Inspired Writing Research Insider Tips

Did You Think Stumbleupon Was Just Another Submission Button To Hit?

I was dangerously close to thinking this myself - and so are a few other people I've messaged about this, by the look of things!

Did you know that submitting too many of your own sites, or submitting sub-standard sites to Stumbleupon  can actually hurt your traffic?  Some people who've really gone mad with this (on hearing how 'viral' with traffic some sites can go) - have sat and stumbled every single one of their own articles but none of anyone else's!

Needless to say, in extreme cases not only do their own sites get the dreaded 'thumbs down' but they have actually been banned from Stumbleupon as well!

So thats what I've been up to instead of blogging! Well, here's some more details about where I've been picking up all this useful stuff!

I'm half-way through the introduction to Caroline Middlebrook's Stumblerush Course. Caroline is a high-profile UK blogger who is well on her way to making blogging her main livelihood. She launched the course (which shares the secrets of her Stumbleupon success) last month and those of us who have already enrolled are reaping the benefits of the first online course of lessons free.

At last I am using the Stumble It button properly (and benefitting from that too - that's where I came across the site below  'the Pook Writes') and have had four extra Stumbleupon visits to my site in seven days. Not a rush yet I grant you, but I am only on lesson four!

Off to do lesson five now (How To Pimp Your Stumbleupon Profile) - should be good - I'll report back here!

PS It's not too late to enrol - her Introductory lessons are free and the link to take you there (and on to the details of the full course which I'm seriously considering) is here! As you know, I only promote products that I use to good effect and - yes - I'm now an affiliate!

Of course, you could look up the course and register on it somewhere else, but if you did that you'd be a 'meanie!'

Just As Well I Checked on the Raspberries!

Popped over to Helium to freshen up my 'How To Ripple Your Raspberries' article' - just as well I checked! It's rating at Number 1 out of 60. That was a nice surprise.

Although it started off well there this time last year, seasonal articles do rise and fall and the last time I checked it was floating middle to top. I couldn't figure out a reason why it has suddenly shot up again, until I realised that, missing my writing fix over the Christmas break, I had decided to go in and 'leapfrog' a few articles.

This was probably one of them but I can't remember what I did! It was a competition entry, the original title of which no longer does justice to the way in which this article 'blossomed' into a niche channel, so I need to look at changing that.

Anyway, my next task is to customise, refresh,promote and find new markets for it - and to explain the process in a tutorial for my Newbie Internet Writer Training Site www.inspiredwritingresearch.com

This site shares tips I have learned about earning money online for those writers who want to work from home.

I bought the 'Full Season Collection' of raspberries as recommended by Thompson and Morgan, and have been thrilled with all our tasty 'free' fruit right into the early winter, so am happy to recommend that site here.

image flickr creative commons 'algo'

Frogs instead of Blog Slogs!

Latest decision? I'm giving up writing. Surely not, some will say, but why?

Well, oh dear, oh dear summer's here and that means yours truly finding herself edging outside on a pretext of watering the freshly sown runner beans. But you know how it is........ a dandelion needs pulling up, then another, then a columbine could do with moving into a more wooded setting. Before we know it, it's lunchtime and nothing's written.

However, I have a cunning plan for gardeholic freelancers! This week I will be doing a 'stocktake' of all my previously-written articles and blogs and repositioning the seasonal ones from last year.

Articles can be refreshed and updated with the latest studies, research, news and links (inc. shopping!! ) for our visitors - and don't forget to check for adsense relevance too. When 'refurbished' the articles can then be re-promoted, checking for new directories and social networking opportunities.

I will honour my freelance commitments through the summer, but fine-tuning, re-promoting and selling a couple of older articles per day may be a lot less work than non-stop writing and pinging!

Hopefully I will also find time to then work on poems - such as the one inspired by a tiny icy froglet landing on the back of my hot hand as I attacked the dandelions with a trowel!

