tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52467404204079023822024-03-12T19:25:56.326-04:00MarlaWritesA general interest blog from a published (& makin' a little cash) freelance article writer and blogger. Sharing my newbie article writing and blogging experiences with backstories and commentary. Topics in feature articles include: news commentary, current events, business, management, finance, work from home, celebrities, TV, movies, books, humor, slice of life, and more.Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-69550872387314632312012-08-28T22:08:00.000-04:002012-08-28T22:12:05.021-04:00Jumping for Joy: My 1st Big Freelance Writing Success<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikV6IZ4I4lWA3N2nAZfG5lkEv7n59YVGbE3qIhzBrKn7-oKl1HNE-CcQPZJgc47WJpMuSXc3ilY7kT5wzzeTC-SkapeY8kwyYX42XC6nnFS8xVvcciKylCP5B87DYLAVLBWdnI5ipcBiE/s1600/JumpingforJoy_sxc.hu_speedy2_912577_86699136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikV6IZ4I4lWA3N2nAZfG5lkEv7n59YVGbE3qIhzBrKn7-oKl1HNE-CcQPZJgc47WJpMuSXc3ilY7kT5wzzeTC-SkapeY8kwyYX42XC6nnFS8xVvcciKylCP5B87DYLAVLBWdnI5ipcBiE/s200/JumpingforJoy_sxc.hu_speedy2_912577_86699136.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever wonder if you can really make money writing articles? I've been trying to do just that -- for about nine months now -- mostly freelance writing for the Yahoo! Contributor Network (YCN). I've had some modest success here and there, but then had to take a break during July (family-in-the-hospital stuff). When I got back to writing again in late July, I had my first big breakthrough success with one article. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like the omg! oMG! OMG! the page views just soared in one day big success!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like <b>180,000+ page views</b>! Like <b>$200 worth </b>of page views!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was so stunned and giddy that I wasn't able to concentrate enough to write much afterwards - LoL! Here's the scoop on what happened:</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Getting Freelance Writing Assignments for Yahoo! Sports:</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I grabbed an open assignment from the YCN assignment desk for the Olympics (Archery TV schedule). Although tedious, it was easy to write. The <b><u><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/" target="_blank">Yahoo! Sports</a> </u></b>editors accepted and published the article, so YaY!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Picked up another Yahoo! Sports assignment from the YCN desk the following week. Several college football articles were offered like team profiles, stadium guides and such. I tried a few of those, but they just didn't work well for me - like I had writers block or something. Then I tried again with something fun: my </span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/tailgating-guide-university-florida-gators-ben-hill-griffin-191200338--ncaaf.html" target="_blank">Florida Gators Tailgating Guide</a>.</b></li>
<li><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Then a steady stream of Olympics assignments appeared in the assignment desk all the way up to the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony and well, really... throughout the whole thing. Again, I grabbed several assignments and tried, but just struggled to get much of anything together for most of the topics (athlete profiles, venue guides, etc.). Except for one topic that almost seemed to write itself...</span></b></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Writing the Article:</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So my big blockbuster success article was about the <b><u><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/top-5-olympic-closing-ceremony-traditions-163000748--oly.html" target="_blank">Olympics closing ceremony traditions</a></u></b>. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was fun to write about because I love the Olympic ceremony shows and I learned some fun things I didn't know before when doing the research. The words seemed to just easily flow into the article. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Yahoo! Sports editors had given an example to use for the format. I followed the example, but added a separate "Fun Fact:..." sentence below each paragraph in the subheadings. The editors must have liked it.... </span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><iframe bordercolor="#000000" frameborder="0" height="320" hspace="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adi/N7433.148119.BLOGGEREN/B6627857.10476;sz=320x320;ord=[timestamp]?;lid=41000000028505128;pid=UKU3465;usg=AFHzDLubjO5DTwFEsvKlLHpjmLPuRwZfSg;adurl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.wayfair.com%252FTrend-Enterprises-Quotable-Expressions-Wall-Banner-Success-Is-Hanging-On-After-Others-Let-Go-10ft-TEPT25051-L2670-K%257EUKU3465.html;pubid=573579;imgsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fcommon1.csnimages.com%2Flf%2F49%2Fhash%2F5425%2F4720566%2F1%2F1.jpg;width=320;height=320" vspace="0" width="320"></iframe><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Waiting is the Hardest Part:</span></b></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The editors accepted it pretty quickly - YAY! The upfront was a whole $5, but I was hoping that since the Olympics coverage on Yahoo! was the hot feature thing at the time, that my article would get some substantial views. Like 10K or more page views to break my previous 8.5K page views. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Sunday, the day of the closing ceremonies, I was surprised and excited that it had received almost 20K page views. I assumed the numbers would then trail off after that. