The Secret to Great Photography is to Take Enough Photos

Today, I was thinking about a photojournalism class I took in college, way back in the day when we used to use film in our cameras. Part of our requirements for that class was to take a roll of film a day. It didn't matter what we shot, as long as we used the entire roll of film and shot throughout the day.

The reason that this practice was stressed is because the true secret to great photography is taking enough photos to increase your odds of having a great one. Sure, you need to learn how to properly work your camera and how to manipulate your images with your shutter speed and f-stop settings, but great photographs are about capturing the moment. You can't do that while calculating your next shot in your head.

I think that online writers can also benefit from this philosophy. How many times do we online writers research techniques, chat in the forums and obsessively check our stats. Though it is important to know techniques and proper writing practices, too many writers spend too much time thinking about writing.

Instead of planning, just write. Write as many well-written articles as you can. Your writing skills will advance and you will increase your chances of writing an article that banks the big bucks. Instead of scouring the internet for trade secrets, write what you know, write it well and write it in as many articles as you can.

Sometimes we in the writing community just need more "do" than "think". This is not to discourage research and planning, but the more articles you publish, the greater your chances of hitting the residual earnings goldmine. So commit to writing at least one article a day and see where it takes you.

It's a New Year with New Goals

Some photos from my Christmas celebration that I used to spell out Christmas.

Well, quite a lot has happened since I last posted. We celebrated Christmas AND New Year's, I had a successful One of a Kind Show in Chicago and I finished teaching my first round of classes at the art museum.

All in all, it has been a great 2010 and I'm looking forward to taking my business and my freelance writing to new levels in 2011. I have a lot of business and personal goals that I'd like to tackle. It seems that I have so many pans in the fire though, it's hard to know which one needs to have the pancakes flipped. ha ha. It is just exciting though to have so many opportunities. It's amazing what you can carve out for yourself when you have to.



My booth at OOAK Chicago, 2010.

The One of a Kind show was really great. My booth display worked well, and I lucked out by getting a great spot right next to the swanky lounge area. They had fruit and brie plates that were y-u-m-m-y, even if they were a little pricey. Anyway, I sold a lot and made some good connections. At the moment, I am signed up to go back again next year.

As for my writing, I'm just going to try to focus on sending a lot of articles out into the stratosphere. It would be great if I could reach 300 articles on Suite101. If you haven't heard, Suite has added new incentives for writers who reach 300 articles. Contributing writers get a 20% bonus and feature writers get a 40% bonus. That's really amazing to think that we'd get 40% above our normal rate. At the moment, I'm only at 124 articles, but I could get to 300 if I eally pushed myself. It just might be hard to find the time with my jewelry and teaching.

Anyway, Rome wasn't built in a day. If I just keep my head down and keep chipping away, eventually I'll tackle my goals. Hopefully you all had a great New Year's Eve! I wish everyone a prosperous 2011 and I hope that all of your business goals come to fruition!

100 Suite Articles and My One-Year Anniversary

Today I published my 100th article on Suite101 and it has apparently taken me about a year to write all of those articles because it is also my first anniversary with Suite. So I thought I would provide a little run-down of my progress over the first year:

Articles Written: 100
Residuals Earned: $264
Bonus Money from Contests: $101
Average Earned per Month: $22
First Month's Earnings: $1.39
Last Month's Earnings: $29.95
Promotions: Became the Ceramics Feature Writer

Even though my monthly earnings have started to slow down a bit, I am still happy to be writing for Suite101. They have some of the best editors around and a supportive writing community who are quick to answer questions and give advice. I'm hopeful that my residuals will rise as I add more content and my older articles begin to mature and rise in Google searches.

For now though, I'm happy with the added experience and opportunities I gain from Suite. It has been a wonderful tool for me to further hone my writing and network with great people. So I raise my glass and say, here's to another sweet year at Suite!

Use Bukisa to Increase Page Views on Other Writing Sites

 Bukisa is an online writing site that pays residuals to writers. The site works on a revenue-share basis and writers receive money based on page views. At a minimum of only 250 words, Bukisa articles are short and simple to write. Membership to the site is free and anyone can quickly sign up and start writing.

Beyond the potential to make money with Bukisa articles, writers can also use the site to drive traffic back to articles on other sites. By using this simple strategy, writers can increase their income.

Start by finding articles you wrote that highlight a couple of different points. For instance, say you wrote an article entitled, "The Top Three Sushi Restaurants in Chicago" or "Three Green Craft Projects that use Recycled Supplies"? Both of those articles highlight three distinct items under one unifying theme.

After finding these articles, start promoting them through Bukisa. Start by writing a short article about one of the topics in your larger article. For instance, if you want to link back to the article on the top three sushi restaurants, write a Bukisa article on one of those restaurants. Because the original article contains three restaurants, three seperate Bukisa articles can be created and linked back to promote the original article. So for each larger article, you will create multiple Bukisa articles that link back to it.

The great thing about this strategy is the fact that you end up making money on all fronts. You increase your  page views for your other writing sites. You also earn residual income from your Bukisa articles. It's also a simple way to create a great amount of content with the same key words and topics. This helps to prevent research burnout and writer's block.

