Making Money With Words

KEYWORDS
It's pretty apparent by now everybody who has been blogging for a while knows about keywords. Words which bring visitors to your blog. Using niche phrases to drive traffic is one part of the equation in formulating how you can make money with words. Proper keyword research involves working with a keyword suggestion generator like Google's Adwords keyword tool. It's not an exact science, but you can find it very lucrative if you happen to hit on the right keywords for your articles and place them strategically with the correct search engine optimization. It is some heavy work at first, but well worth it.

TWEAKING
Making money with words is not even about being able to write well, this is about tweaking articles with the right mix of words. People get on the search engines and look for certain things. If you happen to hit on a word a huge number of people are searching for this can draw some tremendous numbers of people. These people will come to your blog and some will read your article and hopefully make purchases or at least click on some of the advertisements to see what they have to offer. Quantity does not always equal quality however, it does amount to an awful lot of views giving you a better chance to sell a product or gain a referral. Google Adsense can play a huge part in making money once you start getting enough people viewing your blog. Yes, people buy words just so they can put advertisements up on Google search engine pages. It really works well for everyone involved.

BUILD A FOLLOWING
One of the things which is readily available in today's blogging environment is "Do Follow Blogs." These basically are networks which allow people to "follow" your blog post each time one is posted. What happens is you end up building a community of loyal followers. These people can bring even more traffic to view your highly informative prose. You in turn need to make sure you return the follow! This is how the community gets built and words just keep getting more valuable. However, never discount a blog because it doesn't have a Do Follow policy. Any blog owner can be a potential follower. Posting on others blogs is one way to get some highly concentrated traffic to your own blog.

Converting Words To Money
There is nothing which can replace the good ole search engine traffic. Writing articles around keywords which have both high searches and low competitiveness is a real factor in trying to make money with words. Research is your best friend in this area. If you can write a decent book report then you can write articles. Writing with a very productive and rich vocabulary is noble and great, but what can make you wealthly is writing with just the right assortment of money making words. It's your call!

A Unique Writing Style - Blog Post

*Note - The whole point in bold red. READ at your own risk.* (And another thing! No running around the pool either!!!)

Pictures That Give Pleasure To Your Eye...
Sitting in an eye doctors waiting room one day expecting to get the ole notification that the good Dr. will see me now, I noticed the patients around me were all looking at magazines. I could tell about one or two were actually reading an article, the others were just flipping through, probably looking at the pictures. Most people do not like to read through long articles because it is too much information for them to process quickly. Ohhhh, the long drawn out articles may contain valid, idea sparking, factual content, but on first glance seeing a 4 page, 3 column article is the ultimate eye glazing over moment. fffffftttttth...quickly turn the page. Ah, yes! Another nice picture!

Just The Facts Please...
This got me thinking about blogs, blogging, and blog posts. It further stretched my inquisitive notions into the realm of self-help books which some are written as long as a bleeding heart Harlequin novel! Why? It's my earnest feeling any self-respecting self-help book should not be longer than 20 pages, and that's pushing it. Give me the self-help now, don't waste my time with your silly boring back story to fill space! < /Super Rant!>

Abundant Information
When readers come to blogs to peruse them they are usually looking for certain information quickly. No one wants to have to trudge through words like mud in a Louisiana swamp to get to the fabulous canjun cookin'! It's so obvious information is very abundant in today's computer age. This makes many people redirect their attention in their quests to deem what is important to them. Everybody wants to be up on the times, and to get ahead, to get on top, people are being convinced quicker is better. This is complete hogwash, but it's the way it is today in our techno-gadgeted society.

Writing Blog Post Uniquely
Finally! The information you're looking for! Writing is more about style than preciseness. Granted being concise, and grammatically correct is highly valued, however it is not what makes a writer good. Furthermore it does not necessarily make for good writing. Unique style will take you and your reader to places they have never been and this is what is passionately important. To write unique blog post you need to tap into your own singular style which you can develop with practice. Sure, there are methods you can use, but first discover your voice! Whether it be technical, humorous, serious, flighty, flaky, elite, professional, preposterous, or just Plain Jane, discovering your writing style is what this writing thing is all about.

