Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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Alexa Toolbar Benefits

Blogging Tips

Internet Tools

I’ve been doing some blog tweaking lately.  Recently I’ve installed the Alexa Toolbar.  Apparently it’s working out well as my Alexa rating has been steadily decreasing.  Also, I’m toying with the idea of switching to the Thesis theme, even though I’m not too good at coding.

There are numerous tools available on the Internet to assist in online business blogging.  A valuable tool that you should use is the Alexa Toolbar. Even better -  this tool is free.

If you have a blog, you might want to consider adding the Alexa toolbar to improve your stats. Theoretically, the Alexa toolbar isn’t spyware as it doesn’t retrieve any private or personal information.

Alexa is owned by Amazon, and ranks sites from 1 to 5,000,000 and sometimes higher. Ranking  #1 has the most traffic while anything below 250,000 and you should be getting some decent traffic levels. Right now my current Alexa rating is 74,800.  This information can be used to determine how well your advertising campaigns are going and how your traffic levels are growing over a period of time. Since I write product reviews and have a PR Media Kit, I monitor these statistics and update my Media Kit periodically.

This information can also be used to determine how your fellow bloggers are doing and keep you one step ahead of them. The tool provides you with essential information regarding any site you’re looking at, including your own. If a company approaches you claiming they have lots of traffic, you can just pull up their site and review the Alexa statistics. This allows you to verify who’s receiving a significant amount of traffic and who’s feeding you a line.

So now you want to know how do you use this tool? First, you download the Alexa Toolbar as follows:

1. Go to Alexa.com
2. Click “Download Alexa Toolbar” at the top of the page.
3. Click “Install” on the next page.
Reload the page you are viewing and the toolbar will appear across the top of your browser.

If any of your readers have the Alexa toolbar installed, any time they visit you, it will help your rankings.  In turn, when you visit their sites, you’ll be building back links while helping your fellow blog buddies out.

Why not try an experiment for a month – download the toolbar and monitor one of your sites.  Once you see the data you receive and the way it can be interpreted and used, you won’t know how you survived without it!

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How To Get Paid to Write Every Day as a Ghostwriter

Work At Home Ideas

Do You Have Writing Skills?

If you have ever dreamed about having a career in freelance writing, you might look into the growing opportunity of ghostwriting. Ghostwriting is the practice of writing works (books, articles, etc.) anonymously for a client. In turn, the client gets full rights to place her name on the writing and publish it as her own.

Side Note: If you’ve heard of ghostwriting before and you already know it’s a career path you’d like to pursue, I recommend that you pick up a copy of Just Add Sweat’s “How to Become a Ghostwriter” Guide. It will show you exactly what you need to know to get started.

But if you’re new to the idea of becoming a ghostwriter, here’s more you should know.

To get into ghostwriting, there are a few skills you should have or work to acquire:

Excellent Writing Skills: Certainly to be a ghostwriter, you need to be able to write well. Your writing should flow well, cover topics thoroughly and in many cases, your clients will expect you to capture their unique voice in your writing.

Research Skills: As a ghostwriter, you’ll be responsible for finding and process all of the information that you will need to be able to do your writing on a specific topic.

Grammar & Spelling: It might seem obvious, but it’s important to note. All of the work that you turn into your clients as a ghostwriter must be free of any grammar and spelling errors.

Many different types of businesses and individuals readily use ghostwriting services. Authors, business executives, celebrities and others may look to ghostwriters to write books for them.

Online business owners, blog publishers and other websites hire writers to create articles and other content. Information product sellers look to ghostwriters to publish ebooks, how-to and other instructional guides. The sky’s the limit when you’re looking for people who want to hire ghostwriters.

There are many things you can do put yourself ahead in this field (and the How to Become a Ghostwriter Guide covers these and more in depth).

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Start building a resume that will get you noticed. Highlight any writing experience and if you don’t have any, you can offer to do a few free small projects to build your resume. Approach a non-profit business or someone that you know that might need writing services.

• Determine which topics you’re qualified to write about. Although many ghostwriters are well-rounded and can write on many researchable topics, having a specialty can help you get work. For example, you might have special knowledge of cooking, crafting, green or environmental, health, finance or parenting topics. Use this to your advantage.

• Have relevant samples readily available to showcase your writing skills. Many clients are more concerned with how well you write, rather than the amount of experience you’ve had.

To get more help, get a copy of Just Add Sweat’s “How to Become a Ghostwriter” Guide. It will help you discover if ghostwriting is indeed the right career for you, how to break into the business, service rates and more.

Ghostwriting can be a competitive business, but there is plenty of room for new writers if you’re armed with the right approach and that’s exactly what the guide will give you. Click here for all the details.