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Monday, the page views skyrocketed to around 180K+. <b>The best part? I get a $200 page-view-performance bonus!</b> Stunned and giddy, I couldn't concentrate enough to write much for at about a week or so afterwards. </span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It got better after that too! I soon got several "targeted assignment" offers to write for the U.S. Tennis Open. I accepted several of them and when I went to start writing one, noticed that the editor's example to follow that was given in the assignment <i><b>was my very own Olympics article</b></i> - how frickin cool was that! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So <b><u><a href="http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1430299/marla_mayes.html?site_id=386" target="_blank">writing freelance articles for Yahoo! Sports</a></u></b></span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-- my new favorite writing venue! I've read in the YCN forums that there's a reason why page views for sports articles are consistently better - but I'll share more about that next time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks so much for visiting my blog & please feel free to comment and share your writing successes or goals in the comments section. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Image: speedy2 at <a href="http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=912577" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sxc.hu</a></i></span>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-10653547814251249952012-06-30T15:54:00.002-04:002012-07-03T12:20:39.604-04:00Instagram down is Instrumental for weekend foodie humor Inspiration<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh the irony -- it's<b><u> <a href="http://mashable.com/2012/06/30/mashable-social-media-day-2012/" target="_blank">Happy Social Media</a></u></b> day today according to Mashable, but storms took down <a href="http://mashable.com/2012/06/30/aws-instagram/" target="_blank"><b>Instragram</b> </a>& several other biggie websites's servers last night. Some reports indicate they'll be down for several days... Meanwhile, many folks are spazzing over it's site downer state... TechCrunch.com has a great article on the bestest of the best <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/30/so-what-do-i-do-with-my-food-now-eat-it-instagram-is-still-down-bad-jokes-on-twitter-ensue/" target="_blank"><b><u>Instagram down</u></b></a> jokes on Twitter. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although "<a href="https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=Instagram&oq=Instagram&aq=f&aqi=d1g1d1&aql=&gs_l=news-cc.3..43j0j43i400.4324.10175.0.10703.15.6.3.6.7.0.136.519.4j2.6.0...0.0.GlhGw_g3TZQ#hl=en&gl=us&tbs=sbd:1&tbm=nws&sclient=psy-ab&q=Instagram+down&oq=Instagram+down&gs_l=serp.3...74162.75998.1.76666.5.5.0.0.0.0.127.313.4j1.5.0...0.0.o9MsRrCODqI&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=3e4d9bc2e6aefbac&biw=1366&bih=643" target="_blank"><b><u>Instagram</u></b></a>" was the number 1 Google Trends search topic this morning (and doesn't that just go so totally coincidentally swell with my need for an "I" blog topic?)... <i>unfortunately-for-me</i> I don't use <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/06/we-are-still-at-the-mercy-of-the-clouds-instagram-has-no-filter-for-natures-fury/259244/" target="_blank"><b><u>Instragram</u></b></a>, so I don't have much of a personal first person withdrawal or infuriated commentary article to write about it. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnz21c7KQXCzSVEZH83WxHAmi-jHxoJcLJxMJW3QUUkYsKCbfQ_2WNRrPYABOo1G8yJHG9-uCBM3crFHXDtKYD1zWSOchBbSC9yfPvO79wWmFCb6ERw88oZJcZGucmi9PpDdY3SWFsHEw/s1600/Avatar_128_i_realized_don't-care-smiley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnz21c7KQXCzSVEZH83WxHAmi-jHxoJcLJxMJW3QUUkYsKCbfQ_2WNRrPYABOo1G8yJHG9-uCBM3crFHXDtKYD1zWSOchBbSC9yfPvO79wWmFCb6ERw88oZJcZGucmi9PpDdY3SWFsHEw/s1600/Avatar_128_i_realized_don't-care-smiley.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then again, maybe it <i>is</i> fortunate-for-me because it's apparently been down since last night (which is why it's the hottest search on Google Trends), so I'm at least not having severe withdrawal or anything... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you're like me and had heard the Instagram name but don't know much about it, <b><u><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/30/could-instagram-and-other-sites-avoid-going-down-with-amazons-ship/" target="_blank">TechCrunch.com</a> </u></b>has an interesting report about how Facebook bought Instragram recently and speculated about how the site's use of cheapo network architecture <i>(i.e. hardware & systems)</i> contributed to it's lack of emergency preparedness for power outages. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No idea how much revenue the downed websites lost, or whether their presumed business insurance covers that sort of thing, but being from hurricane-central-Florida, our local grocery stores have emergency backup power generators installed for power outage emergencies. That sort of emergency power outage planning thing just seems so common sensical for 24/7 bigtime social media sites like Instragram and the other sites to do. Amazing they apparently didn't. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway... I only wish I could have written an article for Yahoo! News about this whole thing today, but there's no news assignments in the assignment desk, sigh.... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what heck, let's give this keyword optimization and trending hot topics theory a go on my blog and let's see if there's any improvement in page views or blog ranking or something - LoL!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Related Social Media Posts & Articles:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u><a href="factbox: Facebook Fails Again with Unannounced Email and Find Friends Nearby App Changes" target="_blank">Factbox: Facebook Fails Again with Unannounced Email and Find Friends Nearby App Changes</a></u></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><u><a href="http://marlawrites.blogspot.com/2012/03/facebook-popularity-narcissism-or.html" target="_blank">Facebook Popularity: Narcissism or Proactive Self Marketing??</a></u></b></span></span><br />
