll do some quick research and take
some notes. Do this a few times, and I’m done!
Outline. Similar to brainstorming, but more
formal. I like to do an outline of a complicated
article, report or project, and it helps speed
things along when I get to the actual writing.
And it only takes a few minutes.
Get prepped. Outlining is one way to prep for
longer work, but there’s a lot of other ways you
can prep for the next task on your list. You may
not have time to actually start on the task right
now, but when you come back from your
meeting or lunch, you’ll be all prepped and
ready to go.
Be early. Got some spare time before a
meeting? Show up for the meeting early. Sure,
you might feel like a chump sitting there alone,
but actually people respect those who show up
early. It’s better than being late (unless you’re
trying to play a power trip or something, but
that’s not appreciated in many circles).
Log. If you keep a log of anything, a few spare
minutes is the perfect time to update the log.
Actually, the perfect time to update the log is
right after you do the activity (exercise, eat,
crank a widget), but if you didn’t have time to
do it before, your 5-minute break is as good a
time as any.
Got some productive spare-time tips of your
own? Share them in the comments.
Kate Henshaw -- "I Am Very Much Single"
Kate Henshaw -- "I Am Very Much Single"
The 42 year old actress who separated from her
husband in 2011 speaks on why she is still single
and the reason she is only focusing on her career
for now…
I just decided that, ok, it didn’t work. Next, I had
to move on. There is no need holding on to the
past – no need holding on to something if it’s not
working any more. There is no need flogging
a dead horse since it is already lifeless. And when
you decide to bury the horse, would you not
leave the grave site afterwards? You would go
now. Anything that happens to you now, that
sun would still set, another day would come. So,
it’s your choice to either be part of the living or
be in the grave yard. And I choose to be alive,
enjoy my life and smile at everything that is
happening – good or bad. As long as God is with
you, things would always be fine with you.
I’m not thinking about anything. At the moment,
I’m facing my career. If it comes, fine. If it
doesn’t come, that’s okay. It’s not the end of the
world because I’m convinced that God loves me.
Love has given me more than enough. I have the
most gorgeous daughter in the whole world.
That’s enough for me.
The 42 year old actress who separated from her
husband in 2011 speaks on why she is still single
and the reason she is only focusing on her career
for now…
I just decided that, ok, it didn’t work. Next, I had
to move on. There is no need holding on to the
past – no need holding on to something if it’s not
working any more. There is no need flogging
a dead horse since it is already lifeless. And when
you decide to bury the horse, would you not
leave the grave site afterwards? You would go
now. Anything that happens to you now, that
sun would still set, another day would come. So,
it’s your choice to either be part of the living or
be in the grave yard. And I choose to be alive,
enjoy my life and smile at everything that is
happening – good or bad. As long as God is with
you, things would always be fine with you.
I’m not thinking about anything. At the moment,
I’m facing my career. If it comes, fine. If it
doesn’t come, that’s okay. It’s not the end of the
world because I’m convinced that God loves me.
Love has given me more than enough. I have the
most gorgeous daughter in the whole world.
That’s enough for me.
Jim Iyke visits TB Joshua’s church fordeliverance
Jim Iyke visits TB Joshua’s church for
deliverance
Sep 30th, 2013 @ 06:45 am › Editor
↓ Skip to comments
1
By Osagie Alonge
Jim Iyke visits Prophet T.B. Joshua‘s Synagogue
Church of All Nations. Photo: Facebook
A video and photos showing Nollywood actor Jim
Iyke ’receiving his deliverance’ at the
Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN)
has gone viral online.
The video shows the actor rolling all over the floor
as ‘demons and evil’ are cast out of him.
It is unclear when this event occurred, but it was
televised over the weekend on the ministry’s
cable channel Emmanuel TV.
The church even went ahead to explain the
actor’s deliverance on its Facebook page.
‘As Wise Man Daniel ministered prayer in Jesus’
name, Nollywood Actor Jim Iyke, of international
fame, was arrested by the power of the Holy
Spirit. The evil spirit that had tormented his life
for so many years began to manifest, confessing
that it was the cause of his setback and
disappointment’, the church posted.
After the report began to filter, Jim however took
to twitter to comment. ‘It’s beautiful. That’s the
least can say. Nothing else truly matters. God
liveth whether you are a believer or not’.
Watch the video below…
© NET Newspapers 2013. All Rights Reserved.
Please use sharing tools. Do not cut, copy or lift
any content from this website without our
consent.
deliverance
Sep 30th, 2013 @ 06:45 am › Editor
↓ Skip to comments
1
By Osagie Alonge
Jim Iyke visits Prophet T.B. Joshua‘s Synagogue
Church of All Nations. Photo: Facebook
A video and photos showing Nollywood actor Jim
Iyke ’receiving his deliverance’ at the
Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN)
has gone viral online.
The video shows the actor rolling all over the floor
as ‘demons and evil’ are cast out of him.
It is unclear when this event occurred, but it was
televised over the weekend on the ministry’s
cable channel Emmanuel TV.
The church even went ahead to explain the
actor’s deliverance on its Facebook page.
‘As Wise Man Daniel ministered prayer in Jesus’
name, Nollywood Actor Jim Iyke, of international
fame, was arrested by the power of the Holy
Spirit. The evil spirit that had tormented his life
for so many years began to manifest, confessing
that it was the cause of his setback and
disappointment’, the church posted.
After the report began to filter, Jim however took
to twitter to comment. ‘It’s beautiful. That’s the
least can say. Nothing else truly matters. God
liveth whether you are a believer or not’.
Watch the video below…
© NET Newspapers 2013. All Rights Reserved.
Please use sharing tools. Do not cut, copy or lift
any content from this website without our
consent.
TOP NEWSUPDATE 4-U.S. Capitol quiet as federalgovernment shutdown nears
* After day of discord, no action in Senate until
Monday afternoon
* Partisans take to airwaves to pin blame on other
side
* Government shutdown starts midnight on
Monday; troops still to be paid
By David Lawder and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - With a
deadline to avert a federal government shutdown
fast approaching, the U.S. Capitol was eerily quiet
on Sunday as Republicans and Democrats waited
for the other side to blink first and break the
impasse over funding.
The Republican-controlled House of
Representatives early on Sunday passed a
measure that ties government funding to a one-
year delay of President Barack Obama's landmark
healthcare restructuring law. Senate Democrats
have vowed to quash it.
If a stop-gap spending bill for the new fiscal year
is not passed before midnight on Monday,
government agencies and programs deemed non-
essential will begin closing their doors for the first
time in 17 years.
In a sign that lawmakers increasingly view that as
inevitable, the House unanimously approved a bill
to ensure that U.S. soldiers would be paid no
matter what happened.
The high-stakes chess match in Congress will
resume on Monday when the Democratic-
controlled Senate reconvenes at 2 p.m. (1800
GMT). Senate Democrats will then attempt to
strip two Republican amendments from the
spending bill: the one that delays the 2010
healthcare law known as Obamacare and another
to repeal a medical device tax that would help
pay for the program.
They would then send a bill with a simple
extension of government spending back to the
House, putting the legislative hot potato back in
Republican House Speaker John Boehner's lap as
the shutdown looms.
"Tomorrow, the Senate will do exactly what we
said we would do and reject these measures,"
said Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid. "At that point,
Republicans will be faced with the same choice
they have always faced: put the Senate's clean
funding bill on the floor and let it pass with
bipartisan votes, or force a Republican
government shutdown."
DEBT LIMIT PRELUDE
The funding standoff is a harbinger of the next
big political battle: a far-more consequential bill to
raise the federal government's borrowing
authority. Failure to raise the $16.7 trillion debt
ceiling by mid-October would force the United
States to default on some payment obligations -
an event that could cripple its economy and send
shockwaves around the globe.
And yet, neither side wants to be the one to cast
the final vote that would lead to a shutdown. Polls
consistently show the American public is tired of
political showdowns and opposed to a shutdown.
There were no signs from Congress or the White
House of last-minute negotiations to resolve the
standoff. Instead, Democrats and Republicans
spent their energies trying to pin blame on the
other side for failing to avoid a calamity.
No lawmakers were seen in or around the Capitol
during daylight hours on Sunday until late
afternoon when 16 House Republican members
held a news conference on the Senate steps to
call on Reid to pass the funding and "Obamacare"
delay measure.
"I personally believe that Senator Reid and the
president, for political purposes, want to shut
down the government. It's a scorched earth
policy," said Representative Tim Griffin, a
Republican from Arkansas.
Democratic Senator Charles Schumer shot back
that the Republican tactics were a "subterfuge"
to avoid blame for a shutdown. "So instead of
continued game-playing, we urge Speaker
Boehner to reconvene the House, pass a clean CR
(continuing resolution) and move on," he said in a
statement.
Boehner and Reid have taken a low profile as the
deadline draws closer, leaving on-camera
appearances to deputies and often speaking
through their press staffs.
One of Boehner's deputies, Representative Kevin
McCarthy, said if the Senate stripped the funding
bill of the "Obamacare" provisions, House
Republicans would simply return it with other
changes to the healthcare law.