Everyone has their own style to be developed. If you take the time, and have a little patience you will discover your distinctive quality!

To more pictures...fffffftttttth!

Learning To Write Better

In the scheme of things, conveying an idea to a reader is much different than verbal one on one communication. Writing concisely is not an easy task. Strengthening your skill takes practice. Learning to write better involves determining how to use words in a way which convey ideas precisely. Effective written communication uses less, not more words.

One way to practice better writing is to write a sentence, then edit the words using the least amount as possible. This is the first phrase of the exercise. Next, go back and find single words which describe your thoughts best. This is very tricky to do because it involves a process of what I like to call "Ultra-Editing." It's nothing more than a treasure hunt for the right words. This is why building a solid vocabulary is so important for aspiring writers.

The 5 minute ULTRA EDITING exercise steps are -

1. Write a sentence.
2. Edit the sentence using the least amount of words as possible
3. Ultra-Edit the sentence by replacing phrases and words with better words.

Here's an example of editing this sentence:

The gnarly, snarling dog bit the very nervous man on the buttocks!

Edited Sentence - The vicious dog bit the anxious man's tooshie.

Ultra-Edited Sentence - The mean dog bit the geek's ass!

5 minutes
I always put a time limit on the exercise. Too much of this can have your head swimming in seconds. The more you do this type of editing the more you realize how even one word can convey a whole phrase or sentence. Writing is about imagery. Readers have to be able to imagine, paint the picture for them. They need to clearly see a vivid impression.

A Degree Of Difference
One version of a sentence is not better than the other, it's different than other. Do not be afraid to use words which convey the meaning with even the slightest of difference. This is part of imagery projecting. Words mean things. The faint divergence in one word can change the whole complexion of a sentence. This is such a crucial aspect of expression. Getting across a thought with the right syntax of creativeness will enlighten your readers imaginations. Go for it!

To Precise Pivots...

Personality Writing

Writing is such an important part of every day life it's too often taken for granted. There are a million things to write about, but every once and while all of us get stuck developing inspiration for what subjects and topics will give readers the a-ha moment! Go to any forum on the internet and see if you can't automatically find something to comment on. There is no question everyone can devise an opinion on something. So, if you can opine on it, you can write about it!

On the flip side, this process of creating inspiration to adhere to your ego should flat out be dropped into the black hole of non existence. If you write to impress yourself you will never really share valuable ideas, and your personality will never manifest in it's purest form. Philosophy 101 on writing should be, "Just Write!" Yes, some writers are better than others, some writing flat out stinks, some writing is genius, some writing is monumentally depressing.
However, that's what makes life and reading exciting. I love to read a piece which has been written extremely well, but I would always rather read something which has inspired me or given me an idea I haven't ever read or thought of. Personality in writing is much more important than any holier-than-thou perfectly written article. Although, let me caution it is still important to strive for correct form. In order for people to easily read what you write, they need understanding and clarity.

Write the best you can. Commit to accuracy and grammatically correct writing, but never let these things outweigh the attribute of YOU in your writing. You can edit til cows come home, but trying to relay ideas and slight twist is something with which there is no precise science. Want to give yourself something to write about immediately? Here is a very gauche little tactic people use without realizing they are taking advantage of their mind's naturally ability.

Pick any word and associate it to another word. Cracker->Peanut butter->Peter Pan->Disney Movie ->Cartoon-> Drawing->Still Life->Portrait, etc...

It easily natural to do this because we create this process all day long without even realizing we're doing it . If I wanted to write an article at this site which is a blog about writing, a simple association has instantly conjured in my mind.

How adding "pictures" adds value to articles.

How did I think of this? I looked at the words "Still Life and "Portrait" and immediately "Picture" was associated. I would not consider this rocket science in any way. Association is a greatly effective technique to find topics to write about.



To just writing....and getting better at it!