<u><b><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/pinterest-invited-but-pinit-earn-extra-cash-11175750.html">Pinterest: Invited but Can I 'PinIt' to Earn Extra Cash?</a></b></u><br />
<br />Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-14222892211263120052012-06-25T15:57:00.001-04:002012-06-25T15:58:30.447-04:00Having a Hard time with Headers and Headlines<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been learning to blog and write articles for about 6 months now. I've learned quite a lot along the way, but blog headers and article headlines have become a challenge: </span><br><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Blog Header (or banner)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So... I'm trying to snazz up this blog's format. It's going slowly, but I did manage to figure out how to change the columns - I got those columns of stuff over there on the right going...more or less! Having all the extras on the right seems to be less of an eyesore and less distracting from the blog post itself. But I'm still finangling with the order of stuff & placement of things...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ok, so now I want to find something cute to do with the header/banner. I thought adding some sort of cutsie writing-ish pic(s) up there, or maybe just some sort of scrollery background print or something would snazz it up. But I've spent hours googling for <b><i><u>free</u> Blogger or Blogspot banners or headers </i></b>and just can't seem to find anything that works. I don't know exactly what I want, but I think I'll know it when I see it. </span><br><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><center><i>If anybody knows of a free banner stash somewhere, please share!</i></span></center><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Article (or blog post) Headlines</b></span><br>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've read so much about how important titles are for articles, and blog posts too for that matter, to grab reader's attention and all that. Some of it conflicts though -- like Do be catchy, Don't be cutesy, etc. etc. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the <b><u><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/19T2oR2DsnbMyFX4dZz-fh2bKCCqnN7Qeyk1sW3wecsk/edit?authkey=CPT13dcO&pli=1#heading=h.x5tw51oxours" target="_blank">most recent guideline from mediapiston.com</a></b></u>, that I'm going to use next for my articles and blog post titles. The guideline references copyblogger.com suggestions, which </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used for my first attempt at a reader grabbing headline: </span><br />
<center><b><u><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/5-reasons-why-sexist-cheapskate-manager-was-the-10762999.html" target="_blank">5 Reasons Why My Sexist, Cheapskate Manager was the Best Boss I Ever Had!</a></u></b></center><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got lots-o-feedback about what a great headline it was, but as of today -- it's had a whopping 72 whole page views... and it was published six months ago. So I dunno folks... what might have been a better reader grabberring title? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes, the Yahoo! editors change the article titles from what I've submitted. I assume they know best, so no complaints there. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Occasionally, just the displayed headline is changed. For instance, my title "<b>Going Cheap on Wedding Ceremony Music Can Ruin Your Wedding Day</b>" was changed in the front page feature display box only to <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/going-cheap-wedding-ceremony-music-ruin-your-11320368.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Wedding Tip: Don't Skimp on Music</a> just to make the headline small enough to fit inside the feature box. It might be a better title though, I'm just not sure. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />One clever title that's all mine and I'm proudest of is<b><u><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1805875538"> </a></u></b></span><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/not-wild-oprahs-book-club-20-pick-11419146.html" style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Not Wild About Oprah's Book Club 2.0 Pick</a>. <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't seem to think up catchy headlines like that too often, so I'm hoping I'm getting better at title thinker-uppering.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've heard some folks entire job is to just make up news and magazine article headlines like that. I'm so learning to appreciate how really tough a job it is!! My gosh, for this blog post -- I've spent the week spinning around "H" topics, like "Hopping" as in blog hop, "Healthcare" but no SCOTUS decision yet (although I've given up on politics for blog post topics), and such until "Headers" and "Headlines" popped up, just today. So it's not the greatest blog post headline, but at least I had something to write about...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hope I can Hop up something to blog about for "I", hmmm... "Inspiration" maybe... </span></span><br />