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Information For Bloggers: PLR vs. Free Reprint Articles: Which is Best?

Blogging Tips

One of the ways for moms, virtual assistants or retirees to earn money working at home or blogging is by becoming a ghostwriter.  Ghostwriters often write PLR articles that can be purchased or turned into eBooks.

Here’s some information that can get you started working from home as a ghostwriter, or familiarize you with PLR and reprint articles for your blog.

PLR vs. Free Reprint Articles: Which is Best?

By Nicole Dean

Content is always in high demand. Right now the focus seems to be on Private Label Rights (or PLR) articles. PLR articles are pre-written and sold in packages to online businesses looking for content. The big selling points of PLR articles are that you may edit the articles and that there is no author bio required (so they don’t have any outbound links).

Compare PLR articles to free reprint articles. Free reprint articles from places like ezinearticles.com or freeaffiliatearticles.com are written by people who have something they’d like to share. (Or, they are sometimes written by people just publishing junk, in the hopes that they’ll get some incoming links. But, good article directories will delete those, so we’ll focus on the good ones here.)

So, which is better? Honestly, each has its place. Sometimes you’ll find an excellent free reprint article that you’ll want to share with your readers and you won’t mind a bit having an outbound link, especially if there is an affiliate program associated with it. The free reprint article added value to your readers, and you didn’t have to write the article. That’s what free reprint articles are all about.

Other times you’ll already have an idea in mind for a topic and you’ll just want a boost getting that section of your website done. If you run across a high quality PLR package on that niche, you’re set to go.

So, how do you know which PLR service or membership to choose? Here are some guidelines to follow:

1. Some PLR sites offer a monthly membership where you receive a grab-bag of articles – on any topic. If you already know what you need, this may be a waste of money. Other PLR sites will list topics and you can buy the articles in a shopping cart. That ensures you receive the articles you need when you need them.

2. Are the articles written by professional writers with experience? Or are they outsourced to the cheapest overseas help they can find – no matter the quality? If the articles are going to be a reflection of your business, you’ll want to ensure that the articles are well-written.

3. Who’s running this thing? Is the PLR site run by someone who knows about content or someone who thinks they can ride the content wave and make a quick buck? Make sure you’re hitching your wagon to someone who knows what they’re doing.

Those are just a few tips to keep you from wasting money on a PLR site that you can’t use. Continue to use free reprint articles, but look into PLR articles as well. They can both benefit your website and your business.

Article written by:

Nicole Dean is the owner of  www.EasyPLR.com – where you’ll find high-quality PLR articles sold in very limited quantities.  The PLR articles at EasyPLR are professionally written and professionally edited — top quality at an affordable price.

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Connie Roberts of Brain Foggles: Guest Post

Meet My Friend

I’d like to introduce my readers to Meet My Friend, Connie Roberts, whom I’ve invited to Guest Post on Moomette’s Magnificents.  Connie is also known around the blogosphere as “Connie Foggles.”

Connie and I met, if I recall correctly, through Twitter.  We shared some common interests – we were both eBay sellers; moms; were somewhat the same age; and were both bloggers.  As time went on we found ourselves connecting through social media forums, and eventually began a friendship emailing each other sharing blogging tips and talking about being mother-of-the bride at our daughters’ weddings. Recently I learned Connie’s a native New Yorker, even though she now lives in Florida!

Connie Foggles

I’m not sure why I’ve put off writing a guest post for Cindi. It may be because I have to write about myself, which I find a bit difficult.

Now if someone asks me questions, I have something to focus on and don’t feel like I’m tooting my own horn, but just writing without a “script” isn’t easy. Now that I ask bloggers who write product reviews to answer interview questions for my new writing gig with MurrayNewlands.com, I know how frustrating it can be to seek out people that you are actually willing to promote and have them turn you down. So I’m biting the bullet and giving this a go.

I’ve been a WAHM for a long time. I began working from home 11 years ago when my youngest was a few months old. Since I didn’t want to leave her in daycare, I answered an ad that I really thought was a scam. It turned out to be one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. I was a customer service representative for Huffy Bicycles. My hours were flexible and I was even able to work part time as a home health Social Worker once in a while.

But, my life came to a hault suddenly almost 7 years ago, when I was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, a rare neuro-muscular disease.

Soon after that, I was diagnosed with other chronic illnesses and was pretty much bed-bound and unable to work. I went into a deep depression but stuck with my doctor’s treatments. When I was told that I needed to seek help for depression, I did fight a bit, but finally gave in and am so happy that I did.