"It will be additions that Senate Democrats said
they can support," McCarthy told "Fox News
Sunday," without specifying these "other
options."
The repeal of the medical device tax did win some
Democratic support in the House early on
Sunday.
VETO THREAT
Obama has threatened to veto any bill that delays
his healthcare program.
The funding impasse is the culmination of more
than three years of failed conservative efforts to
repeal "Obamacare," a program aimed at
extending health insurance to millions of those
without coverage.
Republicans argue that the healthcare law, key
parts of which are set to launch on Oct. 1, is a
massive and unnecessary government intrusion
into medicine that will cause premiums to
skyrocket and damage the economy.
And if the battle over "Obamacare" pushes up to
the mid-October deadline to raise the debt
ceiling, U.S. stocks may suffer. When gridlock
threatened a debt default in 2011, the Dow Jones
industrials fell about 2,100 points from July 21 to
Aug. 9, with the market needing two more
months to regain its footing.
Under a government shutdown, more than a
million federal employees would be furloughed
from their jobs, with the impact depending on the
duration of a shutdown.
The current timetable could leave Boehner with
the most difficult decision of his career: whether
to approve a clean continuing resolution the
Senate will likely send it Monday afternoon or
allow the government to shut down for the first
time since late 1995.
In a government shutdown, spending for
functions considered essential, related to national
security or public safety, would continue along
with benefit programs such as Medicare health
insurance and Social Security retirement benefits
for seniors.
But civilian federal employees - from people who
process forms and handle regulatory matters to
workers at national parks and museums in
Washington - would be temporarily out of work.
The last government shutdown ran from Dec. 16,
1995, to Jan. 6, 1996, and was the product of a
budget battle between Democratic President Bill
Clinton and Republicans, led by then-Speaker
Newt Gingrich.
Republicans suffered a public backlash when
voters re-elected Clinton in a landslide the
following November, a lesson never forgotten by
senior Republicans, including Boehner.
Monday afternoon
* Partisans take to airwaves to pin blame on other
side
* Government shutdown starts midnight on
Monday; troops still to be paid
By David Lawder and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - With a
deadline to avert a federal government shutdown
fast approaching, the U.S. Capitol was eerily quiet
on Sunday as Republicans and Democrats waited
for the other side to blink first and break the
impasse over funding.
The Republican-controlled House of
Representatives early on Sunday passed a
measure that ties government funding to a one-
year delay of President Barack Obama's landmark
healthcare restructuring law. Senate Democrats
have vowed to quash it.
If a stop-gap spending bill for the new fiscal year
is not passed before midnight on Monday,
government agencies and programs deemed non-
essential will begin closing their doors for the first
time in 17 years.
In a sign that lawmakers increasingly view that as
inevitable, the House unanimously approved a bill
to ensure that U.S. soldiers would be paid no
matter what happened.
The high-stakes chess match in Congress will
resume on Monday when the Democratic-
controlled Senate reconvenes at 2 p.m. (1800
GMT). Senate Democrats will then attempt to
strip two Republican amendments from the
spending bill: the one that delays the 2010
healthcare law known as Obamacare and another
to repeal a medical device tax that would help
pay for the program.
They would then send a bill with a simple
extension of government spending back to the
House, putting the legislative hot potato back in
Republican House Speaker John Boehner's lap as
the shutdown looms.
"Tomorrow, the Senate will do exactly what we
said we would do and reject these measures,"
said Adam Jentleson, a spokesman for Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid. "At that point,
Republicans will be faced with the same choice
they have always faced: put the Senate's clean
funding bill on the floor and let it pass with
bipartisan votes, or force a Republican
government shutdown."
DEBT LIMIT PRELUDE
The funding standoff is a harbinger of the next
big political battle: a far-more consequential bill to
raise the federal government's borrowing
authority. Failure to raise the $16.7 trillion debt
ceiling by mid-October would force the United
States to default on some payment obligations -
an event that could cripple its economy and send
shockwaves around the globe.
And yet, neither side wants to be the one to cast
the final vote that would lead to a shutdown. Polls
consistently show the American public is tired of
political showdowns and opposed to a shutdown.
There were no signs from Congress or the White
House of last-minute negotiations to resolve the
standoff. Instead, Democrats and Republicans
spent their energies trying to pin blame on the
other side for failing to avoid a calamity.
No lawmakers were seen in or around the Capitol
during daylight hours on Sunday until late
afternoon when 16 House Republican members
held a news conference on the Senate steps to
call on Reid to pass the funding and "Obamacare"
delay measure.
"I personally believe that Senator Reid and the
president, for political purposes, want to shut
down the government. It's a scorched earth
policy," said Representative Tim Griffin, a
Republican from Arkansas.
Democratic Senator Charles Schumer shot back
that the Republican tactics were a "subterfuge"
to avoid blame for a shutdown. "So instead of
continued game-playing, we urge Speaker
Boehner to reconvene the House, pass a clean CR
(continuing resolution) and move on," he said in a
statement.
Boehner and Reid have taken a low profile as the
deadline draws closer, leaving on-camera
appearances to deputies and often speaking
through their press staffs.
One of Boehner's deputies, Representative Kevin
McCarthy, said if the Senate stripped the funding
bill of the "Obamacare" provisions, House
Republicans would simply return it with other
changes to the healthcare law.
"It will be additions that Senate Democrats said
they can support," McCarthy told "Fox News
Sunday," without specifying these "other
options."
The repeal of the medical device tax did win some
Democratic support in the House early on
Sunday.
VETO THREAT
Obama has threatened to veto any bill that delays
his healthcare program.
The funding impasse is the culmination of more
than three years of failed conservative efforts to
repeal "Obamacare," a program aimed at
extending health insurance to millions of those
without coverage.
Republicans argue that the healthcare law, key
parts of which are set to launch on Oct. 1, is a
massive and unnecessary government intrusion
into medicine that will cause premiums to
skyrocket and damage the economy.
And if the battle over "Obamacare" pushes up to
the mid-October deadline to raise the debt
ceiling, U.S. stocks may suffer. When gridlock
threatened a debt default in 2011, the Dow Jones
industrials fell about 2,100 points from July 21 to
Aug. 9, with the market needing two more
months to regain its footing.
Under a government shutdown, more than a
million federal employees would be furloughed
from their jobs, with the impact depending on the
duration of a shutdown.
The current timetable could leave Boehner with
the most difficult decision of his career: whether
to approve a clean continuing resolution the
Senate will likely send it Monday afternoon or
allow the government to shut down for the first
time since late 1995.
In a government shutdown, spending for
functions considered essential, related to national
security or public safety, would continue along
with benefit programs such as Medicare health
insurance and Social Security retirement benefits
for seniors.
But civilian federal employees - from people who
process forms and handle regulatory matters to
workers at national parks and museums in
Washington - would be temporarily out of work.
The last government shutdown ran from Dec. 16,
1995, to Jan. 6, 1996, and was the product of a
budget battle between Democratic President Bill
Clinton and Republicans, led by then-Speaker
Newt Gingrich.
Republicans suffered a public backlash when
voters re-elected Clinton in a landslide the
following November, a lesson never forgotten by
senior Republicans, including Boehner.
TOP NEWSUPDATE 5-Obama urges feuding U.S.Congress to avoid shutdown
* Weekend sessions of Congress set
* Senate bill would operate government for six
weeks
* Defiant House Republicans seek one-year
Obamacare delay
By Rachelle Younglai and Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - President
Barack Obama sternly warned the U.S. Congress
on Friday against a government shutdown on
Oct. 1 as lawmakers struggled to pass an
emergency spending bill that Republicans want
to use to defund Obama's healthcare reform law.
While there was still a chance of averting a
shutdown, time was running out as House of
Representatives Republicans fought with each
other over the next steps.
"Over the next three days, House Republicans will
have to decide whether to join the Senate and
keep the government open or shut it down
because they can't get their way on an issue that
has nothing to do with the deficit," Obama said in
a statement to reporters at the White House.
Earlier on Friday, the Senate, as expected, passed
a straight-forward emergency-funding measure to
keep the government running through Nov. 15.
But first, it stripped out Republican language to
end funding for the healthcare law known as
Obamacare.
The House could vote on that measure in an
unusual Saturday or Sunday session. But all
indications were that Republicans would tack on a
new measure to that bill, which likely would be
rejected by the Senate and make a shutdown all
the more likely.
Hours after Obama spoke, Representative Tom
Graves of Georgia, a conservative Republican, said
he and 61 of his colleagues would seek passage of
a one-year delay of Obamacare as part of an
emergency funding bill.
Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker
John Boehner, had no comment on whether
Graves' amendment would be the path
Republicans would take this weekend. "We're
reviewing our options and will discuss them with
members tomorrow," he said.
Although some government functions like
national security would continue, a shutdown
could hit activities ranging from school lunch
programs for poor children and paying U.S.
troops to foreign embassy operations.
Before the Senate passed its bill to keep the lights
on in government buildings, Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said the measure
would "send a message to radical Republicans"
that they should climb on board with a simple
extension of federal funding at current levels.