<br />Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-13763422836981550262012-06-16T18:52:00.001-04:002012-06-17T06:06:56.327-04:00Great Gifts for "Go Gators" dads<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0043TZMQQ/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&tag=marla-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0043TZMQQ" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B0043TZMQQ&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=marla-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=marla-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0043TZMQQ" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I got my very first article writing assignment for <b>Yahoo! Sports</b> - YAY!!!<br /><br />
I got it just because I just happened to be <b>awake in the middle of the night </b>when the assignment desk released around a 100 or so open assignments for Father's Day gifts from the Yahoo! Sports shop.<br /><br />
It was an upfront paid assignment, not for much, but the page views were pretty decent. My Dad just happens to be a Florida Gators fan and alumni, so it worked out perfect that I got to pick "<a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/fathers-day-2012-top-10-florida-gators-football-204600138--ncaaf.html" target="_blank"><b><u>Top 10 Gifts for Florida Gators Football Dads</u></b></a>" from the numerous sports and teams available. Most of the assignments were for professional sports, but this college team one was <i>mine</i>!<br /><br />
Good thing I was up when the assignments were released, and <b>paying attention to the assignment desk</b>(I was hoping to snag a "Wild Card News" assignment), because those assignments went fast. They were almost all gone by 7 am or so.<br /><br />
And great fun it was to window shop, write about it, and get paid a little bit ($4) for doing it! The blue Hawaiian-ish Florida Gator shirt above <i>(an Amazon affiliate link-thanks in advance if ya get one!</i>) is my fave pick from the ten items featured in the article.<br /><br />
It took half a day to write it, but I've mentioned before that I tend to be a slow writer anyway. Not only am I a slow writer, it took this long to connect the "G" blog post topic with this Gator Gifts article -<i> like duh!!!</i><br /><br />
Gee, what if I'd a thunk of it last week... like when folks would actually be searching for Father's Day gifts??? <i>Yep, slow are me</i><br /><br />
Although it might not seem like the paltry pay was worth the time, just getting some experience of working through the unique format requirements for sports shopping articles should be worth it -- eventually -- and the next time I pick up a similar assignment it should <i>(hopefully)</i> go faster.<br /><br />
Compared to my 1st article on gift shopping, a Mother's Day piece for <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/beautiful-mothers-day-gift-ideas-gardening-moms-11289532.html"><b><u>gardening Mom gifts</u></b></a>, the Florida Gator gifts article got <b>triple the page views</b>. My understanding is that Yahoo! Sports actively promotes the articles on their team sports pages, which are apparently popular!<br /><br /><i>
So what did you get your Dad for Father's Day this year?<br /><br />
If you're a writer too, did ya write anything special for Father's Day? If so, feel free to post a link in comments!</i><br /><br />
Have a great Father's Day!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-70098915292578989202012-06-06T21:52:00.000-04:002012-07-04T08:05:27.627-04:00Freelancing Frustrations: 1st Wed IWSG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/insecure-writers-support-group.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fKRHXxL0V_uAbbz3bW4X62B_B_6CMDKdut28vXL1Ge_Pf66h3IBycxkPf0yLLeYSpADeV1D4PBBCup-1vCW6jFi53-RqmZ3nNT5OYcoOwXuh-5zEGQqhCEzHxCswCTaDe2fk54uIZNo/s200/InsecureWritersSupportGroup.jpg" title="" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's the 1st Wed. of the month so time for<u><b> <a href="http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/insecure-writers-support-group.html" target="_blank">the Insecure Writers Support Group (ISWG)</a></b></u> blog hop monthly post. Good thing I'm on "F" because I'm feeling soooooo frustrated with freelancing lately. Although I've made some significant accomplishments with getting paid for writing articles, working through the frustrations seems to be where most of my energy goes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><b><u>Frustrations:</u></b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Not Earning Enough Dough (NEED)</b>: As of today, I'm like $15 away from earning $600 from my Yahoo! Contributor Network (YCN) articles. Most of that sum is from upfront payments and $20 or so is from page view earnings. For 6 months on the gig with 61 published articles, that's almost $100 per month for 10 articles per month and almost $10 per article average earnings. <br />
<br />
It's a decent start, but I've gotta do a whole lot better! Like 10x per month better. Do I pick up my article output to 100 per month and if so, should that be with YCN only or should I try to find an additional paid article writing outlet?<br /><br />
