I was a horrible writer when I was in high school…barely passing my English classes.

One of my mentors told me I could write a great article in 30 minutes…ya right!. But when I tried it for the first time I wrote almost 1,100 words in 25 minutes..I was shocked.

And it wasn’t that bad actually…

So here’s what he taught me…

First… say what the article is about.

Second…tell them who it’s for.

Third…give them the benefit. Why they should read it. What it will do for them. Etc.

Then for the body of the article, give them the best THREE (3) pieces of value you’ve got. And include personal experiences.

In conclusion, summarize the entire article and and the very end pique their curiosity with something else.

For example:

“That explains the top three ways to get targeted traffic to your website. For 7 more ways, please visit ….”

And I just learned this the other day: Your bio shouldn’t be about you…it should be about “What’s next”…for your potential reader….this encourages them to continue on and click your link.

So here’s where the timing comes into play:

Set your timer for 25 minutes, don’t look at your screen, just type what comes to mind. After 25 minutes, spend 5 minutes reviewing, do a spell check and a very quick check for grammar.

Writing for the web doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does have to be valuable.

A few other tips he taught me were:

- Always write about what you know and what works.

- Post it on your site first, wait till it’s cached with Google, then post it on article directories.

- Clear your mind of any negative thoughts like “I can’t write”, instead say aloud to yourself “I am in the process of becoming a great writer.”

- Focus on three things you can explain in great detail.

- Write as if you are speaking to someone you know who would be interested in the information.

- Use conversational English.

- As you write do not edit your thoughts…let go of the need to be perfect….LET YOUR FINGERS FLY!

- Use common phrases and colloquialisms (had to look this one up) or slang.

- Always write with a purpose (to make money)…so include some CTA (call to action) or link that you can profit from.

- Once you’ve written an article, turn it into a video and blast it out on the net with a tool like Traffic Geyser.

And so I leave you with this:

“Don’t measure your success based on where you want to get, instead measure based on where you’ve come from.”

So what are you waiting for…get writing… but FIRST: Comment On This Blog Post and tell me your article writing tips. What gets you in the mood? How do you find ideas? How have you progressed from when you first started? What challenges are you still facing?

Tracy Matthewman
Visit Tracy at NetworkMarketingSweetie.com for more cool stuff like this!

Which means I have to do a boring text post to annouce it instead ;)

And the winner is…

Gary Gray from Montague, Prince Edward Island Canada.

Gary, you need to email my assistant at mel@sweetiemarketing.com with your full name and mailing address within 7 days. If we don’t hear from you, I’ll draw another winner next Monday.

Thank you all so much for entering

Do not let that get you down. You are not alone. Very few of us get everything done that we would like to. There are only 24 hours in a day and for all of us: “Life is what happens when you’re not looking”.

What I am about to tell you will not be easy; if it were, everybody would be doing it.

1. Get the negative people out of your life. When you are around negative people, and by that I mean, they have negative attitudes. You know the kind of people I’m talking about. “Well you know, most people do not make money working on the internet.” “All those work at home businesses are scams.” And don’t forget the gossip mongers. “She only married him for his money.” They never see the good in a situation, only the bad.

If you hang out with people like that, it can’t help but bring you down. Instead, surround yourself with positive people. “Isn’t this a beautiful day.” Give your smile away, it’s contagious. When you hang out with happy, successful people, you just can’t help feeling the same way.

2. Tell yourself every day, ” I am a successful business owner. I am building a business others would love to have”. This is a positive affirmation. It doesn’t have to be those words exactly. To find your affirmation, write down a list of your doubts, and insecurities, then turn them into affirmatives.

For example, don’t say “I don’t have the money to go on that vacation to Europe”, say “How can I make enough money to take that trip?”

Positive thoughts are powerful. The things you focus on most will become reality, be they positive or negative.

3. Don’t let negative thoughts take over your mind. All of us get down from time to time. We feel the weight of the world on our shoulders. However, we don’t have to wallow in self-pity. Mentally grab yourself by the shoulders and give yourself a good shake.