Taunting Boehner, Reid told reporters the Senate
bill would overwhelmingly pass the House "if the
speaker had the courage" to bring it up for a
vote.
But Boehner had some political realities to
consider. Representative Richard Hudson, a North
Carolina Republican, said: "I think it would be
devastating for the speaker's support" among
Republicans if he went ahead with a bill that
needed a lot of Democratic support to pass
because of Republican opposition.
Meanwhile, business groups, including the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, urged Congress to
promptly pass the spending bill and raise the limit
on government borrowing.
Concern over fiscal negotiations in Washington
sent the dollar to a 7-1/2-month low and
pressured world equities on Friday.
The impasse has sent the cost of insuring against
a U.S. debt default to its highest since May.
A PARTIAL SHUTDOWN
A shutdown would likely result in up to 800,000
federal employees being furloughed. The most
visible sign to the public, if past shutdowns are a
guide, are museum closings in Washington that
outrage tourists and attract television cameras,
and possible delays in processing tax filings, for
example.
But the government does not grind to a halt.
Large swaths of "essential" activity continue,
including benefit checks and national security-
related operations. Government agencies were in
the process of determining which employees
would be considered essential and which not.
Obamacare would continue to be implemented,
beginning a period of open enrollment on
Tuesday for individuals to purchase insurance.
Various agencies on Friday began announcing
plans for next week in the event of a shutdown.
For example, the Labor Department said its flow
of employment statistics, which are closely
watched by financial markets, would be
disrupted.
The key 79-19 vote to end debate on the Senate
bill was a defeat for Tea Party-backed Republican
Senator Ted Cruz, who tried to tie up the Senate
all week with demands that government funds be
denied until Obama's healthcare law was put on
ice. Fewer than half of his fellow Republicans
supported him.
Cruz, speaking to reporters after the vote, urged
the House to continue fighting to scuttle
Obamacare, which he argues will hurt the U.S.
economy.
Indicative of lawmakers' desperation, many
mulled the possibility of passing a bill to keep the
government running for a very short period of
time to avert a shutdown and provide more time
to work out a longer-term deal.
Representative Shelley Moore Capito of West
Virginia, a senior House Republican, told Reuters:
"People are talking about a 10-day CR," a so-
called continuing resolution to fund the
government through Oct. 10.
That could put the subsequent temporary
funding bill on a similar timetable to a debt limit
increase that Congress must pass or risk a
government default on its loans.
MIDNIGHT MONDAY
As lawmakers stared down the midnight Monday
deadline when the current fiscal year ends - and
government funding along with it - Senate
officials worked feverishly to transmit the newly
passed spending bill to the House.
Earlier, Republican Senator John McCain blamed
members of his own party for the difficulties in
passing legislation to fund the government
beyond Monday. Congress also faces the hard
task of raising the limit on federal borrowing
authority, which Republicans are targeting for
controversial add-ons.
Without a debt limit increase by Oct. 17, Treasury
Secretary Jack Lew has warned, the United States
would have a difficult time paying creditors and
operating the government.
"We are dividing the Republican Party rather than
attacking Democrats. We are now launching
attacks against Republicans ... so it's very
dysfunctional," McCain said on the CBS program
"This Morning."
Other lawmakers also expressed frustration with
their fellow Republicans' demands to win on
Obamacare, even though the Supreme Court has
upheld most of the law.
"There's a lot of exasperation by those of us who
want to move the ball forward and in a rational
way," Capito said. "By rational, I mean trying to
achieve the achievable."
Tea Party conservatives' insistence on using these
two important fiscal bills to advance their small-
government agenda comes as a new Gallup Poll
shows the country's patience with them could be
wearing thin, even though there still are a
significant number of backers.
According to the poll, 22 percent of U.S. adults
think of themselves as supporters of the
movement, down 10 points from the apex of Tea
Party popularity in 2010, when they influenced
enough elections to return House control to
Republicans.
* Senate bill would operate government for six
weeks
* Defiant House Republicans seek one-year
Obamacare delay
By Rachelle Younglai and Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - President
Barack Obama sternly warned the U.S. Congress
on Friday against a government shutdown on
Oct. 1 as lawmakers struggled to pass an
emergency spending bill that Republicans want
to use to defund Obama's healthcare reform law.
While there was still a chance of averting a
shutdown, time was running out as House of
Representatives Republicans fought with each
other over the next steps.
"Over the next three days, House Republicans will
have to decide whether to join the Senate and
keep the government open or shut it down
because they can't get their way on an issue that
has nothing to do with the deficit," Obama said in
a statement to reporters at the White House.
Earlier on Friday, the Senate, as expected, passed
a straight-forward emergency-funding measure to
keep the government running through Nov. 15.
But first, it stripped out Republican language to
end funding for the healthcare law known as
Obamacare.
The House could vote on that measure in an
unusual Saturday or Sunday session. But all
indications were that Republicans would tack on a
new measure to that bill, which likely would be
rejected by the Senate and make a shutdown all
the more likely.
Hours after Obama spoke, Representative Tom
Graves of Georgia, a conservative Republican, said
he and 61 of his colleagues would seek passage of
a one-year delay of Obamacare as part of an
emergency funding bill.
Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker
John Boehner, had no comment on whether
Graves' amendment would be the path
Republicans would take this weekend. "We're
reviewing our options and will discuss them with
members tomorrow," he said.
Although some government functions like
national security would continue, a shutdown
could hit activities ranging from school lunch
programs for poor children and paying U.S.
troops to foreign embassy operations.
Before the Senate passed its bill to keep the lights
on in government buildings, Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said the measure
would "send a message to radical Republicans"
that they should climb on board with a simple
extension of federal funding at current levels.
Taunting Boehner, Reid told reporters the Senate
bill would overwhelmingly pass the House "if the
speaker had the courage" to bring it up for a
vote.
But Boehner had some political realities to
consider. Representative Richard Hudson, a North
Carolina Republican, said: "I think it would be
devastating for the speaker's support" among
Republicans if he went ahead with a bill that
needed a lot of Democratic support to pass
because of Republican opposition.
Meanwhile, business groups, including the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, urged Congress to
promptly pass the spending bill and raise the limit
on government borrowing.
Concern over fiscal negotiations in Washington
sent the dollar to a 7-1/2-month low and
pressured world equities on Friday.
The impasse has sent the cost of insuring against
a U.S. debt default to its highest since May.
A PARTIAL SHUTDOWN
A shutdown would likely result in up to 800,000
federal employees being furloughed. The most
visible sign to the public, if past shutdowns are a
guide, are museum closings in Washington that
outrage tourists and attract television cameras,
and possible delays in processing tax filings, for
example.
But the government does not grind to a halt.
Large swaths of "essential" activity continue,
including benefit checks and national security-
related operations. Government agencies were in
the process of determining which employees
would be considered essential and which not.
Obamacare would continue to be implemented,
beginning a period of open enrollment on
Tuesday for individuals to purchase insurance.
Various agencies on Friday began announcing
plans for next week in the event of a shutdown.
For example, the Labor Department said its flow
of employment statistics, which are closely
watched by financial markets, would be
disrupted.
The key 79-19 vote to end debate on the Senate
bill was a defeat for Tea Party-backed Republican
Senator Ted Cruz, who tried to tie up the Senate
all week with demands that government funds be
denied until Obama's healthcare law was put on
ice. Fewer than half of his fellow Republicans
supported him.
Cruz, speaking to reporters after the vote, urged
the House to continue fighting to scuttle
Obamacare, which he argues will hurt the U.S.
economy.
Indicative of lawmakers' desperation, many
mulled the possibility of passing a bill to keep the
government running for a very short period of
time to avert a shutdown and provide more time
to work out a longer-term deal.
Representative Shelley Moore Capito of West
Virginia, a senior House Republican, told Reuters:
"People are talking about a 10-day CR," a so-
called continuing resolution to fund the
government through Oct. 10.
That could put the subsequent temporary
funding bill on a similar timetable to a debt limit
increase that Congress must pass or risk a
government default on its loans.
MIDNIGHT MONDAY
As lawmakers stared down the midnight Monday
deadline when the current fiscal year ends - and
government funding along with it - Senate
officials worked feverishly to transmit the newly
passed spending bill to the House.
Earlier, Republican Senator John McCain blamed
members of his own party for the difficulties in
passing legislation to fund the government
beyond Monday. Congress also faces the hard
task of raising the limit on federal borrowing
authority, which Republicans are targeting for
controversial add-ons.
Without a debt limit increase by Oct. 17, Treasury
Secretary Jack Lew has warned, the United States
would have a difficult time paying creditors and
operating the government.
"We are dividing the Republican Party rather than
attacking Democrats. We are now launching
attacks against Republicans ... so it's very
dysfunctional," McCain said on the CBS program
"This Morning."
Other lawmakers also expressed frustration with
their fellow Republicans' demands to win on
Obamacare, even though the Supreme Court has
upheld most of the law.
"There's a lot of exasperation by those of us who
want to move the ball forward and in a rational
way," Capito said. "By rational, I mean trying to
achieve the achievable."