</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Topics that Work and Earn Enough Takehome $wag (TWEET$):</b> Thinking up topics to write about, that YCN will approve and pay upfront for is my biggest challenge. And, the content has to be something original. Then it has to be "searchable" enough - and that's <i>still</i> a thorn in my side with the Finance editors (see previous post). </span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />So NEED and TWEET$ are my 2 main Freelancing Frustrations. I'll be pondering my options to pick up the pace this month. I'm sure I won't do 100 articles this month, but I'll try to pick it up to like 2x more each month. So the plan is to get 20 articles published in June, whether all at YCN or not is tbd. I'm also looking for popular search engine topics. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />As always, comments and suggestions would be most wonderful!</span><i><br />(btw: if you're a fiction writer from IWSG, or elsewhere for that matter, YCN does have a "</i><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/short_stories/?cat=44" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank"><b>Creative Writing</b></a><i>" section if ya didn't know that already. I don't think they pay upfronts, but it's a way to get published and earn page view performance payments too. One of the </i><a href="http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1413671/ginger_burow.html" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank"><b>poets and short story writers</b></a><i><b> </b>just got over 100K page views and earned a "Top 100" badge). I've seen open assignments for poetry, flash fiction, short stories and the like in the assignment desk, so there's opportunities there if you're interested)</i><br />
<i><br /></i></div>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-81066000582844617502012-05-26T17:47:00.002-04:002012-05-27T11:54:02.210-04:00Envy, Editors, and Efforts<div style="font-family: Comic Sans MS, Cursive;">
<h3>
I'm Envious of:</h3>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"><br />
At </span><u style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/" target="_blank">Yahoo! Voices</a></u><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> on Friday, the editors announced a brand new "Contributor Spotlight" award and the </span><u style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"><a href="http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/308038/angela_colley.html" target="_blank">first winner</a></u><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> (not I). The award recognition is certainly nice to receive </span><i style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">I'm sure</i><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">, but the $500 bonus has gotta be the bestest part of it! Though envious I am, it's inspirational too -- like... it's something that I could actually aspire to win someday. The first winner doesn't have a journalism or English degree, hasn't previously worked at or been published in newspapers or magazines. Just a regular person with an expertise in real estate, but without a professional writing background - YaY, an achievable award to GOal for!</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Comic Sans MS, Cursive;">
<h3>
<br />Editors can be great, or not:</h3>
<h3>
</h3>
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">YaY: I finished the 2nd of 2 test assignments for the Yahoo! Politics Featured Contributor (FC) program and was accepted! On <u><a href="http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1430299/marla_mayes.html" target="_blank">my Yahoo! Contributor profile</a></u>, there's now a snazzy "YFC Politics" badge - woohoo!! It means I'll get at least one guaranteed assignment each month that pays more upfront ($15) than regular assignments ($5-$10).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">Boo: Not long after I got the FC, I got a Finance article submission rejected as "topic not searchable enough". It was about getting a better discount for an online subscription after cancelling a free trial. Well, at least it wasn't rejected for being badly written or something like that, I suppose. I may try resubmitting it to Yahoo! Voices instead of Yahoo! Finance, or I might use it as a blog post.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<h3 style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">
<s><br />Efforts </s>Effortless:</h3>
<ul><div style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">
</div>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">My Very 1st</span><u style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> <a href="http://spon.tw/r8wOI" target="_blank">paid Sponsored Tweet</a></u><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> was tweeted!<br />
Made a whole 49 cents, but hey -- it's a start!! And a really easy, breezy tweet it was:</span></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">
<div style="background-color: paleturquoise;">
Need help choosing a home care agency? Watch this helpful video from @<a href="https://twitter.com/CareCornerAZ">CareCornerAZ</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523homecare">#homecare</a> sponsored <a href="http://t.co/7Q3x7qSf" title="http://spnsr.tw/t1wWTG">spnsr.tw/t1wWTG</a><br />
— Marla Mayes (@MarlaMayes) <a data-datetime="2012-05-15T16:35:14+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/MarlaMayes/status/202436990573088770">May 15, 2012</a></div>
</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> What I really, really, <i>really</i> like about this whole<u> <a href="http://spon.tw/r8wOI" target="_blank">sponsored tweet</a></u> thing:<br />
</span><br />
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">Clicks on the link don't matter, ya get paid a flat rate just for the tweet!</span></li>
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">
<li>The tweet content is provided, just tweek it a bit to suit your voice.</li>
<li>I don't actually tweet the tweet, it's auto-tweeted via their app.</li>
<li>I'm not pestering people with ad tweets all day, it's just tweeted once.</li>
<li>The flat rate price is "suggested", but you can set it at whatever rate ya want. Suggested rate seems to be sorta based on how many followers ya have -- mine just went up to 52 cents. </li>