Use this writing strategy to work smarter instead of harder. Sign up for Bukisa and start writing short articles that can promote larger articles. It's one way to generate a larger audience and greater income without much more effort.

Suite Writers Now Accredited to Write Google News Articles

Yesterday I received a message in my inbox informing me about the new Suite news accreditation program. Suite writers who have written over 30 articles have the opportunity to become accredited to write Google news articles. The accreditation process is extremely simple and it doesn't seem like there is much of a difference in the article formatting of news articles.

Suite has provided new learning hubs to help writers understand which articles are considered newsworthy. It also provides help on formulating titles and attaching seo-optimized images. Aside from those tips, the basic Suite style of using seo sub-headings and third-person writing is still intact.

So what's the advantage of writing Google news articles? Well, news articles, on timely issues, could result in a high number of page views and added clout to a writer's resume. I must say that it was quite a thrill to see my first news article intermingling with big-name media conglomerates like BBC news and MSNBC.

The down side to writing news articles is the fact that they will eventually lose their appeal and cease to generate page views or income. Even at their height of popularity, these articles will probably not bring in as many ad clicks as the evergreen Suite articles.

All in all, I think this new opportunity is fantastic. I probably won't be writing a ton of Google news articles, but it's nice to know that I have the option now. It's just one more way of expanding my writing experience. I'm sure I'll also learn much more about writing online news stories as the program continues.

If you want to, check out my first dive into the deep end of the Google news pool here.

Say Hello to the New Ceramics Feature Writer

I've taken the next step at Suite101 in becoming the ceramics feature writer. Now I will be writing four articles a month on all things clay. As a ceramics minor in college and someone who has taught high school ceramics, I'm excited to share my knowledge on the subject. Beyond the obvious instructional articles, I will also be writing about mosaics, art schools, specific artist bios and ceramic art history. It should be fun.

In exchange for my clay knowledge, I will earn an extra 20% on top of my current residuals, and then an extra 10% once I reach 100 articles. I'm pretty excited about the added income and the extra motivation to keep writing.

Because I also need a lot of time to work on my jewelry, I'm focusing on writing ten ceramics articles to save in my drafts. They will be my emergency backup articles for those times that I'm too busy with jewelry to focus on writing. I've got two down and eight more to go this week.

Anyway, I just want to emphasize again how much I appreciate Suite101. I have discovered numerous opportunities through the site from contests to my new position. I'm excited to be on board and I can only highly recommend the site to anyone else who enjoys writing.

Suite!!! I'm a Winner!

I have been so happy with Suite. I find that my earnings are steadily growing and the community of writers is the best on the Internet. This month has been especially great for me as I passed my 50 article goal and started receiving my 10% bonus. I also was a winner in the Sweethearts Writing Challenge.

My Article "Unique Valentine's Gifts" was chosen as a winner in the challenge. My philosophy is to participate in all of the challenges on the off chance that I could win and make some extra money. That said, I was really shocked that I won, especially since Valentine's Day is my least favorite holiday. Perhaps it was that unique angle that gave me the edge though.

Anyway, I must say that Suite has really paid off for me. I am making more money per article than I do at any other site. They also have challenges each month that provide extra opportunities to make money. I also have learned so much through Suite with their Learning Hubs that teach about keyword research and seo writing. Perhaps that best part of Suite though, is the supportive and knowledgeable writing community.

By frequenting the forum, I have learned so much from other writers. I am still somewhat shocked at how willing so many writers are to share the tips that have made them successful. I love this aspect of the writing community. I find that everyone wants everyone else to succeed. Their are very few people who are guarded or resentful of others' success.

So basically, I just want to say thank you to Suite writers and editors for helping me become a better seo writer. And another thanks goes out for choosing my little article for a winner in the writing challenge.

I May be My Own Boss but Man am I a Slave Driver!

I am starting to realize that, as a boss, I'm pretty demanding. Ofcourse, I need to be. Right now I am starting two new careers and neither one is at the point of earning me an acceptable income.

I am showing some great strides in my jewelry career though. I booked the first two shows I applied to, and one of them is extremely prestigious: The One of a Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.

Due to this great news about the shows, I have been working overtime in the studio producing more jewelry. On top of this, I am trying to write three new Suite 101 articles a week. That goal may quickly diminish if I need more time in the studio.

To help pass the time in the studio, I decided to go to Goodwill to purchase a small television. I like to listen to the news and thought this might be a good way to pass the time while I'm working.

When I went to Goodwill, the only televisions available were extremely large. Then I saw a small odd-looking television sitting on a desk on the other side of the room. It was odd-looking because it was made of a plastic that was completely see-through. The price was right though, so I grabbed the television and took it up to the check out.

The lady behind the check out counter was helping a nice older woman in front of me who was buying china dishes. As the cashier was wrapping the dishes in newspaper, she took a quick glance at my television and said, "You know that's a prison t.v.?"

I thought this was an odd assumption, but I asked her why it was a prison television. She said that prison televisions had to be transparent so that no knives or weapons could be smuggled into the jail inside of the t.v. That seemed to make sense to me.

