Successful Blog

Top 5 Things to Consider When You’re Blogging and Traveling

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How to blog

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Amanda DiSilvestro

Blogging on the Go: How to Make Traveling the World “Work” for You

This post coming to you from a campervan somewhere between Byron Bay and Sydney, Australia — it can be tough to try and keep your blog up and running while you’re on the go. One of the greatest things about being a blogger and writer is the idea that you can do your writing from anywhere, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. This also doesn’t mean that you should sit home and let this great opportunity pass you by, but it does mean that you have to come up with some focus and discipline; fast.


Image: Can blogging while
you travel work out for you?

Working from home and working while you are traveling are two very different things. If you’ve been able to manage getting your work done with the lack of a real office, then you’re certainly off to a good start when it comes to working while on the go. However, there are a few things that are different and a few other qualities that you will likely need if you want to be successful as you travel wherever that plane or campervan may take you.

Top 5 Things to Consider When You’re Blogging and Traveling

It’s important to remember that working while traveling isn’t for everyone (as great as it may sound). Below are a few tips to help you make sure that you’re ready to be a traveling blogger:

  1. Get ready to work while you’re in the car or on a train or bus.

    Traveling often involves taking long rides to neighboring towns and tourist areas, and this means taking some sort of transportation. This is a great time for you to be working because these rides are usually pretty lengthy and there isn’t much else to do. However, you have to consider whether or not you get carsick and can actually work in a moving vehicle. Many people are able to get away with not working while literally on the go, but it’s the most convenient if you’re ready and willing to make it happen.

  2. Make sure that you’re prepared to miss out on certain activities.

    Part of traveling is the excitement of doing everything and seeing everything (especially if you’re with friends or family). It can be difficult to watch everyone travel down to the beach or check out that famous restaurant on the rooftop and just sit there and work. However, you have to realize that it won’t be possible for you to see and do everything. You have to make time for work, and this will mean having to say no to certain outings. For many (myself included), this is the hardest part about blogging while traveling and it’s often enough to cause a blog to fail.

  3. Consider the time difference and whether or not it will affect your business.

    You would be surprised at what an affect time difference will have on your blogging. If you’re working for a company, you are going to want to make sure that you’re online at least a little bit during the work hours of your company, and for you this could be right in the middle of dinner. You will also want to consider the different times that your content as well as the content your submitting to others is the most successful. If you’re writing an article late at night and then it goes live, is it really going to do you much good to promote it while the audience of that blog is asleep? You will want to make sure you have lots of scheduling tools in order!

  4. Try to spread out all of your travels.

    Let’s face it—if you’re going to travel while you blog you’re going to do it right. You will likely want to see more than one country, but it’s important that you spread out the times in which you travel. Make sure that you have a home base for at least a few months so you can really crack down and get some work done. It is during the transition periods that work suffers the most.

  5. Make sure that the Internet is readily available whenever you need it.

    This is one thing that can take many by surprise. They assume that they can just use Internet cafes or easily buy a wireless router, but this isn’t always the case. You want to make sure that you have this under control before you leave. In most countries, the best thing you can do is buy an Internet card in the country you’re visiting (bringing one from another will cost you too much money!). However, this isn’t always possible in more remote countries, so you’ll want to make sure you really research and decide if that is a country you can even travel to with a job. And remember—don’t forget your converters!

Have you ever maintained a blog or a blogging job while traveling the world? What were some things that you wish you had known before you got on the plane? Let us know your thoughts and tell us your stories in the comments below!

Author’s Bio:
Amanda DiSilvestro gives small business and entrepreneurs SEO advice ranging from keyword density to recovering from Panda and Penguin updates. She writes for Higher Visibility, a nationally recognized SEO consulting firm that offers online marketing services to a wide range of companies across the country. Connect with Higher Visibility on Google+ and Twitter to learn more!

How Working Abroad Helped Me Start My Dream Business

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by Kelly Dunning

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I Wanted to Do Something Amazing with My Life

Three years ago I left my home country of Canada to go work abroad. I had just graduated university with a pretty useless art degree and I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life.