</span></ol>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a Forbes editor actually replied to my tweet!</b></li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center" data-in-reply-to="203519491785764864">
<div style="background-color: paleturquoise;">
@<a href="https://twitter.com/MarlaMayes">MarlaMayes</a> <span style="color: #444444;">Sorry! bidding is closed. but thanks for the RT</span> <span style="color: #444444;">— Bruce Upbin (@bupbin)</span> <a data-datetime="2012-05-18T16:18:44+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/bupbin/status/203520000777134080">May 18, 2012</a></div>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks much for visiting & have a great Memorial Day long weekend! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(F is gonna be for "Format" -- there's gotta be an easier way to get this blog post formatted better)</span></div>
</div>
<br />
<br />Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-35045313779183930722012-05-15T06:46:00.001-04:002012-05-17T22:53:07.892-04:00Dogs, my Dad, and a Ditzy chick<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So last week, I had some nice surprises with<a href="http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1430299/marla_mayes.html" target="_blank"> <b>my articles on Yahoo! </b></a>Voices, Yahoo! Finance, and Yahoo! News!</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dogs</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My article about how I manage to <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/how-im-saving-money-pet-care-tight-budget-11217738.html" target="_blank"><b>keep my dog from the shelter despite being broke</b></a> got featured on the <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/" target="_blank"><b>Yahoo! Voices front page</b></a> for a day and a half. That's a frickin big deal in Yahoo! Contributor land!! It increased my page views too, from less than 50 to an additional 3.8K page views - YAY!</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dad</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ok, so this next one is a stretch - but I'm in the <a href="http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/insecure-writers-support-group.html" target="_blank">Insecure Writers Support Group</a> (IWSG) for a reason! I got a<b> <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/elander777/status/200994354817536001" target="_blank">very nice compliment on twitter</a></b> from another Yahoo! Contributor for my Yahoo! Finance article about my<a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/first-person-79-old-dad-refinanced-house-another-153100465--finance.html" target="_blank"> <b>Dad's seemingly odd refinance of their house</b></a> for another 30 years.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">btw: if you've stopped by from the Bloggers Comment Club and/or the IWSG and follow me on twitter, if I haven't followed back and/or added you to my lists - please give me a shout out on twitter. Thankfully, my twitter followers are growing, but I can't remember who's who - so sorting followers by lists helps. I try to make sure that I retweet everybody, so lists helps me that way too. Thanks! </span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ditzy chick</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, I got a special assignment to write a political article for Yahoo! News that was a test assignment to potentially become a "Featured Contributor" and it was accepted - YAY again!! I call it <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/michele-bachmanns-swiss-dual-citizenship-national-security-risk-204000638.html" target="_blank"><b>the Ditzy chick of the week in politics</b> </a>article - LoL! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It did reasonably well for page views, 3.8K worth. That's not as many page views as the<a href="http://marlawrites.blogspot.com/2012/05/is-for-april-article-successes-iwsg.html" target="_blank"><b> other one I blogged</b></a> about, but it's pretty respectable. I've had a few that were much much lower. I've read that some Yahoo! News articles can get into 6 figure page views, but that seems to be when they're featured on the <a href="http://www.yahoo.com/" target="_blank"><b>Yahoo! front page slides</b></a>. I can wish!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So last week was a pretty darn good week with my writing for Yahoo! I didn't get as many articles published as I wanted - I'm going for 5 a week, but I did get 5 submitted so I'll just have to catch up this week by submitting more articles earlier in the week. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And this is my 4th blog post this month, so I've already exceeded last month's one whole post - LoL! So hopefully I can stick to my goal for transitioning between blogging and article writing. So far, so good. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On to E for the next post... hmmm, that's gonna be a tuffy...</span><br />
<br />