So now I have a prison television in my studio. I hope it's the last prison television I ever watch. It does work well and it's the perfect size, so I really don't care that it led a former life as a prison inmate.

And maybe having a prison t.v. will remind me just how lucky I am to be free and to be able to work my brains out at something I love. I guess I could be my own warden and keep myself working on the chain gang for a long time to come.

Finished with Fourteen and Back to the Land of the Living

I finally finished my last article for the 14 in 14 challenge at Suite101.

I will say that the 14 articles in 14 days challenge really helped to get me into a writing state of mind. Now writing four to five articles a week will be fairly simple.

I would recommend setting up a disciplined writing goal to any writer. Though you might feel like a bit of a word zombie at the completion of the challenge, you'll end up being a much better writer. Plus, it adds a large bump to daily page views and revenue.

Now I must place a heavier focus on my jewelry making as I've got a holiday show just around the corner. Wish me luck!

14 Articles in 14 Days: Working the Writing Muscles

Right now I am in the middle of a 14 articles in 14 days challenge for Suite 101. At first I thought this would be relatively easy. I mean, there are days when I can sit down and write 3-5 articles with little problem. 14 in 14 is turning out to be slightly more challenging than I first thought though.

I guess I would liken this challenge to training for a marathon. Training for a marathon requires running every day. Some days are great and you feel like running for miles. Other days, just putting on the tennies is an arduous task. The same is true for writing.

Some days I can crank out 3-5 high-quality articles before lunch. Other days, I could labor away all day just to produce one presentable article. I find that this is the challenge with 14 in 14. Writing one article every day for 14 days challenges you to work the writing muscles even when they're aching and tired.

On the positive side and in keeping with the sports theme, the challenge is instilling a "just do it" or, better yet, "just write it" attitude in me. It is exciting to see my page views dramatically increase and my revenue go up. I'm going to stick with it and push through the writing pain and hopefully I will reap the benefits when I cross the finish line.

Creating, Creating, Creating. . . Making Money????

Lately I have been trying to create both jewelry and freelance articles in an attempt to eventually make a living working from home. Notice that I used the word eventually. Though I am seeing modest returns for my hard work, I am by no means even close to paying a mortgage with my writing or jewelry. It would be easy to get disillusioned and give up, but I am actually pretty optimistic. Why?

Knowing What I Don't Want to Do
Well, over the last few years, I was working at a dependable job, but I hated it. My stress level was through the roof and I lacked sleep, exercise and sanity. My pay and benefits were great, but every day on my way to work, I would imagine what it would be like to just keep on driving and not go in. There were some aspects of my job I enjoyed, but not enough to make the stress and fatigue worthwhile.

Trying Something New

So now that I am working from home, there are other stresses, such as making enough money and staying on task, but I am thoroughly enjoying directing my own path in my career. The amount of work I do is directly tied to my earnings and there is endless potential for growth. I can also express myself creatively with few limitations. So far, the experience has been invigorating. In fact, I feel like I've been awakened from a deep sleep. So how do I get this new direction in my life to sustain my financial needs?

Laying the Groundwork

First, I know I must lay the groundwork by amassing a large cache of online articles on the top-paying residual sites. I am going to avoid upfront pay for as long as I can because the residual sites will allow me to establish long-term financial growth. I find that the best site for financial growth is Suite 101, followed by eHow. I am going to focus my energies on those two sites to produce a future of substantial residual earnings.

Second, I am going to focus on making high-quality and affordable jewelry and promoting that jewelry online and locally. I am going to look into wholesale opportunities for some of my pieces. I am also going to apply to shows to reach new audiences with my work. By establishing a client base, I can then start to make more sales and reach more people through word of mouth recommendations.

Staying Vigilant and Putting in the Hours

Finally, I have to look at my writing and jewelry as a full-time job. I have to put in the same amount of hours, if not more to make my dream a reality. I can't let up in a month, two months or a year if I want to make it in the residual writing or jewelry business. Luckily, I am fully dedicated to working as hard as I can to make this happen. Keep your fingers crossed for me though, because I will need a lot of luck too!

Splitting Time Between Writing and Jewelry

Recently, I have been working on starting an online jewelry business. I plan to have my Etsy shop open at the end of the month, and I want to have at least 20 quality items ready to sell. This means that my freelance writing is taking a bit of a back seat. Currently, I am only writing articles for Suite 101 to make sure that I keep my minimum requirements for the month.

By shifting my priorities this week, I have really examined what is working for me online and what is just a waste of time. This examination has led me to the following conclusions:

1. Writing for upfront pay doesn't make much sense unless you desperately need the money.

2. For me, eHow and Suite 101 are the most relevant money-making sites.

3. Posting large amounts of affiliate ads doesn't result in much money. In short, post some but don't waste time posting a ton of links.

4. Social networking is good promotion, but don't spend too much time chatting with online friends.

5. Setting minimum goals and tracking earnings helps to understand how to make more money online overall.

As an online freelance writer, your time is incredibly valuable and must be used effectively to maximize your earnings. For me, the majority of my time will be spent writing residual articles for legitimate sites that produce predictable and steady monthly residuals. I believe that publishing trumps promoting, posting ads and social networking.