The only thing I knew was that I was creative, loved to write and daydreamed about traveling the world. I wanted to do something amazing with my life, but I just wasn’t sure what it would be. So, instead of settling down into a “career” I applied for a work visa and bought a flight to New Zealand just to roll the dice and see what would happen.

Now I make a living as a full time freelance travel writer, which allows me to wander the world and work from anywhere I choose. In the past couple of years I have traveled and lived in New Zealand, England, Portugal, Italy, Scotland, the USA and Thailand and I am writing this from a hostel in Malaysia with many more Southeast Asian destinations in my near future.

How did the decision to work abroad allow me to create my dream business?

Being Penniless in New Zealand gave me the Idea

I had a job when I first arrived in New Zealand, as a tour guide in a creepy old prison on the North Island. It was there that I met Lee, a gregarious English guy who completely won me over with his down-to-earth charm. After a couple months of working on the North Island I wanted to see the South Island so I headed down to Christchurch where Lee happened to be working, having left the prison a few weeks before me.

My plan was to find a job in Christchurch as well, but things didn’t go as planned. I struggled to find full time work even though I was sending in applications every day. I found a part time job as a pub crawl host but that was only one night per week and my travel savings were quickly disappearing. I started to get more and more desperate and I began to think of any possible way that I could make some cash, including offering my gardening and babysitting skills on the local classifieds.

I remembered that my parents had mentioned a freelance writing website and I started to look around on the internet for places that I could find paid writing jobs. I was getting nowhere with my job search and writing random articles for a few extra dollars would be better than having to look under the couch cushions for enough change to buy lunch.

Sometimes it is only when you are in a situation where things start to get desperate that you are forced to think outside the box and try something unconventional.

I did a few little articles here and there and earned a few bucks. I started to like the idea of online writing, but I didn’t really take it seriously until the next stage of my working abroad adventure.

Working My Butt Off in England Gave Me the Drive

After we had lived in Christchurch together for a few months, Lee and I realized that our travel romance had the potential to be something more and he asked me to come back to England with him. I said, “why the hell not?” and I jumped on the plane to Manchester.

When I arrived, the first thing I did was take the first job I could find (I was penniless, remember?). I soon went from being unemployed to working 45 hours per week at a daycare facility plus Saturdays at the local football club. Although I enjoyed it and I was glad to have money again, it was hard work.

Meanwhile the little bit of writing work that I had done in New Zealand was beginning to grow into the odd article here and there. I kept at it, working on my writing during evenings and weekends. Between my two jobs and my writing projects on the side, I sometimes worked around 50-60 hours per week.

I started to realize that the conventional full time 9-5 job wasn’t for me but if I was going to be able to make a living on my own terms I would have to put in the work first to earn that freedom. I invested hours and hours into building up my freelance writing portfolio.

I worked more on my writing when I had to squeeze it in around a full time job than when I was unemployed and had all of the time in the world. That seems backwards, but it is true. Do you know the saying “if you want something to get done, give it to a busy person?” When I had all that time, I was lazy and stretched everything out so it took longer. When I was super busy, I needed to make every second count and I was more motivated to get stuff done.

When you fill up your plate with a lot of new challenges, sometimes you can surprise yourself with how energized you are to succeed.

Teaming up With a Fellow Adventurer Gave Me the Techniques

One of the most important parts of building up my dream business was not what I did while working abroad but who I met. I wouldn’t have been nearly as successful as I am now without my amazing partner Lee.

Our skills complement each other out because although I love writing I am not so good at the organizational and planning side of things. Lee’s logical business minded brain has helped me take my raw talent for writing and turn it into a business model that actually works. He helped me with solutions for time management, ways of organizing my work and my invoices, strategies for increasing my productivity, tools for recording my progress and so much more. My writing business grew in leaps and bounds and it started to actually look like a feasible source of income!

When you go take your business on the road and work abroad you end up meeting people who share the same goals as you and are able to offer you fresh insight that is vital to your success.