<br />Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-10418750053393696862012-05-11T00:39:00.001-04:002012-05-11T00:40:59.054-04:00Comments for Cash (or Coins)? Yep!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZWxo_TBFlM6tJK3EDB9XW9rfrr6N6KBT0sR_bN7M8oLtBSj7D3CaT9ymX2oOqCo3clFVoYfEwd6HCBE64bEZb5JDqju6Q1rldMI9a-8fyjHhr6lgCHqbClsdViJYYbqmVMNHD7fsBQc/s1600/greendollarsign_rigor789_sxc.hu_1229466_32700830_watermark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZWxo_TBFlM6tJK3EDB9XW9rfrr6N6KBT0sR_bN7M8oLtBSj7D3CaT9ymX2oOqCo3clFVoYfEwd6HCBE64bEZb5JDqju6Q1rldMI9a-8fyjHhr6lgCHqbClsdViJYYbqmVMNHD7fsBQc/s200/greendollarsign_rigor789_sxc.hu_1229466_32700830_watermark.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few years ago, I used to post comments <i>a lot </i>on websites like HuffPo, local newspaper articles, and such. I had no idea that people could get paid to post until I noticed other posters bashing the forums "paid trolls". I even asked a few times how a person could get that job. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Got no answers. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought they must be joking... like, get paid for posting comments, really??? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever since then, I've sometimes noticed comments that seem a little too... oh I dunno, either a little too polished or too enthusiastic or too something... </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I became more convinced that there really was some paid commenting going on out there in cyberland. But when I searched for how-to, all I found at the time was things like "<i>oh, sponsors will notice you in the forums and they'll contact you"</i> type of advice. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then lo and behold, I recently came across a blog post about that very thing. Sure enough, there's places to go that will hire you to post comments in forums and wherever commenting goes I suppose.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Doesn't seem like they pay a whole lot, but it's something that seems easy enough to do for quick and easy extra cash. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't tried it yet, mainly because I'm focusing on articles and blogging for now. But I'll do a few paid surveys when I need a break now and then. I tend to get tired of surveys after awhile, so I might signup for the paid posting thing next time. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anna of the RealWaystoEarnMoneyOnline blog recently posted about her <a href="http://realwaystoearnmoneyonline.com/2012/04/postloop-forum-posting.html" target="_blank">own experience with Postloop</a> and has a list of <a href="http://realwaystoearnmoneyonline.com/money-earning-directory?cat=Paid+Forum+Posting" target="_blank">Paid Forum Posting</a> sites in her directory too. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you ever tried commenting for cash, a.k.a. paid posting in forums? If so, any tips are most welcome! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ok, so YAY, I've got A B C down on the alphabet post trail, next up -- D is for... maybe Dollars or Doubts or...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-21429558752205849492012-05-04T22:57:00.001-04:002012-05-08T20:58:00.752-04:00Be a Better Blogger to make more Bucks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9k-q2-lhM_zCxk3UB08mE9XAAYH-sSr5Y0XpLbIjnLOMDwhbodwQ1AXNPTHLZvlzn_wbM0RmhUmCCqRiNir1HU08ehOPbhPx0iIB6BQBlzDJeFJlOmDw-rZ_tmuOHr6pMiLLtP9CIDA/s1600/BlogGraphic_sxc.hu_svilen001_1383208_93464262.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9k-q2-lhM_zCxk3UB08mE9XAAYH-sSr5Y0XpLbIjnLOMDwhbodwQ1AXNPTHLZvlzn_wbM0RmhUmCCqRiNir1HU08ehOPbhPx0iIB6BQBlzDJeFJlOmDw-rZ_tmuOHr6pMiLLtP9CIDA/s200/BlogGraphic_sxc.hu_svilen001_1383208_93464262.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Along with my article writing successes mentioned in the previous post, had some fails too that included:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Blogging, <i>or lack thereof </i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and since I've seen so many April A-Z Blogging Challenge posts (that I didn't signup for because I just wasn't ready to pressure myself that much just yet), I'm going with the Alphabet Soup style for an unofficial blogging topic/prompt for this month. We'll see if I can stick with it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd signed up last month with a "paid to blog" site called Social Spark. I'd received an invite from another Yahoo! Contributor, so what the heck. I'm not exactly a proficient blogger just yet, but thought I'd have a looksee. Turns out ya have to have a minimum of 20 blog posts within a 3-month period to be eligible.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So time for me to get busy with the blogging. I've just got to get a routine, or semi-flexible schedule going between blogging and article writing. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Paid Tweets</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got one whole offer in April from Sponsored Tweets, but it was declined as "not needed". Bummer!! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sponsored Tweets is free to register, but also has a monthly pay for self-promo subscription thing that I'm certainly<i> <u>not</u> </i>going to sign up for. But, just this week I got approved for another offer that should be tweeting June 8th at 10:00 AMish. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's apparently for just one tweet on that day, but there was a note that it could be up to 3 tweets. Not sure how the auto-tweet an ad thing'll work - so it'll be interesting to see what happens.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I'm off to improve my blogging post frequency, get more sponsored tweets, and improve the article writing during May. Ok, so C is for...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-19169607304039519372012-05-03T12:08:00.003-04:002012-05-04T11:53:52.899-04:00A is for April Article Successes - IWSG<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecmniv88v1AppeFFC-rhDr_GZ2b1aKVSC1Bk4eNxZBLJtdF0hvyYC2X2p0RQswT-W8lxTVzA2hCMC_6zQFJ8MWNMB-qVy-tJNOSg2O99nJcV4VWGh4_r0XnEzlfJED6GJf6slsjpXh0s/s1600/sxc.hu_greendollarsign_rigor789_1229466_32700830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecmniv88v1AppeFFC-rhDr_GZ2b1aKVSC1Bk4eNxZBLJtdF0hvyYC2X2p0RQswT-W8lxTVzA2hCMC_6zQFJ8MWNMB-qVy-tJNOSg2O99nJcV4VWGh4_r0XnEzlfJED6GJf6slsjpXh0s/s200/sxc.hu_greendollarsign_rigor789_1229466_32700830.