So which article shall I start with? Well, I see the raspberries are almost in flower. Time to dig out 'How To Ripple Your Raspberries' from last year (google it!) - and maybe make a new web page from it too. (For my newbie coaching website - www.inspiredwritingresearch.com)

image j pockele flickr creative commons

Take A Leaf Out Of My Book - Write Micro Fiction?

Perhaps you are more a Creative Writer than a Non-Fiction writer? You can still cast your poems and short stories 'upon the waters' to trial them and get valuable feedback and ratings. Or why not leap in with both feet and just submit something? Leaf Books (UK and global) have a contest running right now (I'm submitting.) Paying sites that accept Creative Writing can be hard to find, but Helium does encourage creative writers. Or if you're in confident form, there's some more in-depth tips about Leaf Books in this article which I wrote for my Editor Site at BellaOnline magazine:

Flash Fiction anthologies make great potted books for any reader in a hurry, and the Leaf books anthology 'Derek and More Micro Fiction' is no exception. Writers in particular will find the collection a gripping read as it allow them a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ look into the writing lives and successes of other authors who are maybe not so very far ahead of them, but who have ‘made it.’

This directory of Micro Fiction competition-winners is made all the more delectable by the knowledge that smug published authors have not 'gotten into print' before novices just by sheer dint of their name and reputation. That greatest of levellers, anonymity, apparently prevails. So read the winning short fiction pieces and weep - or learn!

Derek and More Micro-Fiction is an anthology which may attract those who are automatically drawn to books which have a short, minimalist look about them – even if they are not writers. This slim, black, shiny volume with its lino-print effect, and black photo-negative style image of an empty park bench, looks mysterious.

Perhaps the styling even suggests an instruction like that of the bottle in Alice in Wonderland - inviting ‘read-me, you know you can do it in twenty minutes.’ Perfect for commuters or writers on the go, the anthology presentation suggests fiction which is witty but not too heavy.

Mini stories, 500 words or less, were called for and Leaf Books owns up to the fact that they sometimes admire the shortest – as in ‘a single paragraph.’ But then, that is now their prerogative, being (as they now suspect) a world-leader in Micro-Fiction publishing - and one which specialises in getting first-timers into print.

Some of the thirty-seven crisp shorts carry the dark theme forward, whether through representation of blind senile dementia, or through the enigma of mystery. Many of the short stories have ‘something of the night’ about them.

Readers may even take issue with the choices of winning entries, making perusing the anthology a truly interactive experience. They may find themselves subconsciously, or consciously, comparing the stories, mentally weighing the carats or flaws. They may harbor their own little grudges as they read, carrying their chosen one forward in their hearts to compare with the next story on the list - an intellectual challenge..............

Read more about the writers who actually win short story competitions in the rest of my BellaOnline article or find out about the contest in the forum:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art47269.asp

MORE TIPS LIKE THESE?

Drop by my website - I'm working on a 'Cut to the Chase' Paid Freelancer Markets Ebook which will contain all my contacts. Learn more at:

www.inspiredwritingresearch.com

Don't Miss Your Review Site Earnings Boat

  Uh -Oh !  Who wants to see pictures of Christmas Trees in April? Or read about Christmassy blogs, comments or reviews?

It might be high time to comb through all the sites we write for, and do a squeaky-clean spring clean!

When was the last time you checked in to the first site you ever wrote  for? Remember that some review sites, such as Ciao, require a minimum six-monthly check-in. Without periodic visits, they may remove you - and your earnings! - from their membership!

Keep a list somewhere, and don't forget to add new ones as you join up. A diary is great, because you can see subscription renewals, annual deadlines and payment requests coming up. If you miss these, you may lose all the money you have earned in the previous six months. A chore, yes. But who wants to lose hard-written dollars?

(image - joseph_j_dangelo Flickr Creative Commons)

PS  Not every site has an accruing earnings system that just keeps running - so don't rely on it. Helium is about to start re-allocating unclaimed earnings across its loyal writer base........