Way To Go With Posterous - Plain And Simple

Anyone can start a blog. Why blogs and not websites? Because a blog is comparatively cheaper and easier to set up than a website. Some blog services are free.

Posterous is something which I just discovered recently although it has been around since last year. Perhaps I was too busy with my blogs and websites to take notice of it then.

I'm quite excited that Posterous is making blogging to be as easy as sending an email. I guess it's up to your imagination to make your free Posterous site as good and appealing as it can be.

If you're not one to be bothered with too much technicalities as far as blog goes, Posterous will be the right platform for you with its "plain and simple" interface. 

Think. One could use Posterous as an extension of your blogging arm to communicate as a frontline news or information site that will point readers to your other sites.

Yes, blogs are dynamic sites that get updated frequently and that attracts search engine spiders to drop by more often than not.

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to install your own blog. It's a breeze with Posterous. Any savvy teenager can do it. So can you. Basically, if you can write, you can blog.

Big deal.

Now, if you don't already know, blogs are reshaping the social landscape. They have become a very effective and powerful tool for communication. . .and for making money if that's your calling.

Entrenched traditional print media are sitting up because communicative blogs are stealing the thunder from them in many areas of information dissemination.

As the popularity of blogging grows exponentially, you can bet that marketers are sensing great opportunities to be grabbed online. If they have something to sell or an idea to promote, marketers know they can benefit from using blogs.

Corporates such as Nike, Sony, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard and many others are already using blogs to build branding.

Anyone with some individual skills and talents or interests can also promote his or her own enterprise by using blogs. If you surf the blogosphere, you will discover many of them out there.

If you can hack it as a blogger, you got a whole brave new world right in front of you to conquer.

Does it matter who or what you are? An entrepreneur, trainer, author, salesman, actor, travel guide, retiree...or a work-at-home mom (WAHM)?

Posted via email from markkscript's posterous

Is There Another Brick Wall In Your Mind?

    Photo Credit: Mark Khoo

Oh boy, it's getting tough to write a blog post these days!

I guess I've got to start somewhere if I'm going to create another post on this blog, especially when you have to use a keybaord - sorry, keyboard - that keeps playing tricks on the charactres...oops, characters.

This goddamn keyboard is sitting defiantly in front of me, probably laughing (if it can laugh) at my clumsy effort to type...without missing my p's and q's.

If I tried to type fast, a dinger - sorry again, finger - would miss the right key. If you look at the keyboard arrangement, R is next to T and D is next to F, and instead of hitting the A key I would hit an S! Talk about itchy fingers and potholes in the keyboard!

Well, I could become a one-finger typist plodding on at a safe snail pace. But that seems like a retarded idea fit only for turtles and snails.

Okay, enough of this tomfoolery on the keyboard. I can sense the mental brick wall is crumbling. I guess I have warmed up enough to write about...oh well, writer's block which do affect many bloggers.

See, I've gone past six silly little paragraphs to get to here. Now I'm untying the stifling knot in my head. Let me tell you that when you are having a cerebral blockage, don't drop dead, just write away on anything that comes to a clogged mind!

Remember, you're slowly loosening up, your mind's engine is stuttering but soon it'll be purring again like a well-oiled machine. Yes, you have overcome the hardest part of writing - that's getting started.

How to unlock that writer's block?

Writer's block is what many writers dread the most. Famous novelist and adventurer Ernest Hemingway was once asked about the most frightening thing he had ever encountered as a writer and he replied: "A blank sheet of paper." That unquestionably sums up that feeling of angst when it comes to 'putting ink on paper.'

Just imagine you want to write and you are facing a blank PC screen. Would that be as scary as facing a blank sheet of paper?

Today, it's so much easier to use a desktop computer or a laptop rather than an old beat-up typewriter to write.  If you type something you don't like you can always delete the sentence and rewrite it on your computer. You don't waste sheets of paper.

Across the blogging landscape, we have seen bloggers who used to post on a regular basis and then one day they started to slow down. And grinding to a halt. If you have been looking around and visiting some of your friendly neighbourhood blogs you'll notice that there's a long period of inactivity on these blogs.

And the first thing that comes to mind is...writer's block. It's the bane of folks who have overused their mental power and now are suffering from dysfunctional brain cells. Burnout.

For some bloggers (or every blogger and writer at one time or another), the 'brick wall syndrome' is just as much part and parcel of the malady all of us writers have to face sooner or later. Yes, you are encountering a writer's block when you have overstretched yourself and feeling lost for ideas.

How to get your creative juices flowing again? 

Perhaps, some good vintage wine will help you to clear the cobwebs inside there! Or it could be a spontaneous outburst of creativity after a cuppa  hot stimulating java. Maybe, you need to do a quick exercise (warm-ups) or freewrites (silly thing though) as I have done at the beginning of this article.

There's no one fix to get things going, it varies from one writer to another - different folks, different strokes.

Sometimes it's a good idea to take a break, pick up your acoustic guitar and work out a song (okay, not everyone is a guitar freak). But you still can listen to music, take a walk, work on your tai chi or perform some other activities that could get your mojo working.

Usually writers can't get started because they try to concentrate too much on the introduction and that bogs them down.