When you find yourself getting into a dark mood, try to find something that turns your mood around. Maybe a song, or a poem or a walk in the woods with someone you love. It’s important that you don’t let the negativity consume you.

4. Write down your goals and aspirations. If you are familiar with the Law of Attraction, you know that you attract that which you focus on the most. Don’t dwell on needing your business to succeed because you need to pay your mortgage. Think about how you will feel when you can tell your boss to “Take this job and shove it”. I’m going to be a stay at home mom.

5. Have an attitude of gratitude. When you are grateful for all the gifts in your life, your life just seems to be better, full of opportunities, instead of challenges.

Every morning when I get up, while I’m in the shower, I thank God for all the gifts he has given me – a loving husband, a beautiful home, 2 successful adult children and 2 beautiful healthy granddaughters. That small thing prepares me for my day in a positive manner.

I also carry a small stone in my pocket every day. It is my gratitude rock. Whenever I put my hand into that pocket and feel that stone, I think of something that I am grateful for. It keeps my thoughts positive throughout my day.

Those are things that help me stay positive. You may want to keep a gratitude journal. Post entries daily. Then when you need some power of positive thinking, you can go back to your journal for inspiration.

Just remember, success can be yours. It just takes some hard work and a positive attitude. Keep these 5 strategies in mind and your too can build a happier, healthier, more satisfying life for you and your family.

Mary Blackburn
For more information on affiliate marketing, blogging and business trends, visit Mary at http://www.affiliatebusinesstrends.com.

I broke. I gave in. I printed my top 10 reads. I’ve been reading everything from how to use Twitter in your business to an interesting read from StomperNet.

What’s the point of all this?

Ideas.

See, if you don’t ever do anything different, you become relaxed. You go into auto drive. You perform what needs to be performed – and you may even do it really well – but you don’t excel. You become settled. Stuck.

If you’ve ever tried a workout regime, you probably know what I mean. The pounds fall off until you plateau, then it doesn’t matter what you do – nothing seems to get that last 5 pounds off. What do you do? Change it up.

So that’s what I did. I’ve been reading more. Writing more. And it seems to have shaken something loose up in the old noggin’. Ideas seem to be popping out everywhere. Sometimes I can’t keep up. Sometimes I’m just not prepared for the idea. Sometimes I keep up too well and become overwhelmed with all my new schemes.

“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” – Thomas Edison

…but in order to use those ideas you need to get working. Ideas are likely going to come to you at inopportune times so you’d better be ready.

{Case in point – as I’m writing this, I had a great idea for the next talking point, but my cats distracted me and it’s now gone}

Keep a pad of paper handy, keep NotePad open on your computer, or use a voice recorder. Different strokes for different folks – do what’s going to work best for you.

Don’t worry if the idea seems out of this world. Albert Einstein quipped that if at first the idea is not absurd; there is no hope for it. Ideas aren’t too big, too small, or too crazy. After all, the entire history of mankind is really just a huge series of ideas.

Here’s some of the fire-y business ideas I’ve been tossing about. Who knows – maybe it’ll spark your next idea.

- Move away from hourly work and into packaged deals (why? because my goal for 2010 is to stop trading time for money. More on that later)

- Create and publish a series of ebooks. {psst…the volumes will be published under the title The Rules of Social Media}

- Create a new niche and rock it out – You won’t want to miss this announcement – it’s going to be great. I know I’m a little biased. I’m just saying.

- Mini Consultations.

- Passive Income {this is one of those areas where the ideas seem to come in a constant nearly overwhelming stream} I won’t bore you with all the details but it does involve a launch process for ebooks and webinars, Tutorials for popular programs, and membership sites.

How about you? Did an idea spark? Where do you get your best ideas?