Tea Party conservatives' insistence on using these
two important fiscal bills to advance their small-
government agenda comes as a new Gallup Poll
shows the country's patience with them could be
wearing thin, even though there still are a
significant number of backers.
According to the poll, 22 percent of U.S. adults
think of themselves as supporters of the
movement, down 10 points from the apex of Tea
Party popularity in 2010, when they influenced
enough elections to return House control to
Republicans.
Saturday 28 September 2013
HOW TO DESIGN A BLOG
With their encyclopedic sources, up-to-the-minute
product news, and fiercely opinionated reader
reviews, these sites have become a must-read for
the design-obsessed.
To people of a certain age, the word "blog"
probably conjures up images of celebrity
gossipmongers and lonely heart teenagers
posting their diaries online. While the Web offers
plenty of blogs in those categories, it also has
more professional sites that are legitimate sources
of inside information on a given subject. Following
the recent explosion of Web sites devoted to
politics and food, design blogs are now all the
rage among savvy decorators and home-obsessed
consumers.
Design blogs are online journals written by people
who are passionate about the home-design world.
Often they work in the industry as interior
designers, architects, and stylists, and their sites
are an outlet for their boundless energy and
knowledge of home decor. Grace Bonney, the 26-
year-old behind Design Sponge
( designsponge.blogspot.com), best known for its
coverage of undiscovered artists, used to work for
a design public relations company before her site
took off. Shelterrific ( shelterrific.com), my own
home-decorating blog, is written by a handful of
magazine editors and writers whose professional
lives spill over into our shared personal obsession.
And in 2004 Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan and Oliver
Ryan started Apartment Therapy
( apartmenttherapy.com), which caters to those
living in small urban spaces, as an extension of
their interior consulting business. "Most visitors
log on during the day, multitasking at their
desks," explains Gillingham-Ryan, who has
launched six other blogs—including city-specific
versions of Apartment Therapy in Los Angeles,
San Francisco, and Chicago—over the past three
years. "You can’t read a magazine or watch TV
from your desk. But you can quickly click over to
a new window and look for something you need
for your bathroom."
As shopping tools, blogs can be incredibly useful.
New York-based TV personality Jules Asner began
browsing Design Sponge and Decor8
( decor8.blogspot.com) for inspiration after she
and her husband, director Steven Soderbergh,
bought a second home in Los Angeles. "I was
overwhelmed with having to furnish a house while
living on the opposite coast," she says. "I started
checking the sites a few times a day and found
the boutique recommendations really helpful
when I was in Berlin for a film festival."
Like magazines, blogs provide photos, product
reviews, and how-to-buy information. But they go
one step further, encouraging audiences to write
comments about postings, opening up
conversations that are often just as valuable as
the original content. And as many interior
decorators have learned, such sites can be
essential sources for hunting down hard-to-find
objects. Celerie Kemble, who runs the New York
office of Kemble Interiors, reads blogs to search
for rare pieces—from antiques to new designs—
for her clients. "Even though I go to all the trade
shows, I still think it’s helpful to read the blogs,"
Kemble says. She raves about finds like the Sir
Elton headboard from Myrica Design in
Stockholm, which she spotted on Decor8. "I e-
mailed it to all the girls in my office because I
thought a Plexiglas headboard was an ingenious
idea," she says. "How else would I have known
that there was a designer in Sweden doing this?"
Still, most readers get hooked on these blogs for a
single reason: to find the next hot product. For
example, collectors of Vitra chairs should visit
MoCo Loco ( mocoloco.com) to learn about one of
the company’s latest creations, the Worker by
Hella Jongerius. Architect-designer Basil Walter,
whose firm has created spaces for prestigious
events such as the Vanity Fair Oscar party,
regularly visits the green-lifestyle site TreeHugger
( treehugger.com) to keep up on the latest
environmentally friendly materials, such as Kirei
board, an attractive plywood substitute made
from sorghum. Both MoCo Loco and Design
Sponge cover many of the major furniture shows,
allowing their audience a first look at the newest,
most coveted pieces.
For a small company, a mention on a well-
trafficked blog can cause a firestorm of media
attention and consumer sales. One minute an
artist is quietly slaving away in a studio in
Brooklyn and the next, The New York Times is
calling. That’s exactly what happened to Lite Brite
Neon Studio. "Prior to the blogs talking about our
chandelier, no one knew about it," says owner
and designer Matt Dilling. "That’s the great thing
about these sites—they become a catalyst for
awareness." Even established de-signers can feel
the effects of the blog world’s affections.
Decorator-designer Jonathan Adler notes that
"when Design Sponge featured our Hollywood
bedding pattern, we sold a hundred sets that
day."
With thousands of design blogs currently up and
running, the choices may seem overwhelming for
the novice Web surfer. "A starting point could be
your favorite decorating magazines’ Web sites,"
advises Kemble, noting that many now have
blogs of their own. Most also include a hefty list of
links to other like-minded sites, so once you find
one that suits your tastes, an entire digital
universe unfolds at your fingertips. As Gillingham-
Ryan points out, "While the world of decorating is
very elite, blogs are democratic. We like to share."
OBJECTS OF DESIRE
Apartment Therapy
Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s crew blogged about
the Stack Stool by Hivemindesign. A new spin on
the famous Time-Life stool by Charles and Ray
Eames, it’s made of multiple pieces that can be
recombined for different looks. $1,000;
hivemindesign.com
MoCo Loco
Montreal-based blogger Harry Wakefield covers
modern contemporary design and posts updates
on artists such as David Wiseman. Known for his
chandeliers, Wiseman has a new collection of
organically shaped vases. $360. At Cooper-Hewitt,
212-849-8355.
Design Sponge
Grace Bonney, who scours the Web for the best
international objects, fell in love with this Duchess
chair from Parisian company Etc Creations. Each
vintage frame is rebuilt by hand and
environmentally sensitive. $1,880. At Etat de
Siège, 33-1/43-29-31-60.
Treehugger
The folks at this eco-site liked the idea of New
Yorkers purchasing these recycled-glass rooster
tumblers, thus becoming more responsible
shoppers. Crafted of mouthblown glass, they take
green dining to a new level. $48-$54 for four;
bergdorfgoodman.com
Shelterrific
Woodland creatures are all the rage in tabletop
design, but as the editors at Shelterrific point out,
this oval découpage Lapin platter will outlast the
trend. It’s pretty enough to hang but functional
enough to use on the table. $200. At John Derian,
212-677-3917.
If this has helped you, you can comment in the comment box.
product news, and fiercely opinionated reader
reviews, these sites have become a must-read for
the design-obsessed.
To people of a certain age, the word "blog"
probably conjures up images of celebrity
gossipmongers and lonely heart teenagers
posting their diaries online. While the Web offers
plenty of blogs in those categories, it also has
more professional sites that are legitimate sources
of inside information on a given subject. Following
the recent explosion of Web sites devoted to
politics and food, design blogs are now all the
rage among savvy decorators and home-obsessed
consumers.
Design blogs are online journals written by people
who are passionate about the home-design world.
Often they work in the industry as interior
designers, architects, and stylists, and their sites
are an outlet for their boundless energy and
knowledge of home decor. Grace Bonney, the 26-
year-old behind Design Sponge
( designsponge.blogspot.com), best known for its
coverage of undiscovered artists, used to work for
a design public relations company before her site
took off. Shelterrific ( shelterrific.com), my own
home-decorating blog, is written by a handful of
magazine editors and writers whose professional
lives spill over into our shared personal obsession.
And in 2004 Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan and Oliver
Ryan started Apartment Therapy
( apartmenttherapy.com), which caters to those
living in small urban spaces, as an extension of
their interior consulting business. "Most visitors
log on during the day, multitasking at their
desks," explains Gillingham-Ryan, who has
launched six other blogs—including city-specific
versions of Apartment Therapy in Los Angeles,
San Francisco, and Chicago—over the past three
years. "You can’t read a magazine or watch TV
from your desk. But you can quickly click over to
a new window and look for something you need
for your bathroom."
As shopping tools, blogs can be incredibly useful.
New York-based TV personality Jules Asner began
browsing Design Sponge and Decor8
( decor8.blogspot.com) for inspiration after she
and her husband, director Steven Soderbergh,
bought a second home in Los Angeles. "I was
overwhelmed with having to furnish a house while
living on the opposite coast," she says. "I started
checking the sites a few times a day and found
the boutique recommendations really helpful
when I was in Berlin for a film festival."
Like magazines, blogs provide photos, product
reviews, and how-to-buy information. But they go
one step further, encouraging audiences to write
comments about postings, opening up
conversations that are often just as valuable as
the original content. And as many interior
decorators have learned, such sites can be
essential sources for hunting down hard-to-find
objects. Celerie Kemble, who runs the New York
office of Kemble Interiors, reads blogs to search
for rare pieces—from antiques to new designs—
for her clients. "Even though I go to all the trade
shows, I still think it’s helpful to read the blogs,"
Kemble says. She raves about finds like the Sir
Elton headboard from Myrica Design in
Stockholm, which she spotted on Decor8. "I e-
mailed it to all the girls in my office because I
thought a Plexiglas headboard was an ingenious
idea," she says. "How else would I have known
that there was a designer in Sweden doing this?"
