Unsecured Loans

If you can’t afford to hire a freelancer, but still want your business to take off, you might think about taking out a loan to get started. Many small businesses start with a loan for start up costs, and for online businesses, sufficient capital is often needed to hire a web designer and a content writer.

America One Unsecured offers unsecured personal loans as well as business loans. And, as you may have guessed from the name, these loans are unsecured. You don’t have to put up your house or car in order to get the capital you need. A small personal loan of as little as $100 can be obtained to fund personal projects, or you can apply for a business loan of up to $50K to give your business the best possible start. And, when you apply, America One Unsecured gives a fast reply with no credit check required. This is a sponsored review.

A Good Time for Seasonal Articles

Unlike the print world, where seasonal material is usually requested about six months in advance, seasonable material doesn't have to be in that early online. It occurred to me the other day that we're probably going to have Valentine's Day in the Western world again this year, no matter what I have to say about it. With about five weeks to go, this is the perfect time to get Valentine's Day web content underway.

Sometimes it's tough to come up with something that hasn't been covered a million times already, but there are a few ways to do it. One is by coming up with a creative list, such as: Ten Ways to... or The Five Best Ways to...

Lists are usually easier to digest as Web content anyway, as they are broken into quick chunks of information. I just hope I don't run across anymore articles that tell men to buy flowers and take their dates to a romantic dinner. Blah.

Pay Per Play Ads

Most webmasters have tried AdSense and other passive ad methods on their sites. The problem with a lot of those is that the ads are strictly PPC- you don’t get paid unless someone clicks on the ads. But, there’s a new way to sponsor your site that pays every time someone is exposed to the ad. They don’t have to click anything and you don’t even have to take up space on your site with the ad.

Pay Per Play Online Audio Ads put a 5-second ad on your site. Five seconds isn’t long enough to be obtrusive, but it is long enough for your advertisers to get the word out. There are 66,000 Pay Per Play advertisers just waiting to get their short message on your site- and pay you for every listen. This is a sponsored post.

Freelance Web Writing Controversies

I thought of a new New Year's Plan, and yes, it is now the 5th. So, I'm a little late.

Writers in general are outspoken, striving to express themselves through writing and other means. So, they can get a little melodramatic at times. Over the past three months I've gotten embroiled in debates over web writing topics that, shall we say, tend to get blown a little out of proportion in writer's forums and blogs. I'm going to try my best not to get into the silliness anymore, and if I don't think something is controversial, then I'm not going to pretend it is. Cases in point:

$3 articles- There's been a giant debate raging in pretty much every writing blog and forum I visit about whether people should take on gigs where the "buyer" is paying $3 for a full-length web article. Obviously that amount of work is not worth the money, but I'm not debating it anymore. It's crap pay and no one should take it. Pretending otherwise is just silly. After spending more time than I care to admit on helping new writers find better paying markets, I was yelled at by people who think that minimum wage is great pay for writing. And, not one person ever thanked me for my time. So, no more. If you want to work for $3- do it. I don't care anymore.

PLR articles- There is constant debate about the "morality" of selling PLR content. I actually saw someone recently who compared it to selling drugs. Seriously. Yes, writers do have a flair for the melodramatic, and I'm no different, but come on. That's just a waste of time and energy. If you don't like PLR content, don't write it and don't buy it. I'm no longer interested in opinions about it.

Marketing yourself- This was another bit of silliness from writing forums and blogs. Marketing is something that any writer has to do, whether it's print writing, web writing or PR writing. It's an inevitable step in the process these days. Even publishing houses expect their writers to do a good bit of marketing for their books. There's nothing wrong with learning a bit about marketing in order to reach your target client more easily. Doesn't sound controversial, right? Wrong. Debates have been raging about how if you're a good writer, clients will be leaping out of buildings to get you to work for them, even if they've never heard of you. Right. A balance of writing and marketing is important, as long as the marketing doesn't overtake the writing. I've seen that happen before, and the writing that results isn't pretty. But for those who think marketing is stupid, I suggest a few business courses and perhaps a different career. And, I'm not letting anyone goad me into self doubt by saying that a "real" writer doesn't have to market. Please. Even J.K. Rowling markets her work.

Christmas Gifts of Angels and Devils

These were my favorite Christmas gifts- the Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde action figures. They came complete with captions written by my spouse. The two of them together remind me of nothing less than the stereotypical angel and devil figures sitting on each shoulder. Which one should I listen to?

Pragma Systems

As quickly as technology is evolving these days, businesses need a company to provide the most reliable and secure access possible. Pragma Systems provides software that every corporation needs in order to stay connected and keep from being infiltrated by hackers. If your company uses Windows, this is especially important. Pragma Systems provides a number of software products to ensure safety and a reliable connection. To see what Pragma Systems can do for your company, take a look at the products available through SFTP. This is a sponsored post.

A New Year, New Plans

I hear so much about New Year's resolutions, I have to wonder how many people will keep theirs. I don't know that I've ever kept mine. So, instead of New Year's resolutions, I'm making New Year's plans.

Plan 1- Get less distracted during the day. I plan to work my set hours without allowing anything around me, or online, to distract me from getting my work done. Part of this plan is to spend less time at writer's forums. Those suckers can seriously suck time.

Plan 2- Get more residual income. With more residual income coming in, I'd have more time for writing fiction and sending book queries. I've been tinkering with a few sites that pay residuals, and have a good foundation built to have more coming in. I don't think anyone gets rich from it, but I'd like to buy some personal writing time.

Plan 3- Start writing for magazines. I've never queried a magazine before. Ever. I've had articles in five newspapers, a medical journal, newsletters and all over the freaking web- but no magazines. Most magazines pay better than web work, but there's not as much of it. It also takes forever to be paid. So, I don't want a career of it, but I'd like to start querying and see where it leads.

Plan 4- Read more classics. It's important to look away from web writing regularly and be reminded of what writing is really about. Web writing pays the bills, making it easy to forget for awhile how far it is from what I really want to do. Writing isn't really about the per word price, who gets signed with which company or what niches you're carving out. It's about creating the best work you can and hoping that it has lasting value.

Plan 5- Ignore more advice. Most of the advice I get leads nowhere. I'm not sure why I still listen to it.