Don't worry too much - or just don't be too fussy at the beginning - start at any point. Just write away in the middle and by the time you come back to the front, you will have a clearer picture of how the introduction will run.

So there. Just don't feel anxious and frustrated. Throw out those negative feelings, be motivated and inspired by whatever that's cooking on your mind. And right away...write!

Another little trick to start is to work on the title or headline first. You can come up with several titles, decide which one can wow the reader and the rest of your writing will start to flow.  Usually, a good title will sum up the direction you're heading in your article. You can pick up some fine title ideas by studying those blurbs on magazine covers. So head over to your nearest magazine store and browse around for some inspiration.

Let's look at it from another writer's viewpoint about how to unlock that writer's block. Jeffrey Deaver, the bestselling author of thrillers and mysteries and creator of the Lincoln Rhyme series, has this advice: "I've often said that there's no such thing as writer's block; the problem is idea block."

Here's another quote from one of the best-known among the few African-American women science fiction writers, the late Octavia Estelle Butler: "You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence."

Ms Butler (June 22, 1947 - February 24, 2006) won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant.

Finally, here's a little gem of a tip from the late American author James Thurber who was also noted as a cartoonist and celebrated wit: "Don't get it right, just get it written."

Well, folks, that's how you get around a sticky situation, do all the 'crappy' stuff first, then everything willl fall into place. There won't be another brick on the wall 'cos it's tumbling down and you'll be able to see the light on the other side. Write on!


Discover The Cure To Writer's Block

Are You Struggling To Generate More Web Traffic?

     Credit: rutlo

Here's the lowdown. Your website is like a lonely island in the middle of a big ocean if you don't have web traffic. Nobody knows your site exists. You may think you have the greatest website and everyone should be reading the stuff you put on it but sorry, no one visits.

The crux of the matter is that web traffic is the lifeblood of your site and online business. It's that simple. So it's high time you get your hands dirty and, if you're dead serious, start to work on it... that is generating web traffic.

Don't worry, you're not alone when facing this predicament. There are thousands of other site owners who want to see more visitors but think it's too difficult, time consuming, or expensive to generate web traffic. According to an Internet marketing survey, nearly 70% of IMers said that generating web traffic is their #1 challenge.

Now you wonder, why is generating traffic such a challenge or even a pain for so many of us?

There are many web traffic options open to you but most of them have at least one fatal flaw...

• Pay-per-click (PPC) can burn a hole in your pocket if you aren't an expert. You'll go broke within a week
  
  
• Traffic exchanges involve hours of page refreshing drudgery to earn even a sniff of visitors. You could nod off while waiting to click and view the next site.
  
  
• SEO techniques are a moving target. If you get lucky with those rare hits, they'll change the rules again
  
  
•  Safelists flood you with thousands of emails you don't need and send your emails to others who won't read them either
  
  
• How-To ebooks and guides are typically full of tactics that no longer work by the time the ebook is available
  
  
• Submitter software packages use obsolete technology that most sites are already protected against before you even submit
  
  
• Co-registration leads are watered down names that have been blasted with so many offers they just tune you out
  
  
• Purchased visitors and bulk emails are so generic, untargeted, and rehashed you're better off trying to win the lottery than expect results from them
  
  
• Social bookmarking will get you some funny videos and knowledge of what somebody did at the party last weekend, but it's not going to send hungry customers to your site.

The truth is, most web traffic tools and tactics are simply too expensive, too time consuming, or they just plain don't work. So where does all this leave the poor online business wannabe? Where does he or she turn to find online salvation?

Yes, where do you go from here?

Although there are numerous ways to promote your site, one simple technique that will bring you traffic is to do article marketing. You don't need to spend a dime, all it takes is your time and your ability to write.

Writing simple how-to articles on topics you are knowledgeable about and distributing them to article directories has been a well-tested technique that will bring you rewards in the form of quality traffic.

Keyword marketing is another technique that will take your site to the top of the search engines. It's all about using the right keywords and key phrases. Concentrate most of your efforts on Google, and when you do it right, the traffic juice will come your way. Mind you, this organic traffic will bring interested visitors and buyers.

There are many articles and blog posts that give you the lowdown on article marketing and keyword marketing. It can be a bit overwhelming for a newcomer to read up all this but remember you are not alone, for there are many other newbies who are starting to learn about article marketing.

Well, it's not exactly rocket science. You don't need advance knowledge of anything technical in order to do article marketing. If you can write, then just write - about some particular topic you know.

Later, when you have attained 'greater wisdom' about article marketing, you may want to shift gear and move to the next level. That's when you start to look around for some software product that can help you distribute your articles automatically to hundreds of article submission sites.

There are quite a number of these products in the marketplace. It's up to you to check them out and choose the one you think will do the job of automated article marketing for you.

Mark my word, some of them will make you wonder why you never thought of this before if you're serious about article marketing. It will save you time and multiply your distribution of articles to a wider circle of sites. Your articles can be turned into "viral marketing tools" that will attract a lot more traffic and establish your credibility in your niche, making you an authoritative writer.

As mentioned earlier, all other methods or techinques to boost web traffic to your site is baloney, even if they work to a certain extent. Okay, that's my humble opinion.