Still, most readers get hooked on these blogs for a
single reason: to find the next hot product. For
example, collectors of Vitra chairs should visit
MoCo Loco ( mocoloco.com) to learn about one of
the company’s latest creations, the Worker by
Hella Jongerius. Architect-designer Basil Walter,
whose firm has created spaces for prestigious
events such as the Vanity Fair Oscar party,
regularly visits the green-lifestyle site TreeHugger
( treehugger.com) to keep up on the latest
environmentally friendly materials, such as Kirei
board, an attractive plywood substitute made
from sorghum. Both MoCo Loco and Design
Sponge cover many of the major furniture shows,
allowing their audience a first look at the newest,
most coveted pieces.
For a small company, a mention on a well-
trafficked blog can cause a firestorm of media
attention and consumer sales. One minute an
artist is quietly slaving away in a studio in
Brooklyn and the next, The New York Times is
calling. That’s exactly what happened to Lite Brite
Neon Studio. "Prior to the blogs talking about our
chandelier, no one knew about it," says owner
and designer Matt Dilling. "That’s the great thing
about these sites—they become a catalyst for
awareness." Even established de-signers can feel
the effects of the blog world’s affections.
Decorator-designer Jonathan Adler notes that
"when Design Sponge featured our Hollywood
bedding pattern, we sold a hundred sets that
day."
With thousands of design blogs currently up and
running, the choices may seem overwhelming for
the novice Web surfer. "A starting point could be
your favorite decorating magazines’ Web sites,"
advises Kemble, noting that many now have
blogs of their own. Most also include a hefty list of
links to other like-minded sites, so once you find
one that suits your tastes, an entire digital
universe unfolds at your fingertips. As Gillingham-
Ryan points out, "While the world of decorating is
very elite, blogs are democratic. We like to share."
OBJECTS OF DESIRE
Apartment Therapy
Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s crew blogged about
the Stack Stool by Hivemindesign. A new spin on
the famous Time-Life stool by Charles and Ray
Eames, it’s made of multiple pieces that can be
recombined for different looks. $1,000;
hivemindesign.com
MoCo Loco
Montreal-based blogger Harry Wakefield covers
modern contemporary design and posts updates
on artists such as David Wiseman. Known for his
chandeliers, Wiseman has a new collection of
organically shaped vases. $360. At Cooper-Hewitt,
212-849-8355.
Design Sponge
Grace Bonney, who scours the Web for the best
international objects, fell in love with this Duchess
chair from Parisian company Etc Creations. Each
vintage frame is rebuilt by hand and
environmentally sensitive. $1,880. At Etat de
Siège, 33-1/43-29-31-60.
Treehugger
The folks at this eco-site liked the idea of New
Yorkers purchasing these recycled-glass rooster
tumblers, thus becoming more responsible
shoppers. Crafted of mouthblown glass, they take
green dining to a new level. $48-$54 for four;
bergdorfgoodman.com
Shelterrific
Woodland creatures are all the rage in tabletop
design, but as the editors at Shelterrific point out,
this oval découpage Lapin platter will outlast the
trend. It’s pretty enough to hang but functional
enough to use on the table. $200. At John Derian,
212-677-3917.
If this has helped you, you can comment in the comment box.
HOW TO STOP THINKING ABOUT SEX
Understand that there is nothing wrong
with thinking about sex . It's entirely natural,
and everyone does it. Biologically speaking, it is
next to impossible to stop thinking about sex
completely, as your body instinctively drives to
reproduce. However, it's possible for that urge to
become more like background noise as you go
through your everyday life.
2
Know your triggers. Sex is not always the
topic that gets you thinking about sex.
Sometimes pure boredom with life begins an
automated response that looks for
entertainment, and eventually leads to thinking
about sex. There are a number of triggers. If you
can identify your triggers, you can limit their
capacity to veer you into thinking about sex.
Stress is a huge trigger for sex, and thinking
about sex.
3
Develop your willpower. If you truly want to
stop thinking about sex, you need to make a
commitment to yourself and stick with it. At a
minimum, you should make a goal to curb your
sexual thoughts so that they don't distract you
from your other daily activities, such as work or
school. If you need help remembering your
commitment, wear a piece of jewelry or a simple
string around your wrist that will remind you to
power through the temptation to get lost in
thought.
4
Sublimate your urges. Sublimation, or sexual
transmutation, occurs when you translate your
sex drive into creative energy. Take the time
you'd usually spend thinking about sex and
instead devote it to a creative hobby, such as
writing, painting, sculpting, or playing music. If
it's something you really enjoy, it can provide
you with an alternate avenue for catharsis and
satisfaction.
5
Distract yourself with other activities. If
you're not in a place where you can do a
creative hobby, try exercising. If you're working
out hard enough, you shouldn't be able to focus
on much of anything. Alternatively, get lost in
an engrossing book or movie, or take up a team
sport. While outside activities are probably not
going to get thoughts about sex completely off
your mind, it will help to facilitate other
thoughts outside of sex.
6
Don't leave too much idle time in your
schedule . Everyone needs time to relax, but
finding yourself with hours of time on your
hands might lead to backsliding. Schedule your
day full with events and activities to better
yourself. Leave a bit of time at the end of the
day for reflection and relaxation, but not so
much that you'll get bored.
7
Tell someone about your problem. As
terrifying as this may sound, it is one of the
most powerful and effective approaches. If you
are lucky enough to know someone who is not
judgmental and will understand and appreciate
your goal (and forgive you, if the circumstances
warrant), talk to them at least once a day about
how you are doing. Have a frank conversation
any time you feel compelled to think or act in
ways you would rather not. It is surprising how
much less compelling these thoughts appear
when brought into the light of day, and how
much less powerful.
8
If all else fails, try to think of something
decidedly unsexy . Car horns, the smell of
grandmas, tofu, nails on a chalkboard -
whatever it is that completely turns you off,
dredge up that image if you need to stop
thinking about sex suddenly. It should be the
mental equivalent of taking a cold shower.
Don't rely on this technique too often, as it's
not a long-term solution. Use it only for
situations in which you need to stop thinking
about sex immediately.
Tips
Don't frustrate yourself over sexual thoughts.
Remember that everyone else thinks about sex,
too. What matters is that you can still go on with
your daily life without letting something as silly
as sex bother you.
712 Helpful? 147
If you have a firewall guard in your computer,
try to enable parental control and put the profile
to teen so you won't accidentally stumble across
any pornography. Whenever you visit any
pornographic and/or sexual content sites, it will
prevent you from accessing them.
with thinking about sex . It's entirely natural,
and everyone does it. Biologically speaking, it is
next to impossible to stop thinking about sex
completely, as your body instinctively drives to
reproduce. However, it's possible for that urge to
become more like background noise as you go
through your everyday life.
2
Know your triggers. Sex is not always the
topic that gets you thinking about sex.
Sometimes pure boredom with life begins an
automated response that looks for
entertainment, and eventually leads to thinking
about sex. There are a number of triggers. If you
can identify your triggers, you can limit their
capacity to veer you into thinking about sex.
Stress is a huge trigger for sex, and thinking
about sex.
3
Develop your willpower. If you truly want to
stop thinking about sex, you need to make a
commitment to yourself and stick with it. At a
minimum, you should make a goal to curb your
sexual thoughts so that they don't distract you
from your other daily activities, such as work or
school. If you need help remembering your
commitment, wear a piece of jewelry or a simple
string around your wrist that will remind you to
power through the temptation to get lost in
thought.
4
Sublimate your urges. Sublimation, or sexual
transmutation, occurs when you translate your
sex drive into creative energy. Take the time
you'd usually spend thinking about sex and
instead devote it to a creative hobby, such as
writing, painting, sculpting, or playing music. If
it's something you really enjoy, it can provide
you with an alternate avenue for catharsis and
satisfaction.
5
Distract yourself with other activities. If
you're not in a place where you can do a
creative hobby, try exercising. If you're working
out hard enough, you shouldn't be able to focus
on much of anything. Alternatively, get lost in
an engrossing book or movie, or take up a team
sport. While outside activities are probably not
going to get thoughts about sex completely off
your mind, it will help to facilitate other
thoughts outside of sex.
6
Don't leave too much idle time in your
schedule . Everyone needs time to relax, but
finding yourself with hours of time on your
hands might lead to backsliding. Schedule your
day full with events and activities to better
yourself. Leave a bit of time at the end of the
day for reflection and relaxation, but not so
much that you'll get bored.
7
Tell someone about your problem. As
terrifying as this may sound, it is one of the
most powerful and effective approaches. If you
are lucky enough to know someone who is not
judgmental and will understand and appreciate
your goal (and forgive you, if the circumstances
warrant), talk to them at least once a day about
how you are doing. Have a frank conversation
any time you feel compelled to think or act in
ways you would rather not. It is surprising how
much less compelling these thoughts appear
when brought into the light of day, and how
much less powerful.