Dawn Martinello is the creative juice behind MondayMorningVA.com where she is on a mission to open up new income stream possibilities for solopreneurs who are ready to systematically turn their expertise into profitable information products right now. Dawn also guides clients to use social media with confidence to build a solid fan base and provides one-on-one guide sessions, “do-it-for-me” services, or collaborative services to get the mission accomplished.

I’ll be joining Kelly as her guest at 2 pm EST to talk about using PLR content in your business. If there’s one thing I have plenty of experience with, it’s creating and using PLR.

To register for this call, and all the free goodies go to: TotallyFreeTuesday.com.

Please join me, I would love to have you there :)

I’m also going to throw in a gift card so the winner can enjoy a cup of coffee while reading the book

*Please note: To keep shipping costs low, you need to live in Canada or the United States to enter.

This Coffee & Book Prize Package Includes:

• Copy of “Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business”
• $5.00 Starbucks Gift Card

Here’s How to Enter:

1. Write a comment below with your full name, state/province and country stating that you’d like to enter. Please include one sentence (or more) on why you’d like to get your hands on this prize.
2. Deadline for entry is 12am EST on Sunday, August 29, 2010
3. By random draw, we’ll pick the winner and announce it on Monday August 30, 2010. You MUST claim your prize within 7 days or we will draw another winner.

Good luck!

The Internet Marketing Sweetie

Time wasters are the bane of any businesses, whether it’s online or not. Common time wasters fall into one of two different categories: self-generated and environmental. If you can get these under control, time management will be much easier.

Self-generated Time Wasters

Disorganization is one of the major culprits of wasted time. If you aren’t organized, it may be difficult to find the items you need. You may not be able to find a customer’s contact information, the due date for a project, or an important password. Clean off your desk, put important dates on a centralized calendar, and set specific work hours that you stick to.

Procrastination is another problem for many online business owners. You may find that you put off some important tasks that you don’t like, don’t feel comfortable doing, or don’t know how to do. To combat this problem set a deadline for each task and then stick with it. Ask a friend or mentor to keep you accountable for how you spend your time.

Environmental Time Wasters

Phone calls can eat up a lot of your precious time. When you own a business, keeping friends and family from calling during business hours is important. Ask them to respect your time just as if you were working outside the home. Keep phone calls with business associates to the topics at hand as well. This will help you spend less time on the telephone and more able to work on important tasks.

Everyone gets junk email. By the time you’ve gone through all of the junk trying to find what you need to work, you may have lost valuable time. Use mail filters to route important emails to separate folders. This will help you find what you need when you need it.

Time management is a problem for a lot of people. When you’re growing an online business, you really can’t afford to waste time. Use some of these ideas to help you avoid common time wasters for business owners.

Visit Kit Singleton at TheVirtualPeach.com for more helpful ideas and services to help you manage and market your business. Find out more about Kit.

Be sure to have an email capture on your blog. To entice people to sign up, offer them something free. Don’t make it junk!! Offer something of value. Then when you have permission to send them emails, use a short email to tease them into clicking to read more at your site. Or offer worthwhile information in your email, possibly a short term free lessons. Use your email signature to get them to your website if your email has to do with an unrelated subject.

You want to be sure that you use their email addresses responsibly. No one likes a spammer, besides I think it’s illegal.

Conduct a survey. That way you can get information right from your readers to help you to understand them, their profiles and advertising preferences. If you want to know something, want feedback on a post, or a link or a subject that you talked about, ask!! Let your readers know that you want their feedback.

Use RSS, it’s the fastest growing technology on the internet today. RSS feeds to your blog can add interest to your site.

Use video, You Tube adds yet another dimension to your blog.

Bring in a guest blogger, that way you get a fresh idea and your readers stay interested with a different perspective.

You may even want to run a contest. Have your readers leave comments and then randomly choose a winner. It will certainly get people talking.

I hope this has sparked some ideas for you. If you think of something I missed, leave a comment.

Mary Blackburn
For more information on affiliate marketing, blogging and business trends, visit Mary at http://www.affiliatebusinesstrends.com.