A few months after I began treatment I recognized that I was able to try to do get back into doing some kind of work, but it had to be at home with a very flexible schedule since I still am sick and have frequent flare ups. I became a member of DOUA – Disabled Online Users Association which helped me learn how to sell on eBay. My husband helped me a great deal with this as packing and shipping was too hard for me to do. The main thing though, was I was doing something! I felt more confident and happier.

After a few years of eBay, I learned about blogging. I began to write to cope with all I was going through. It was like therapy for me.

Then I learned that I could earn money by blogging and my journey began. I monetized Brain Foggles first through paid posts and then through affiliate marketing. When I learned about product reviews I was so excited! I enjoyed sharing my views on products, running giveways and connecting with advertisers. I even was paid for some of my product reviews.

I enjoy paying it forward by helping out other bloggers, volunteering online and in real life and sharing about ways to help non-profits on my blogs. I am an avid reader, am a DisneyFanatic and love spending time with my family. My daughters are 12 years apart so I have the best of both worlds! I recently became a mother of the bride and had a blast planning and attending the wedding. So far I’ve been to Affiliate Summit East 2009 in New York City and IzeaFest 2009 in Orlando. More blogging events are definitely in my future.

I currently publish and author 3 blogs -Brain Foggles, my mom blog where I share about my family and write product reviews, as well as provide information about blogging.

Connie’s View, my parenting blog where I also write some product reviews I have a page devoted to sharing giveaway links.

My Chronic Life – my health blog, where I write about coping with living with chronic illness, disability and provide information on all typed of health issues.

I’m known as @ConnieFoggles on Twitter almost everywhere on the internet. I’m addicted to the internet and have been known to lose sleep staying up too late visiting blogs and hanging out on Twitter and Facebook.

Thanks Cindi for the opportunity to share some information about myself. You have been an inspiration to me with the knowledge you have and continue to learn.

If you have a topic of interest that you’d like to share and be a Guest Blogger on Moomette’s Magnificents, please contact me (see Contact tab above).

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Switching from Blogger to Wordpress: What You Need to Know

When You Want To Learn Wordpress

Wordpress Orientation

Many bloggers are finding that Wordpress is the preferred platform of choice for blogging.  I made the switch from blogger about 1-1/2 years ago, and don’t regret it for a minute.

Many of my friends are on the fence about switching, mostly because they think it’s so difficult – but it isnt!!  If this WAHM Baby Boomer can learn it, anyone can!

Here’s an orientation class program that can put your mind at ease:

Wordpress is the website building tool of choice for many business owners these days.  It’s a great option.  No software needed on your computer, great functionality and flexibility – and you can update your site content from any computer, netbook or smart phone.  It’s no wonder that it’s become so popular.

You’ve probably heard that Wordpress is incredibly user friendly – and it is!  Still, most first time users find it overwhelming at first.  If you ever tried to tackle Wordpress on your own and felt like giving up, you’re not at all alone.  There’s a lot to take in at first.

I was lucky though. I had several patient friends available to help me over the learning curve. Still, I wouldn’t say that I felt truly comfortable for months after. The more I got to know it, the more I realized that Wordpress is both simple and complex all at the same time.

If you only want to use Wordpress to publish content, it’s pretty darned simple.  The visual editor operates like any basic word processor.  You enter content, press publish and you’re finished.

Think of Wordpress as being three things at once.

1. It’s a Content Management Script that runs on your web server, letting you enter content as easily as writing an email.
2. Your content is stored in a Database on your web server.
3. Finally, it wears a Theme, a set of template files, that determines how the content is displayed online.

Entering content is easy.  The database takes care of itself.  Customization, want to alter your design and manipulate the database for special needs, you have to tap a whole other area of knowledge and that’s where many get stuck.

There’s good news and bad news for those who want to learn more about managing their Wordpress site.  The good news is that there’s a huge resource of documents and a large community of developers and users who are willing to answer your questions.  The bad news is that there’s a huge resource of documents and a large community of developers and users…

The trouble for newcomers is usually that they don’t know how to ask the right questions to produce the answers they really need.  The documents and forums seem to be written in a foreign language and newbie questions are often answered with links to more foreign explanations that just add to their feelings of overwhelm.

My advice?  Don’t give up.  Keep asking questions.  To get the best answers, provide as much information about your problem as you can.  If you’re persistent, you’ll find that things come easier over time.

For More Information Visit: Wordpress Orientation

About the Author:

Kelly McCausey of Mom’s Talk Biz invites you to Wordpress Orientation, your all access pass to exclusive Wordpress learning.  We demonstrate answers to your questions during our live web conference sessions.  If you’re goal is to do it yourself.

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