8
If all else fails, try to think of something
decidedly unsexy . Car horns, the smell of
grandmas, tofu, nails on a chalkboard -
whatever it is that completely turns you off,
dredge up that image if you need to stop
thinking about sex suddenly. It should be the
mental equivalent of taking a cold shower.
Don't rely on this technique too often, as it's
not a long-term solution. Use it only for
situations in which you need to stop thinking
about sex immediately.
Tips
Don't frustrate yourself over sexual thoughts.
Remember that everyone else thinks about sex,
too. What matters is that you can still go on with
your daily life without letting something as silly
as sex bother you.
712 Helpful? 147
If you have a firewall guard in your computer,
try to enable parental control and put the profile
to teen so you won't accidentally stumble across
any pornography. Whenever you visit any
pornographic and/or sexual content sites, it will
prevent you from accessing them.
HOW TO MAKE MONEY BOGGING
Make Money Blogging
Do you want to make money blogging? If you
do – you’re not alone. More and more bloggers
are finding that blogging is a profitable medium.
Whether it be to earn a few extra dollars a week
to feed their coffee habit, or making enough
money to stop them having to get a part time job
to get through college, or whether they’ve got it
to a point where they are able to make a full time
living from their blogging – there are tens of
thousands of bloggers who make money
blogging.
How to Make Money Blogging
In this page I want to share some information for
beginners on how to make money blogging. For a
very quick and broad visual intro – check out this
Make Money Blogging MindMap which visualizes
just SOME of the ways bloggers make money
blogging.
Firstly – lets get our expectations right. Not
everyone who tries to make money blogging
becomes rich. In fact those who do well from
blogging are in the minority. I’m sorry if this
disappoints you – but I’m not here to hype this
up or make any promises. It is possible to make
money blogging – but it takes time and a lot of
hard work – and it doesn’t happen for everyone!
For a picture of how realistic it is check out my
post – Can You Really Make Money Blogging: 7
Things I know about Making Money from Blogging
.
Secondly – let me start by sharing my own top
Money Making Methods but below that point you
to some great resources and teaching on how to
increase your income from blogging.
What follows is a quick summary of my main
income streams from blogging. Before you read it
though – keep in mind that every blog is unique
in how it can make money. Some of the following
income streams will work on some blogs a lot
better than others – the key is to experiment with
as many as possible and see what works best for
you.
The following income streams (from a number of
blogs) have helped me to earn a six figure income
each year for the last 5 years from blogging. I’ve
ranked them from highest to lowest.
I hope you find it useful to see the mix and
variety of ways that I earn a living from blogging.
1. AdSense
Despite not using it here
at ProBlogger any more
( here’s why) I continue
to use AdSense with
amazing effect on my
other blogs. I have them all set to show image
and text based ads and find that 250×300 pixel
ads work best (usually with a blended design). I
don’t have much luck with their ‘referrals’
program but their normal ads work a treat and
continue to be the biggest earner for me.
2. Affiliate Programs
I run a variety of affiliate
programs on my blogs –
most of which bring in
smaller amounts of money
that don’t really justify a
category of their own (but
which certainly add up).
These include recommending quality products
like these here on ProBlogger: Thesis WordPress
theme, Yaro’s Blog Mastermind Coaching Program
and How to Launch the F*** out of your E-Book
(and others) as well as some great products on
my photography blog including 123 of Digital
Imaging, David DuChemin’s amazing
Photography E-Books and Mitchell Kanashkevich’s
great ebooks.
The great thing about many of these programs is
that they are of such high quality that they sell
themselves and I am being emailed from readers
who sign up to them thanking me for the
recommendation!
3. E-Book Sales
Last time I did a wrap up
of how I make money
blogging this category did
not exist for me – I didn’t
really have any of my own
products to sell at all.
However in the last year
or so I’ve released 3 E-
books – 31 Days to Build a
Better Blog, The Essential
Guide to Portrait Photography and Photo Nuts and
Bolts: Know Your Camera and Take Better Photos
. While these products all only sell for under $20
they certainly add up and some months this has
been my biggest category of income. The reason
they were only ranking at #3 in the last month
was that I didn’t do a product launch (I wrote
about one launch which brought in $72,000 in a
week here). This is an income stream I see
growing as I add more E-books to my range
(expect 3 in the coming few months).
4. Continuity Programs
This is another newer
category for me but one
that continues to grow.
A continuity program is a site where you earn a
recurring income from people who subscribe to a
service you offer.
For me this includes two sites – ProBlogger.com
and Third Tribe Marketing. Both programs are
membership sites and generate monthly income
from the thousands of members that they have
as a part of them.
5. Private Ad Sales/Sponsorships
Private ad sales directly to
advertisers have fallen for
me in the last year (they
previously ranked #3 on
this list). This is partly due
to a change in my own
focus but also partly due to
the economy as it is. I
should note that this area
does vary a little from
month to month depending upon the campaigns
we’re asked to run – we’ve had a couple of
months where it actually ranked #2 in the last
year.
This includes ad sales of the 125 x 125 ads here
at ProBlogger as well as a campaign or two at
Digital Photography School.
6. Chitika
Chitka continues to be a great performer for me
on my blogs. They traditionally have worked best
on product related blogs although their Premium
ad units now convert well on a larger range of
blogs.
While I’ve focused a little less on Chitika in the
last 6 months (mainly as I’ve released my own
products and moved a little away from
advertising) they do continue to perform well
where I use them and over the time I’ve been
using Chitika they’ve now earned me over a
quarter of a million dollars – as a result I can’t
recommend them enough!
7. Amazon Associates
Amazon’s affiliate
program has been one of
my big movers in the last
12 months. I used to
make a few odd dollars
from it – however in recent times it has become a
significant earner for me ( in fact it’s now earned
me over $100,000 since I started using it
). Christmas time (and the lead up to it) is a
particularly good time for Amazon – last
December it would have ranked #2 on this list.
8. ProBlogger Job Boards
The job boards here at ProBlogger continue to
grow each month in the number of
advertisements that are being bought. This
enabled me to invest most of the money that
they’d earned a while back into getting a new
back end for the boards and to redesign them.
These job boards now bring in over $1000 a
month in revenue which is pretty nice
considering that they are so low maintenance to
run. They also offer a service to readers and add
value to the overall blog.
The only problem that I face with the job boards
is that there are so many bloggers looking for
work that the demand for jobs far exceeds the
supply. On the good side of things is that
advertisers are reporting getting amazing quality
of applications.
9. Speaking Fees
I get asked to do a lot of speaking and
increasingly they are paid opportunities. I’m not
able to do as many as I would like (mainly
because I live in Australia and most of what I’m
asked to do is overseas and I only travel 2-3 times
a year) – however in April I did a couple of events
and the income was enough to include in this list.
Other Income
In addition to all of the above there are many
smaller incomes. Many of these are from smaller
advertising programs that I test but none are big
enough to really rate a mention here.
The other income stream that there was no actual
money from in April was book royalties from the
ProBlogger Book. These are only paid every 6 or
so months (not in April). It’s probably also worth
mentioning that authors don’t tend to make a
whole lot of money on book royalties – you don’t
write books to get rich (unless you sell a lot of
them).
Useful Resources for Bloggers Wanting to
Make Money Blogging
A lot has been written on the topic of making
money online from blogs. There is a lot of
wonderful information out there – but also a lot of
hype and sometimes dangerous information.
Below are a number of articles that I’ve written
exploring some of the different ways that
bloggers make money.
Do you want to make money blogging? If you
do – you’re not alone. More and more bloggers
are finding that blogging is a profitable medium.
Whether it be to earn a few extra dollars a week
to feed their coffee habit, or making enough
money to stop them having to get a part time job
to get through college, or whether they’ve got it
to a point where they are able to make a full time
living from their blogging – there are tens of
thousands of bloggers who make money
blogging.
How to Make Money Blogging
In this page I want to share some information for
beginners on how to make money blogging. For a
very quick and broad visual intro – check out this
Make Money Blogging MindMap which visualizes
just SOME of the ways bloggers make money
blogging.
Firstly – lets get our expectations right. Not
everyone who tries to make money blogging
becomes rich. In fact those who do well from
blogging are in the minority. I’m sorry if this
disappoints you – but I’m not here to hype this
up or make any promises. It is possible to make
money blogging – but it takes time and a lot of
hard work – and it doesn’t happen for everyone!
For a picture of how realistic it is check out my
post – Can You Really Make Money Blogging: 7
Things I know about Making Money from Blogging
.
Secondly – let me start by sharing my own top
Money Making Methods but below that point you
to some great resources and teaching on how to
increase your income from blogging.
What follows is a quick summary of my main
income streams from blogging. Before you read it
though – keep in mind that every blog is unique
in how it can make money. Some of the following
income streams will work on some blogs a lot
better than others – the key is to experiment with
as many as possible and see what works best for
you.
The following income streams (from a number of
blogs) have helped me to earn a six figure income
each year for the last 5 years from blogging. I’ve
ranked them from highest to lowest.
I hope you find it useful to see the mix and
variety of ways that I earn a living from blogging.