It took me just over a year from those first writing assignments in New Zealand to the day when I was able to quit my “day job” and start writing full time. That was over 18 months ago and we are still going strong as we travel around the world.

The experiences during my time working abroad were the essential catalyst to my success as a world traveling freelance writer, a dream job that I would never have created if I had stayed in one place.

Author’s Bio:
Kelly Dunning writes for Global Visas, the world’s leading authority on immigration and working holiday visas.

 

5 Powerful Tips For Writing Irresistible Headlines

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How to Blog Series

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Ali Abbas

Do you want more people to read what you write?
Do you want more subscribers to your blog?
Write irresistible headlines!

It’s that simple.

5 Powerful Tips For Writing Irresistible Headlines

Writing headlines is a craft; practice, and practice more to sharpen your skills.
In addition to practice, read about writing headlines regularly to make sure your skills don’t get rusty.

This post offers 5 powerful tips about crafting headlines. You might already know some of these, but one or two will surely make you slap your forehead. Others might sound absurd. But believe me they will go a long way if you employ them.

1. Write the headline first

The temptation is to write the headline after you’ve written the whole piece. Why not – you can write a better headline when the copy is there in front of you, right?
Wrong!

Headline is a promise.

You make promises before you fulfill them. Your headline is the same.
If you save the headline for last, after writing the monstrous copy, you’ll want to write the darn headline quickly and be done with it. That’s not how to blog effectively.

If the headline doesn’t get the required attention, it won’t bring the desired results — the people who are perfect for what you offer.

2. Highlight the biggest benefit

Most readers don’t come to find out what you do or why you do it. They are interested in things that make their life easier and better, save them time, make them money, make them healthy or beautiful.

Tell readers in the headline what your text will do for them.

3. Length doesn’t matter

Many so-called gurus preach that shorter headlines work better.
Nonsense!

14-word headlines can get as much readership as 3-word headlines.
Length isn’t as important as getting your message across.

It, however, is better to keep the title under 70 characters (including spaces) on the internet. Longer titles get truncated by the search engines which can ruin your most powerful headline.

4. Don’t try to be tricky

Don’t try to be over smart when writing your headlines. Hundreds of thousands headlines are competing against you. Readers are too busy to figure out what the heck you are trying to say with unfathomable mumbo jumbo. They will simply click another link — one with a clear benefit.

5. Don’t write incomplete headlines

I had a personal experience with this a few days ago.

Traffic was jammed and I, being bored to death, was looking indifferently at the surroundings. My eyeballs got fixed at two advertising posters of rival two telecommunication companies, posted on wall end-to-end. Their headlines read as follows:

I. The Treasure (Say by Company A)
II. Make Free Calls For The Next 24 Hours (Say by Company B)

I ignored the first headline wondering “a telecom company and treasure, what the heck” and the traffic had just started to move slowly, so I didn’t have the time to read the rest of the ad.

The second headline was imprinted on the back of my mind. Later on, I came to know that the Company A offered better value, but by then I had already purchased the services of company B.

Never use headlines that require reading the rest of the advertisement to be understood. Readers will quit at that very point. They have no reason to read on. Readers on the internet read too quickly to keep on reading to find out what you are trying to say.

What it all boils down to is…

To apply the marketing wisdom of P.T. Barnum:

“You can’t please all of the readers all of the time; you can’t please even some of the readers all of the time, but you really ought to try to please at least some of the readers some of the time.”

The sole purpose of a headline is to attract people who are most interested in your offer. Follow these 5 powerful tips for writing irresistible headlines. Ignoring them is simply wasting your time as well as money. Prove it to yourself!

What rules do you follow when writing headlines? Share in the comments.

Author’s Bio:
Ali Abbas is a freelance writer and blogging enthusiast. At the Writers Blog (), he shares his innovative ideas for starting a real, sustainable and profitable online writing career. To learn more about writing headlines, download his FREE Report: Secret Ingredients To Writing Killer Headlines That Always Get Noticed.

