Friday, January 30, 2009

Social Networking --A New Paradigm

Another option for writers is "Social Networking". Sites include most interests, from friends to business. Not the NY Times, but always a good place to give your opinion.



One of the innovations in the internet space is social networking. Organizations are taking a fresh view on its scope for marketing communication and positioning to selling. The time has come to get into SOCIAL NETWORKING BAND WAGON.

“Social Network” was first coined by JA Barnes in 1954 classic, Class and Committees in a Norwegian Island Parish. It generally denotes “ a map of the relationships between individuals, indicating the ways in which they are connected through various social familiarities ranging from casual acquaintance to close familial bonds”.
Management Science Research has long studied to understand social networks mainly in the area of organizational behavior and human resource management. The internet has given a new twist to social networks. Time-constrained citizens are becoming social “netizens” with a vengeance. Relationships are sought online from like minded persons across the globe. We call these social networking sites.

Some of the popular social networking sites are: MySpace.com ,orkut, B-YANKS, etc. Unlike a traditional website or an email service , these sites resemble a real-life club. People can join different clubs depending on their affiliations. People look for relationships in these sites rather than pure information or plain vanilla communication. A music lover can form a group of “like tasted” individuals who can chat, discuss and share files ( both text and video). Most of these sites are free. Unlike a traditional site, these sites allow for greater interaction. Many users, use the space to be in touch with their near and dear ones..

There is a change in the electronic media consumption habits. Even as social networking sites expand, there are some interesting trends that can be observed. One of them is that adult and youth users vary in their usage pattern of social networks. While Orkut and B-Yanks are common choice for both age groups, youth seek more variety with such sites. The best part about these sites is that some of them like B-yanks also provide with free mobile email access, uploading & viewing videos and chat facilities. That means you can remain connected with your friends and relatives through your mobile phone. You can chat, view text and videos of your dear ones, all at the same time without having the need to go to your PC.

Social networking sites are expanding at 30% per annum. As they do so, the type of sites and the people who use them are also changing. Sites like MySpace, Face Book, Mypopcorn, etc remain popular with a bias towards music, films and relationships. While others like B-Yanks is more popular amongst all age groups for its free web and mobile based services include chat, music, video uploads ,free email access and much more.

Various organizations across the world are trying to get into the Social Networking Band Wagon as they find such sites as lucrative places for tracking down the market trend. It could also be an experimental communication channel for trendy youth. After the Dotcom burst, many marketers and business managers have given up on the internet.. Although Google is successful and echoes of Yahoo users are heard at times, a business manager is the most unlikely face in that Internet loving crowd. . For many business marketers , social networking sites are the best places where they can get closer or catch hold of their customers and that too, free of cost. Instead of costly surveys, experiments and focus group discussions, they can log on to the social networking site and look for the customer opinion on their products. It is always pleasant to catch a customer unaware and when he is most relaxed.


This article is printed from http://www.selfgrowthtest.com

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

How to Write Articles Quickly

One of the best ways to promote your website or blog is through article marketing. Learning to write articles quickly is a skill you have to master to accomplish this.

Many website owners make article writing a lot more complicated than it has to be. When writing for websites, remember first of all that people online are scanning web pages, not reading every word, so there is no need to spend hours making every word perfect.

Your content isn’t going to be totally unique, no matter what you write about. Every topic you can think about has already been written about by someone else. Think about it – every newsworthy event is covered by CNN, NBC, ABC, etc. Every network and every newspaper are all covering the exact same event or topic, just in different words.

The fact is, there are no new topics. Your job is to take what’s already been written and improve on it by injecting your own comments and personality.

One way to do research quickly is by inputting the topic you want to write about into a search engine. Choose three or four matches and read these articles thoroughly, taking notes.

Or, other places for quick research include article directories, forums and yahoo answers. By reading what people are asking in yahoo answers, you will learn what information people are looking for.

Amazon.com provides some great tools for quick research. By choosing a few top-selling books on a given topic, you can research quickly by browsing a book’s table of contents, the back cover of the book and even an excerpt.

Once you have taken sufficient notes, it’s time to put your article together. Write an outline of the important points you want to make in your article. Then write the article without looking back at the other articles. This is nothing more than the same work you did in high school writing book reports. Most of us have written quite a few book reports in our lifetime, and in those days many of us put ourselves through the unnecessary stress of cutting it too close to deadlines. That means we already know how to write and research quickly!

Basically, we need to decide what we’re going to accomplish and when. If we intend to write an article a day, then we have to stay glued to our computer until we complete that task. If we want to get it done in half an hour or less, this is another goal to work toward. Practice will definitely lead to improvement.

Article marketing is one of the best forms of free advertising there is. Learning to write articles quickly is an easily learned skill that will help us get the most out of article marketing.


About The Author
Valerie Dansereau is a banker turned entrepreneur and is the owner of http://www.work-at-home-parenting.com. For a free report showing you how to make $1,000 a month, even without your own website, Click here.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Web Writing Maestro - From Idea to Income

Want to make great money from your Web writing? You need a process which you can use repeatedly, so that your income increases each month. The secret is to keep everything simple: just do what YOU can do, and leave the rest to others.