1. AdSense
Despite not using it here
at ProBlogger any more
( here’s why) I continue
to use AdSense with
amazing effect on my
other blogs. I have them all set to show image
and text based ads and find that 250×300 pixel
ads work best (usually with a blended design). I
don’t have much luck with their ‘referrals’
program but their normal ads work a treat and
continue to be the biggest earner for me.
2. Affiliate Programs
I run a variety of affiliate
programs on my blogs –
most of which bring in
smaller amounts of money
that don’t really justify a
category of their own (but
which certainly add up).
These include recommending quality products
like these here on ProBlogger: Thesis WordPress
theme, Yaro’s Blog Mastermind Coaching Program
and How to Launch the F*** out of your E-Book
(and others) as well as some great products on
my photography blog including 123 of Digital
Imaging, David DuChemin’s amazing
Photography E-Books and Mitchell Kanashkevich’s
great ebooks.
The great thing about many of these programs is
that they are of such high quality that they sell
themselves and I am being emailed from readers
who sign up to them thanking me for the
recommendation!
3. E-Book Sales
Last time I did a wrap up
of how I make money
blogging this category did
not exist for me – I didn’t
really have any of my own
products to sell at all.
However in the last year
or so I’ve released 3 E-
books – 31 Days to Build a
Better Blog, The Essential
Guide to Portrait Photography and Photo Nuts and
Bolts: Know Your Camera and Take Better Photos
. While these products all only sell for under $20
they certainly add up and some months this has
been my biggest category of income. The reason
they were only ranking at #3 in the last month
was that I didn’t do a product launch (I wrote
about one launch which brought in $72,000 in a
week here). This is an income stream I see
growing as I add more E-books to my range
(expect 3 in the coming few months).
4. Continuity Programs
This is another newer
category for me but one
that continues to grow.
A continuity program is a site where you earn a
recurring income from people who subscribe to a
service you offer.
For me this includes two sites – ProBlogger.com
and Third Tribe Marketing. Both programs are
membership sites and generate monthly income
from the thousands of members that they have
as a part of them.
5. Private Ad Sales/Sponsorships
Private ad sales directly to
advertisers have fallen for
me in the last year (they
previously ranked #3 on
this list). This is partly due
to a change in my own
focus but also partly due to
the economy as it is. I
should note that this area
does vary a little from
month to month depending upon the campaigns
we’re asked to run – we’ve had a couple of
months where it actually ranked #2 in the last
year.
This includes ad sales of the 125 x 125 ads here
at ProBlogger as well as a campaign or two at
Digital Photography School.
6. Chitika
Chitka continues to be a great performer for me
on my blogs. They traditionally have worked best
on product related blogs although their Premium
ad units now convert well on a larger range of
blogs.
While I’ve focused a little less on Chitika in the
last 6 months (mainly as I’ve released my own
products and moved a little away from
advertising) they do continue to perform well
where I use them and over the time I’ve been
using Chitika they’ve now earned me over a
quarter of a million dollars – as a result I can’t
recommend them enough!
7. Amazon Associates
Amazon’s affiliate
program has been one of
my big movers in the last
12 months. I used to
make a few odd dollars
from it – however in recent times it has become a
significant earner for me ( in fact it’s now earned
me over $100,000 since I started using it
). Christmas time (and the lead up to it) is a
particularly good time for Amazon – last
December it would have ranked #2 on this list.
8. ProBlogger Job Boards
The job boards here at ProBlogger continue to
grow each month in the number of
advertisements that are being bought. This
enabled me to invest most of the money that
they’d earned a while back into getting a new
back end for the boards and to redesign them.
These job boards now bring in over $1000 a
month in revenue which is pretty nice
considering that they are so low maintenance to
run. They also offer a service to readers and add
value to the overall blog.
The only problem that I face with the job boards
is that there are so many bloggers looking for
work that the demand for jobs far exceeds the
supply. On the good side of things is that
advertisers are reporting getting amazing quality
of applications.
9. Speaking Fees
I get asked to do a lot of speaking and
increasingly they are paid opportunities. I’m not
able to do as many as I would like (mainly
because I live in Australia and most of what I’m
asked to do is overseas and I only travel 2-3 times
a year) – however in April I did a couple of events
and the income was enough to include in this list.
Other Income
In addition to all of the above there are many
smaller incomes. Many of these are from smaller
advertising programs that I test but none are big
enough to really rate a mention here.
The other income stream that there was no actual
money from in April was book royalties from the
ProBlogger Book. These are only paid every 6 or
so months (not in April). It’s probably also worth
mentioning that authors don’t tend to make a
whole lot of money on book royalties – you don’t
write books to get rich (unless you sell a lot of
them).
Useful Resources for Bloggers Wanting to
Make Money Blogging
A lot has been written on the topic of making
money online from blogs. There is a lot of
wonderful information out there – but also a lot of
hype and sometimes dangerous information.
Below are a number of articles that I’ve written
exploring some of the different ways that
bloggers make money.
NIgeria wins World Muslim Beauty pagent
BossMeek Sphere: Nigeria wins World Muslim Beauty pagent: The newly crowned the Muslimah World 2013 Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola (C) A Nigerian woman tearfully prayed and recited Koranic verses as she w...
Topic: Nigerians In Guiness Book Of Records And Th...
BossMeek Sphere: Topic: Nigerians In Guiness Book Of Records And Th...: Topic: Nigerians In Guiness Book Of Records And The Records They Broke (Read 13761 times) ...
MAXBUG XCESS: THIS IS REAL
MAXBUG XCESS: THIS IS REAL: Is this photo real or Photoshopped? I don't know what to believe anymore...More Photos Below...
Friday 27 September 2013
5 Celebrity Engagements We Are So In Love With!
These stars have become a huge part of us in one way or the other. What they do, who they hang out with and what they put on are all what we want in order for the industry to move forward. At least we won’t spend quality time dissecting the celebs who have become weed-inclined or alcoholics but these five chosen group of entertainers are those who make us love them even more.
At number five we have D’banj and his big Hennessy Artistry endorsement. Who knew the former Mo’Hits star could get something so huge? But he did. It shows he is still relevant in the industry. Although he couldn’t disclose the exact amount in cash he got from this bid deal, rumor has it , it added some millions into his account. D’banj’s black tux on the billboard for the Hennessy Artistry 2013 is definitely something to ride home about. His numerous pictures released for the project brought out the gentleman in elegance and class. Honestly, D’banj rocked on those pictures and we just love when he keeps making the big box!
Genevieve Nnaji gets on number 4 because of her trendy and classy outfits she’s been seen with lately. Did you remember her Deola Segoe purple number she had on at the Ebony Life TV Launch in Lagos? Then hes red lacy mini gown at Isio’s super wedding in London and then her white ivy jumpsuit by Andrea Iyama at the premier of “Half of a Yellow Sun” in Toronto? Genevieve obviously never disappoints when style is concerned. She is a red carpet diva. She rocks and we admire!
Filing in at number 3 is Nollywood bad boy, Jim Iyke and his lady love , Nadia Buari. No one saw this coming. No one believed the quiet, sweet and pretty Ghanaian actress could take interest in the movie ruff rider. Newsflash people, she did and it looks beautiful. We admire them and even call them names: Najim, Jimia or Nikye. At this point, we want to be them and if we can’t we want them to be together. The manner in which they hold tight unto each other, smile at each other and dress to impress is just overwhelming. They look gorgeous!
To enjoy our number two spot will be the rise and rise of Kcee. The ‘Limpopo’ crooner has been enjoying massive reception from all over the place and there is no stopping him. In less than two years, he had three hit singles and we can’t wait for the complete album to drop. ‘Pretete’ went viral even before its video got air time same as his collaboration with Flavour Nabania. We wonder what’s coming up next. Maybe his departure from his marriage and KC Presh brought back his lost confidence and talent to life. Good for him but we hope he finds the perfect partner soon!
And to top our list will be Ghanaian actress/producer, Yvonne Nelson’s endless and timeless bikini body. She gives it to us and gives it in conscious sexiness. Her ever gorgeous physique is something we can’t over emphasis. She is beautiful and we again wonder why she became too hot for Iyanya to handle. We’ve met with her before and she seemed such a sweetheart so what went wrong? Anyway she’s neck deep into producing good films and we are surely admiring her strength day by day. She is getting into us and these very hot pictures ain’t helping matters.We just can’t slow down on our obsessions. Yvonne is waving on!
It's Kcee's Time on MyStreetz Magazine - Pulse.ng
It’s Kcee’s Time on MyStreetz Magazine
After all the fear that enveloped the Nigerian music industry years ago due to the exit of foreign record companies such as CBS/SONY Music and EMI, despite the boom in revenue for artistes today in an industry surviving on a dilapidated structure, one major lesson for me is this; hard work does not kill, ignorance does. Majority of the artistes successful today has justified the reason why focus, persistence, carving a niche and being business minded are all the vital ingredients for longevity in the Nigerian music industry.