Attention Bloggers – Three Laws You Must Understand While Blogging

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Arba Hana

The internet is not governed by any centralized legal body, however, that doesn’t make it immune to laws related to copyrights, defamation and privacy laws. Failing to adhere to any of these laws can land you in hot water, regardless of your location, mainly because online laws are of universal nature. Keeping these laws in mind is both a moral, and in some cases, legal obligation because everything you publish can be read by a global audience and you just cannot afford to offend anyone.

1.) Copyright Laws

Plagiarism is wrong, both ethically and legally. If you can’t write your own content, don’t bother starting a blog. Copying other work will result in some “cease and desist” notice, Google’s penalty, or even worse a legal suite. A copyright law passed in 1978 has declared all work published, doesn’t matter if it’s on paper or in digital form, it is automatically protected by copyright laws and there needs to be no specific mentioning of a “copyright protected” logo on the site that you are copying from. Therefore, bloggers are given automated protection for their original work and with latest software advancements, it’s quite easy to find out who plagiarized content and from where.

If you really want to include a certain passage or an entire article from another source then you must give citation. Don’t be shy of accrediting others for their work, you won’t lose your readers, instead they will appreciate you as someone who shares authentic information with its sources instead of just hogwash.

Not to forget the copyright when you are using images on your blog, stock photography websites are quite active when it comes to finding out people who are using it illegally and sending notices (e.g. Getty images)

So before you start blogging, you should take out some time and spend it on reading about copyright laws and its implications here.

2.) Online Defamation Laws

Online defamation is the publication of the information that directly harms the reputation of an individual or organization. It’s generally published with a malicious intent of invoking harm on to the victim. Even though the internet promotes a somewhat free culture, any site that indulges in publishing false defamatory information can face legal consequences. Religious defamation is the most active form of online defamation with certain regions being harsher than others. If you value your reputation and your life, do not indulge in defamatory activities especially on a global platform like Internet. Unless you are a journalist, a politician or anyone with a hold on verifiable facts and figures, you should steer clear from stating any rumor or false information on your blog.

At the end of the day, blogging should be more about constructive information. You should avoid defaming any individual/organization based on personally formed opinions. And it holds true for other platforms like Twitter as well.

3.) Privacy Policy:

All websites and blogs must have a clearly stated privacy policy. The policy is used to inform visitors about information collected and the sharing of that data with third parties. This could include sensitive information such as visitor name, email address, images and any other related data. You will be directed to publish a privacy policy whenever you are applying for an account at companies like 2checkout.com or moneybookers.com; even Google has made it compulsory for wannabe Adsense publishers to have a privacy policy on their blogs. You can search online for a number of privacy policy samples available for free, but you must give them a read and know your responsibilities as a blogger.

Always make sure your posts and publications are in league with laws and regulations of your country. As a responsible citizen, you are entitled to provide accurate information backed with verifiable facts and stay away from malicious content and activities.

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Arba writes on topics related to laws and regulations.  She’s working for a website that lets you find notary in all parts of US. You can search for the notaries by state or by counties.

How to Be Passionate

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Christine Kane

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Stay Passionate

I have found that it is difficult to stay passionate in this busy world. Our attention changes so frequently that we forget what it is like to focus in on one thing at a time. We forget what it is like to really love what we are doing at the moment, with a single minded attention. We forget how to be passionate.

As a writer, I get burnt out. I have to write about this over here and that over there and research thins topic and find out information and quotes about that one. I just get sick of thinking. I get sick of coming up with new ideas all the time, or regurgitating the old ones in creative ways. I just fry.

That is when I know it is time to take a break. I need a vacation. I need to center and get back to myself. When I am writing not because I am passionate but because I have to, my writing is going to suffer – guaranteed.

But how can you regain your passion? How can you get passion in the first place? Isn’t it something you just fall into or are born with? Well, no, not really. I think of passion like I think of love. True love.

How to Be Passionate

Cultivate passion.