The More Products You Write and Sell Online, the More Money You Make

When you begin your Web writing career, you soon realize that the real money is in selling your own products. However, this seems intimidating. How do you get a project online? How do you make money from it?

Remember that the secret is to keep it simple. No one knows everything. The Web is so huge and complex that it's impossible to master every aspect. Therefore, you out-source whatever you can't do, or find difficult or unpleasant.

For example, let's say that you want to start a new blog on marine aquariums. It's your hobby, you love it, and you know that since people are searching for information on this topic, a blog would be profitable. But you don't know how to buy a domain name and hosting, or how to install a blog. So out-source it. You should be able to get it done in a few hours for under $50.

Now let's look at your "idea to income" process. You can use this to write a constant stream of ebooks, reports, blogs, courses, classes, and seminars on any topic you choose.

1. Choose a Project

First comes the idea. I like to give myself a month from idea to income. Choosing a project which will be profitable takes longest. Once you have a possibility, check whether others are selling similar products. Try to estimate whether they're making money, and how much. (If you don't know how to do this, you know what to do now: out-source it, and get a competitive intelligence report.)

2. Get It Online

Next, create your product. Yes, you're a writer, but once you've written the outline, and the introduction, the project is solid. You can now out-source the rest of the project if you wish, or you can write it yourself. I like to write all my own projects, because I enjoy it.

Once the project's done, write a sales page and set up payment processing. (Yes, hire it done, if you don't know how.)

3. Promote It

No product sells itself. Promote it via advertising, using both paid and free methods.

4. Make Money

This final step takes care of itself. Keep promoting your product, and then get ready to create another one.

So there you have a process you can use to create products and make money: use it and prosper from your Web writing.

Want to learn more about Web writing and creating your own products to sell? Sell Your Writing Online NOW at http://sellwritingnow.com/Home/training.html is complete training in Web writing which opens the door to unlimited opportunities. Subscribers call it "the best thing I've ever done." You'll discover how to write and sell articles, ebooks and Web sites for profit, and much more.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Angela_Booth

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

2008

I checked my Library log on Monday, to see how many books I've read through the year 2008, and was surprised to see 113+!.

So many books, so little time!

2009, my goal is 150.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The Daemon...eBook to Hardcover


Science fiction, and the concept of eBook publishing have come together in this new book to be released on 1-8-09. I will be putting it on hold at the local library.



Editorial Reviews,From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Originally self-published, Suarez's riveting debut would be a perfect gift for a favorite computer geek or anyone who appreciates thrills, chills and cyber suspense. Gaming genius Matthew Sobol, the 34-year-old head of CyberStorm Entertainment, has just died of brain cancer, but death doesn't stop him from initiating an all-out Internet war against humanity. When the authorities investigate Sobol's mansion in Thousand Oaks, Calif., they find themselves under attack from his empty house, aided by an unmanned Hummer that tears into the cops with staggering ferocity. Sobol's weapon is a daemon, a kind of computer process that not only has taken over many of the world's computer systems but also enlists the help of superintelligent human henchmen willing to carry out his diabolical plan. Complicated jargon abounds, but most complexities are reasonably explained. A final twist that runs counter to expectations will leave readers anxiously awaiting the promised sequel. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
“Suarez’s riveting debut would be a perfect gift for a favorite computer geek or anyone who appreciates thrills, chills and cyber suspense.…A final twist that runs counter to expectations will leave readers anxiously awaiting the promised sequel.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Greatest. Techno-thriller. Period. Suarez presents a fascinating account of autonomous, logic- based terrorism, incorporating current and anticipated technologies to create a credible and quite clever story. Experts have long feared the Internet doomsday scenario; the Daemon is arguably more terrifying.”
—William O’Brien, Director of Cybersecurity and Communications Policy, The White House

“Daemon is the real deal—a scary look at what can go wrong as we depend increasingly on computer networks.”
— Craig Newmark, Founder Craigslist

“[Daniel Suarez] is the best author of tech fiction since Bruce Sterling and Neal Stephenson. Buy everything he writes.”
— John Robb, futurist & Author of Brave New War

“Daemon is better than early Tom Clancy...The tech is invoked with inside knowledge, the writing is better, and deeper issues are explored with greater imagination.”
— Stewart Brand, Founder Whole Earth Catalog & co-founder the Long Now Foundation

“An exciting book that will force you to think about where we are heading as a 'wired' society. It will keep you guessing. You will not want to put it down, and you will not want it to end. It doesn't get much better than that.”
— Steven Winningham, Former CIO, Gap Inc; EVP, Virgin Entertainment Group


http://thedaemon.com/

Friday, January 2, 2009

Something Old, Seems New

I was sifting through some old documents and found some writing I did many years ago.
My mindset was very different then: grim, depressed, dark and moody. One piece titled "Solitude", made little sense now, but I liked the end for some reason:

"The sounds, the words, the wonder of just thinking;
thought without direction, momentary aberrations of time and space;
amazement of imaginary journeys."


The unusual aspects of finding this today was in conjunction with several "Left Behind" movies I watched recently , and a book I am currently reading, "Kéthani" by Eric Brown. Journeys through time and space have always interested me.