Book Review: Starting an Online Business All-In-One for Dummies

I learned a long time ago that a key learning tool for me was to read books. I was kicking around Barnes and Noble one day when one of those bright yellow dummies books caught my eye. It bills itself as "11 books in 1" and the name of it is Starting an Online Business All-In-One for Dummies. I figured that since I was freelance writing that I qualified as an online business. So, to make a long story short, I bought the book for $32.00.

The very first thing I noticed was that this is not light reading. We are talking about over 800 pages. And it is exhaustive.

• Should You Incorporate? See Book II, Chapter 2, page 87.


• How about website design? Internet Security? See Books III and IV Respectively.

Click the Link to See the rest of the review.

Starting an Online Business All-In-One for Dummies is so comprehensive that I can honestly say I am not ready to start a business yet. For starters my income from blogging and other freelance writing isn't stable enough yet. Incorporating costs money and I am not ready for that expense.

But, Book IV Chapter 3 goes right into what writers need to know. It tells you how to create information products such as eBooks and Webinars. Handy information for a Freelance Rookie. Come to think of it, I'd say that is good information for anyone writing online.


The bottom line is that Starting an Online Business All-In-One for Dummies is an excellent reference book. And in my case it almost paid for itself since it came with $25.00 worth of Adwords Advertising.

Strongly Recommended. And, it's cheaper than what I paid.

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Stumbleupon Surfing With Writers Block

I was kicking about the internet today with a severe case of writers block. My head felt like it was loaded with soaked cotton and nothing would really gel for me. I clicked on the "stumble" icon on the Stumbleupon Toolbar and looked in depth at three sites.

This was the first stumble. And it delivers on the promise. I clicked through several pages and thought that the ideas presented were really good. I think most would work best for fiction writing, but there are some that seriously give you some great ideas for non-fiction article writing.

Skelliewag.org » Posts » 110+ Resources For Creative Minds: "Tips, tutorials, exercises and inspiration from the fields of visual art, writing, photography, blogging, design and invention. Next time you’re stuck for ideas or inspiration I hope you’ll find something here to get your right brain firing. A tip: sometimes the best sources of inspiration often lie far outside your own creative field.

1. 7 Can’t-Miss Ways to Kick-Start The Writing Habit
Write nothing but headlines. Write crap without feeling guilty. Schedule and show up. Write about problem solving. Edit older articles. Type out other people’s articles. Add your tip. [Tips: Writing]"

The second site has a different flavor to it. I think it originates in the UK. It seems fresh enough that you won't be writing deathless prose in the Shakespearean style. Instead it focuses on core skills. If you need a brush up, then this site can help you.

50 Free Resources That Will Improve Your Writing Skills | Developer's Toolbox | Smashing Magazine: "Effective writing skills are to a writer what petrol is to a car. Like the petrol and car relationship, without solid skills writers cannot move ahead. These skills don’t come overnight, and they require patience and determination. You have to work smart and hard to acquire them. Only with experience, you can enter the realm of effective, always-in-demand writers."

The second link had an ad on it for demand studios. I clicked the ad because I wanted to see how they ran the program. There are two ways to get paid. The first is a flat fee, the second is residuals. To apply you click the link and upload a resume along with a writing sample in either .doc or .pdf format.

The site states they are looking for a college degree, or writing/journalism experience. I didn't go to college. And if I had a lot of experience you would not be reading The Freelance Rookie. I didn't apply, but the site is bookmarked for future reference. And if you didn't know it, Demand Studios owns eHow.com

Freelance Writing Jobs | Demand Studios: "Demand Studios

is always looking to add new writers to the team. To apply please complete our online application by uploading your resume and writing sample."

So, feel free to stumble this post and check out those links. It ought to unstick a portion of any block you are working thru. If nothing else it will be entertaining, and in the case of the DS link, you might get a job.

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A Twitter-Like Place: Tipdrop.com

Hi there. I am not really a twitter guy. I admit it, I don't send text messages very well. So, to Tweet during the workday just doesn't get it for me. But, one thing that does get it for me is that micro-blogging might just become a writing sub-genre that pays the freelancer. So, this post is on tip dropping.

Tipdrop.com is a micro-blog where you deliver tips on things with a 250 character limit. If you start the thread and others reply to it, your credibility goes up. It is an adsense sharing site like Infobarrel or Xomba and it has a referral mechanism that pays from the sites share.

I've browsed around the site and I think I can get something going since I write for eHow. If you are in the how-to mode, the writing should be fairly easy. I'll hold back on judging the effectiviness of the adsense shares until I see some money.

Oh, and unlike Twitter...... Tipdrop.com allows you to post videos on your tip sheets. That might eventually be the thing that tips a scale. As of today it's alexa rank is in the 165K range. That is good considering how long its been out. I'm willing to give it a shot and you might think about it too.

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While Browsing Xomba I Found a Book Review

We've all heard of the scams and cons that are all over the net right? It seems that everyone theses days is pushing something that is too good to be true. I was browsing Xomba and found this article about making money online. It's a five topic book, but the first and last topics are on writing.

The first topic is about writing informational products and the last is on blogging. I thought the article was done really well. The author uses an internet nickname that makes no sense to me. But, apparently he was really impressed with the book that was reviewed.

Since we all are looking for ways to make a bit of extra cash with our writing I figured it couldn't hurt to share the link.

Click here to check out the book review.

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