  1. Passion is a choice – Like love, passion is not something you fall into. Yes, you can lust and you can be attracted to a person, just like you can be attracted to certain topics. But to really be ‘in love’ requires that a choice be made. A choice to move beyond “this feels good” to “I will work to make this always feel good”.
  2. Passion requires concentration – Like love, passion requires your attention. Passion will run at the slightest opportunity. It will flutter away the moment you take your eyes off it. Like a lover left alone too long, the passion will flee if left unattended or ignored. Do not get caught up in the distractions of life, the other topics you may be ‘attracted’ to, and forget your love.
  3. Passion requires feeding – Not only do you have to give your passion your regular attention, but you also have to feed it. You have to add more knowledge, growing deeper every day in your topic. Like a lover, you must learn more about them daily. See what they are thinking and feeling, and find out their needs and desires. Only then will the passion stay.
  4. Passion needs a break – This all sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? Well, it is. That is why, sometimes passion needs a break. Like a night out with friends, passion can handle some time apart, as long as it is limited. That does not mean you get to cheat on passion. No finding any other topics while you are away, okay? But you do get to give your body and brain a break and come back refreshed.
  5. Passion changes – Last but not least, passion changes. Like any relationship, nothing stays the same forever. Eventually you will focus on one area of your passion, becoming all the more involved in that. Other parts will fall away and be replaced. You passion can gradually change into something entirely different, and yet still the same. Like growing old with a mate, passion can change and be familiar, can get old and yet be no less loved.

Passion is universal. In love, in friendships, and in writing, passion is necessary to keep things vital and alive. Passionate work is the only work that will stay with you. It is the only work that you will ever really love. Others may not agree, but you know what you have written in passion is the best work you have ever done. Do not let go of that. Cling to passion and keep it lit. That is the way to keep your love for writing.

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Author’s Bio:
Christine Kane is a graduate of Communication and Journalism. She enjoys writing about life, writing, and all things web, including internet service and you’ll find her on a variety of blogs.

Thank you, Christine! Great tips for keeping passion in writing and in life.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Inspiration: Ending Writer’s Block

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David Showell

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Coping with Writer’s Block

For freelance writers, maintaining a healthy output of work is perhaps the most important issue, because without it the steady flow of income will soon start to dry up. However, it’s not always easy to find the inspiration that’s needed to create quality content. Writing can be a wonderful occupation, but it should be noted that it’s not like an ‘ordinary’ job – if you can’t produce the goods, you simply won’t get paid.

Most writers will freely admit that there are times when a blank screen simply refuses to be filled up with high class words, and each of them will have varying techniques to get past the block. For some, the best option is to just walk away from the computer and take a break for a little while. All good writers will be constantly on the lookout for ideas to write about, so heading out for a little walk is often a good option.

A stroll along the local high street could prove inspirational for many, thanks to the wide range of goods in the shop windows. Perhaps articles along the lines of ‘Ten Great Inventions’ or ‘The Recession in the Retail Sector’ could be created as a result. Similarly, a wander through the park may be all you need to start thinking about ‘Five of the World’s Best Bridges’ or maybe even ‘How to Cope with Hay Fever in the Summer’.

If you’re stuck for ideas and don’t wish to venture outside, another good idea is to watch a little TV for a while or perhaps to read a book or magazine. There are good ideas to be found almost anywhere, although there are times when it feels like nothing will inspire. Many writers find their finest articles are borne of ideas when they least expected them, despite the fact that most writers will tell you they rarely switch off.

Some of the more prolific pen-men and pen-women are able to produce large quantities of work with very few interruptions, although the majority of them will have all experienced that sinking feeling from time to time. In many cases, the best option is to stop trying to write anything at all, and to just let a little break restore the mind’s equilibrium. Whether you’re looking to manufacture the next great American novel or you’re looking to write a short article for a travel website, you need to spot the times when the creative juices are flowing and when they’re not.

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Author’s Bio:David Showell is a UK-based writer who works for a car hire company. He specialises in deals for tourists who are visiting the island of Sardinia.

 

Thank you, David. Insights that keep ideas flowing are always welcome.

–ME “Liz” Strauss