Yup, ol' Plowboy has a full plate here for sure. Humpteem blogs and websites to stay on top of, a farm to work, freelance pieces to write and a part-time job down the road (I think, lol)
Bear with me and I'll be back with you all soon as I can. Until then, I am gonna post pieces about things I found surfing around the Net that caught my eye. Sure is a lot of stuff to see out there, hope you keep this place as one of your stops.
Also, feel free to visit my other sites. You can find them in the links section over there on the side.
Showing posts with label Mike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike. Show all posts
Monday, September 10, 2007
Sunday, September 2, 2007
If this really is a 3-day weekend....
Where do I have to go to pick up my extra hours?
I sure could use them this week. Got tobacco cutting in full swing, 5 blogs to keep up with as well as a handfull of websites. Not to mention the new writer's forum site that I just built and am trying to get off the ground.
Then there are the untold interruptions that just throw my 'train of thought' off the deep end.
Add to that the new client I just signed with in my freelancing business and yup, you got it! My sleep is now officially in negative numbers. lol
So....where are those extra 24 hours this weekend? I sure could use 'em!
kpb
I sure could use them this week. Got tobacco cutting in full swing, 5 blogs to keep up with as well as a handfull of websites. Not to mention the new writer's forum site that I just built and am trying to get off the ground.
Then there are the untold interruptions that just throw my 'train of thought' off the deep end.
Add to that the new client I just signed with in my freelancing business and yup, you got it! My sleep is now officially in negative numbers. lol
So....where are those extra 24 hours this weekend? I sure could use 'em!
kpb
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
BLOGS - They're Here to Stay
"Whether you love 'em, hate 'em or simply ignore 'em, it seems that the reality is that blogs are here to stay." - KyPlowboy, August 2007
No longer are they restricted to personal online journals published for friends and family. Blogs have become big business and are used a good bit in big business to enhance the companies that run them. There are quite a few blogs out there netting in the millions of dollars every year. This phenomenon just seems to keep snow-balling and picking up speed.
This Forum site, for example, is affiliated with 5 blog sites; all inter-linked and mutually supportive of one another. Of course, the goals of this site and those blogs is not to make money except through residual advertising to offset the time and expense of running them.The potential is there and limitless, however, to make a killing through this medium of communication. Where else can you publically market, sell, ship and deliver your wares to a world-wide market for virtually no overhead? For about $300/year you can run a large variety of web sites, blogs and e-commerce sites that reach a global market. If you can reach and sell to 1/10,000th of that market, you will be living pretty high up on the hog. All from the privacy of your home or off your mobile laptop.
There are probably as many marketing strategies to build a successful blog as there are blogs. The Internet is rife with sites that do nothing but teach you how to be a better, more successful blogger. I have reviewed several hundred of these sites and I have found what I believe to be the common core secret to them all. It's so simple and obvious that a lot of people just overlook it.
People don't visit blogs to look at all the pretty colors and flashing lights or hear the bells ring and whistles blow. They come because they are in search of content; the meat and potatoes.
Imagine, if you will, a fine five-star restaurant you have stumbled upon. They have had a cancellation and usher you in to be seated right away. Pretty good so far, eh? A whole staff of servants waits on you and flutters about while you wait on your menu. It finally arrives in the hands of a smiling server and you open it and are immediately perplexed!
It only offers one thing: PB&J Sandwich - $40.00 ($50 w/chips and a drink).
My guess is you would lose whatever appetite you had and let your feet do the talking as you headed for the door!Blogs, or any other website for that matter, need to offer up the 'meat and potatoes' if they want return customers. And the way you do that is by offering a variety fine, delectable treats that they can't wait to be served - each and every trip. To sell something to anyone, you first have to get them inside your shop. Window dressing may catch their eye and get them to peep inside, but if they view empty shelves and cobwebs, chances are they will never be back again. You failed to offer the incentive to return.
If there is one truth in the business world, it is this:
"It is often very hard to gain customers, but it's almost impossible to get them back once you've lost them."
Content. That is the secret thread that holds all successful online sites together. It is no easy task writing good, effective web content, but it can be done with a little study and good practices.