According to Sesan Adeniji, publisher of Mystreetz magazine, like they say; it’s all about time and season for every artiste but a handful of artistes have defied the odds to remain rooted in this industry and Kcee is one of them. He has been in the mix of things for over a decade churning out one significant hit after another and up on till this moment, he remains one of the most relevant artistes in the year 2013 with his hit song Limpopo gathering more fan base across borders, age groups and gender. With all the endorsements and a filled up performance calendar, it’s high time we all agreed that it’s Kcee’s time. Considering all the negative press and fans fearing that he wouldn’t stand alone after the break up from the two man group, KC Presh; Kcee has somehow broken off that “group break-up jinx” by releasing eight tracks culminating into mega hits, through this, it is obvious that hard work does not kill. With focus and persistence, the time will come when the world will celebrate you.
Dance ‘Okoso’ or ‘Limpopo’ cos It’s Kcee’s Time and there’s no doubt about it’.
This September issue of Mystreetz magazine will be out on every newsstand nationwide soon.
Photography by August Udoh.
Tags: Kcee, mystreetz magazine, nigerian music industry
Morning Teaser: Can You Return N20 Million Naira You Found?
Morning Teaser: Can You Return N20 Million Naira You Found?
I know this is hard but can you return the sum of N20 million naira you found in a dump site?
You are a struggling young person, no job, no decent home and with the situation in the country, you stumbled into a Ghana-must-go bag in a dump site and on opening it, you found loads of money in it.
You took the money home and after counting it, you discover a whopping N20 million naira inside. What will you do?
A) Take it to the police
B) Take it to a radio station
C) Take it to your Pastor/Imam
Tags: Dump Site, money, Morning Teaser, N20 Million Naira, Naira
Caught In The Act!
Caught In The Act!
When will our police officers and other law enforcement agents learn their lessons that in these days of technology, they are likely to be caught on camera while engaging in acts that are inimical to their professions?
A few weeks after a police officer was caught on camera demanding for a bribe of N25,000 from a motorist in Lagos and was subsequently dismissed, two female police officers was also caught requesting for an inducement of N100 only. They were also dismissed.
It happened again that on Friday, September 20, 2013, some police officers, Stephen Iduh, Anselem Ukachukwu and J. O Daudu of the Servicom Unit of the Onitsha Area Command, were captured while extorting the sum of N10,000 from a motorist in Onitsha, Anambra State.
Pray, what is wrong with these police men?
News / Africa Despite Advances, S. Africa Still Lags in Internet Usage
TEXT SIZE
September 27, 2013
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa is one of the
most technologically advanced countries in Africa, yet two-thirds of
its adults have never used the Internet.
Described by some as Africa’s most sophisticated economy, South Africa has some of the best rail, road and communication facilities on the continent. The World Economic Forum’s most recent competitive index ranked South Africa as number two in Africa, behind Mauritius.
South Africa boasts of having the only commercial nuclear energy station in Africa. In 2024, it will be home to the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the southern hemisphere.
However, the country's Internet usage stands in stark contrast.
A recent study by the South African Network Society survey - a research organization looking at the social impact of new telecommunications networks and technologies in Africa - found that only 34% of South African adults use the Internet. That’s about 12 million people.
Three-quarters of the Internet users are urban dwellers. The majority of them use their cell phones for access, while the remainder rely on Internet cafes or educational or work facilities.
Sonkabite Reginald Mugoe, a 19-year-old student in Johannesburg, is an active Internet user.
“I am always with my phone, every time I feel like I can get into the Internet, I get in, Google," Mugoe said. "If I struggle with answers sometimes l search for the answers, but if I want to use a PC, I go to an Internet cafe or even I want to print something that I’m researching about.”
There are many reasons for the dismal Internet statistics in South Africa, said
South African Network Society survey leader Indra de Lanerolle. First, home Internet access is too expensive for most South Africans. Prices for mobile data have also been found to be unaffordable. And Lanerolle says language is another huge barrier. Those whose reading skills are limited to local South African languages are effectively shut out.
“We do have expensive costs and cost is a big limitation to Internet use," he said. "It stops some people from using the Internet at all, and the other thing it does it stops people using it very much. So unless we do better than 1 in 3 connected, increasingly that’s going to be a real disadvantage for the country.”
Poor Internet connectivity in rural South Africa and the high prices of Internet-enabled cellular phones have also kept the poor disconnected. Most schools and work places in rural South Africa, where the majority of people live, have no Internet provision.
Lack of Internet cafes in most areas of the country has also prevented access. Johannesburg resident Sam Gina is one of those who have never used the Internet.
“At home I don’t have it. Laptop is too expensive for me. Now I am using a phone that doesn’t have Internet, he said.
And Wilson Ayong, A Cameroonian national who runs an Internet café in Johannesburg, says prices charged at Internet cafes are also prohibitive.
“An hour here we take for five Rand. We give three hours for 10 Rand, we give 30 minutes for three Rand, 15 minutes for two Rand," explained Ayong. "It’s a bit expensive because students always complain they cannot afford because they are students, so at least if the data bundle is a bit cheaper, everybody can afford to go to an Internet café.”
The question is why are Internet prices so high in Africa’s richest country when they are affordable elsewhere?
Part of the explanation is that South Africa still has too little bandwidth for its needs and private providers are still investing a lot of money to increase capacity. That cost is passed on to users.
Some are calling for the government to address this with subsidies. But with so many demands on the public coffers to address high unemployment rates, illiteracy, AIDS and poverty it is not clear that getting more adults online is a priority.
However, de Lanerolle says South Africa’s future in Internet access and usage is not without hope. Close to half of those adults using the Internet are living on $150 per month, he said, a fact that shows that a new generation of Internet users from the middle class is fast entering a space once dominated by the wealthy.
His argument is backed up by statistics showing that Internet usage and access in South Africa has increased by more than 100% in the last five years. This, said Lanerolle, gives hope that the majority of South Africans will soon be online.
Described by some as Africa’s most sophisticated economy, South Africa has some of the best rail, road and communication facilities on the continent. The World Economic Forum’s most recent competitive index ranked South Africa as number two in Africa, behind Mauritius.
South Africa boasts of having the only commercial nuclear energy station in Africa. In 2024, it will be home to the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the southern hemisphere.
However, the country's Internet usage stands in stark contrast.
A recent study by the South African Network Society survey - a research organization looking at the social impact of new telecommunications networks and technologies in Africa - found that only 34% of South African adults use the Internet. That’s about 12 million people.
Three-quarters of the Internet users are urban dwellers. The majority of them use their cell phones for access, while the remainder rely on Internet cafes or educational or work facilities.
Sonkabite Reginald Mugoe, a 19-year-old student in Johannesburg, is an active Internet user.
“I am always with my phone, every time I feel like I can get into the Internet, I get in, Google," Mugoe said. "If I struggle with answers sometimes l search for the answers, but if I want to use a PC, I go to an Internet cafe or even I want to print something that I’m researching about.”
There are many reasons for the dismal Internet statistics in South Africa, said
South African Network Society survey leader Indra de Lanerolle. First, home Internet access is too expensive for most South Africans. Prices for mobile data have also been found to be unaffordable. And Lanerolle says language is another huge barrier. Those whose reading skills are limited to local South African languages are effectively shut out.
“We do have expensive costs and cost is a big limitation to Internet use," he said. "It stops some people from using the Internet at all, and the other thing it does it stops people using it very much. So unless we do better than 1 in 3 connected, increasingly that’s going to be a real disadvantage for the country.”
Poor Internet connectivity in rural South Africa and the high prices of Internet-enabled cellular phones have also kept the poor disconnected. Most schools and work places in rural South Africa, where the majority of people live, have no Internet provision.
Lack of Internet cafes in most areas of the country has also prevented access. Johannesburg resident Sam Gina is one of those who have never used the Internet.
“At home I don’t have it. Laptop is too expensive for me. Now I am using a phone that doesn’t have Internet, he said.
And Wilson Ayong, A Cameroonian national who runs an Internet café in Johannesburg, says prices charged at Internet cafes are also prohibitive.
“An hour here we take for five Rand. We give three hours for 10 Rand, we give 30 minutes for three Rand, 15 minutes for two Rand," explained Ayong. "It’s a bit expensive because students always complain they cannot afford because they are students, so at least if the data bundle is a bit cheaper, everybody can afford to go to an Internet café.”
The question is why are Internet prices so high in Africa’s richest country when they are affordable elsewhere?
Part of the explanation is that South Africa still has too little bandwidth for its needs and private providers are still investing a lot of money to increase capacity. That cost is passed on to users.
Some are calling for the government to address this with subsidies. But with so many demands on the public coffers to address high unemployment rates, illiteracy, AIDS and poverty it is not clear that getting more adults online is a priority.
However, de Lanerolle says South Africa’s future in Internet access and usage is not without hope. Close to half of those adults using the Internet are living on $150 per month, he said, a fact that shows that a new generation of Internet users from the middle class is fast entering a space once dominated by the wealthy.
His argument is backed up by statistics showing that Internet usage and access in South Africa has increased by more than 100% in the last five years. This, said Lanerolle, gives hope that the majority of South Africans will soon be online.
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