I hope that this area of the forum gets much attention and use, as it is the wave of the future in all manner of commerce, whether you are selling a product, service or even yourself (as a writer).
kpb
No longer are they restricted to personal online journals published for friends and family. Blogs have become big business and are used a good bit in big business to enhance the companies that run them. There are quite a few blogs out there netting in the millions of dollars every year. This phenomenon just seems to keep snow-balling and picking up speed.
This Forum site, for example, is affiliated with 5 blog sites; all inter-linked and mutually supportive of one another. Of course, the goals of this site and those blogs is not to make money except through residual advertising to offset the time and expense of running them.The potential is there and limitless, however, to make a killing through this medium of communication. Where else can you publically market, sell, ship and deliver your wares to a world-wide market for virtually no overhead? For about $300/year you can run a large variety of web sites, blogs and e-commerce sites that reach a global market. If you can reach and sell to 1/10,000th of that market, you will be living pretty high up on the hog. All from the privacy of your home or off your mobile laptop.
There are probably as many marketing strategies to build a successful blog as there are blogs. The Internet is rife with sites that do nothing but teach you how to be a better, more successful blogger. I have reviewed several hundred of these sites and I have found what I believe to be the common core secret to them all. It's so simple and obvious that a lot of people just overlook it.
People don't visit blogs to look at all the pretty colors and flashing lights or hear the bells ring and whistles blow. They come because they are in search of content; the meat and potatoes.
Imagine, if you will, a fine five-star restaurant you have stumbled upon. They have had a cancellation and usher you in to be seated right away. Pretty good so far, eh? A whole staff of servants waits on you and flutters about while you wait on your menu. It finally arrives in the hands of a smiling server and you open it and are immediately perplexed!
It only offers one thing: PB&J Sandwich - $40.00 ($50 w/chips and a drink).
My guess is you would lose whatever appetite you had and let your feet do the talking as you headed for the door!Blogs, or any other website for that matter, need to offer up the 'meat and potatoes' if they want return customers. And the way you do that is by offering a variety fine, delectable treats that they can't wait to be served - each and every trip. To sell something to anyone, you first have to get them inside your shop. Window dressing may catch their eye and get them to peep inside, but if they view empty shelves and cobwebs, chances are they will never be back again. You failed to offer the incentive to return.
If there is one truth in the business world, it is this:
"It is often very hard to gain customers, but it's almost impossible to get them back once you've lost them."
Content. That is the secret thread that holds all successful online sites together. It is no easy task writing good, effective web content, but it can be done with a little study and good practices.
I hope that this area of the forum gets much attention and use, as it is the wave of the future in all manner of commerce, whether you are selling a product, service or even yourself (as a writer).
kpb
Monday, July 23, 2007
Secrets...
No one who knows either one of us, knows where we are this morning. They don’t have a clue. We have planned this little getaway for almost a year now. Finally, here we are. As I stare out across the ocean, my mind drifts back to last night… the smell of her hair, the soft warmth of her skin, the fire of desire in her eyes. With a gentle kiss on the cheek, I left her in bed sleeping this morning and walked barefoot to beach below.
Standing there now, I feel the breeze blowing in my face; tender breaths of cool, salty air. The sun is not up yet, but the sky is beginning to brighten in the east in an array of color that was the thunderstorm that passed through last night. It turns the waters in front of me red and orange and yellows, a fiery rainbow that ripples and changes with the rise and fall of the waves. The pulsing beat of the ocean pushes little, warm tongues of water around my feet and quickly withdraws them back down the beach to the safety of their mother.
Down the beach, I hear the muffled roar of larger waves as they crash against the rocks there in an age-old struggle for superiority. She always wins in the end, I think, but what do rocks know of such things. I stand silent, in the growing light, hands buried in my pockets, mesmerized by it all… I don’t hear her approach, feather-like on the sands behind me.
She gently slides her hands around my waist and locks them together across my belly, as her chin finds its place on my shoulder and nuzzles there. A gentle kiss on the side of my neck and then we are still, frozen at this moment in this moment. Two sets of eyes peer out at the sea before us as one and for that brief instant, we are one. Making a memory that will live forever…
Copyright © 2007 Mike Lawson
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