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I'm a day late and a dollar short with my<a href="http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/insecure-writers-support-group.html" target="_blank"> Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG)</a> blog post that's a 1st Wednesday of the month thing. Blog posts took a back seat last month while I cranked up my Yahoo! Contributor article submissions. Have had a few unexpected successes, so I feel much better now!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not that I've mastered article writing yet or anything, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. There's several things that I struggle with when writing articles:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I'm a slow writer:</b> 2 - 4 hours to complete an article, sometimes longer</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Boring Beat Topic:</b> for Yahoo! Finance beat, upfront pay is better, but not fun to write </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>AP vs. Chicago Manual style:</b> Switching between article types, News vs. Voices vs. Finance gets confusing</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Article Page View Successes:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A First: </b><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/supporting-ron-paul-naive-small-governments-small-countries-171800282.html" target="_blank">political news commentary</a> received 6.5K page views in 24 hrs. YAY! (7.7K total)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2nd Place:</b> An <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/kris-humphries-insists-kim-kardashian-return-wedding-11056040.html" target="_blank">older article from March</a> received almost 1K page views in April (2.3K total)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3rd Place:</b> <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/no-pink-slime-publix-hamburgers-hold-tomato-161500951.html" target="_blank">Another older article</a> from March got 340 page views (4.4K total)</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Accomplishments:</span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Earned the <a href="http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1430299/marla_mayes.html" target="_blank">Top 500 badge</a> (again) for April</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Got my <a href="https://pinterest.com/marlamayes/" target="_blank">Pinterest page</a> going</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So April was a pretty great month! There were some fails too, I'll blog about those tomorrow...</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-8989267973712226542012-04-03T23:44:00.000-04:002012-04-04T23:22:40.788-04:001st Wednesday: Insecure Writers Support Group Monthly Blog Hop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYPelFOS_QJWGKcsFTq-GR_Q1fC0VPeoR4YDUTNWh4Vj_s7kyjxsBTa_vy0AAwMdj3Gwiw-LCrDhQ4YjcIv8wWzGhqF_W1TouT3LOWudy8LFU-uK_tKLSThxDY0RRoBQ_u1TVivsc2zsM/s1600/dolls_sxc.hu_cornetta_850693_30836569.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYPelFOS_QJWGKcsFTq-GR_Q1fC0VPeoR4YDUTNWh4Vj_s7kyjxsBTa_vy0AAwMdj3Gwiw-LCrDhQ4YjcIv8wWzGhqF_W1TouT3LOWudy8LFU-uK_tKLSThxDY0RRoBQ_u1TVivsc2zsM/s320/dolls_sxc.hu_cornetta_850693_30836569.jpg" title="sxc.hu/cornetta" width="320" /></a></div>
Oh my gosh, insecure writer are me! Last week I participated in my 1st organized <a href="http://www.bloggercommentclub.com/" target="_blank"><b>Blogger Comment Club</b></a>. There were soooooo many snazzy blogs to comment on, this newbie was humbled...<br />
<br />
Yet, along that blogger commenter hop way, I stumbled upon this <b><a href="http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/p/insecure-writers-support-group.html" target="_blank">Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop</a>,</b><i> perfect </i>timing! With limited spare time, the monthly frequency works great. I'm #276 on the list.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<i>Then</i>, just today I get this Congratulations! email from my one and only current publisher, the<b> <a href="http://www.voices.yahoo.com/" target="_blank">Yahoo! Contributor Network (YCN)</a></b> that I've been awarded a Top500 contributor badge for top 500 page views in March. YAY - me, my spirits picked up a whole lot with that (especially since I've had three rejected articles recently)!<br />
<br />
Excited, I went to look at my shiny, new Top500 badge on my<b> <a href="http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1430299/marla_mayes.html" target="_blank">YCN profile</a></b>, but... no badge. So I went to the forum to see if any glitches or something had been noted. One person commented about receiving their Top500 badge too, but noted that it'll have to be recalculated after some non-counted page view glitches are corrected next week. That means I could be recalculated out of the Top 500, since the non-counted page views are from a big page view getter - <a href="http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1430299/marla_mayes.html?site_id=372" target="_blank"><b>Yahoo! News</b></a>. Spirits sunk again!<br />
<br />
So I don't have much advice for any other Insecure Writers out there, at least not until I'm better at article writing and blogging. I will say that my goal for this month is to read up and study the SEO section of the Yahoo! Style Guide (amazon link it to is floating around somewhere on here) to get my page views up via search engine results.<br />
<br />
One thing I noticed from this blog's Google Analytics, the only post that's gotten traffic from search engines is the one very brief post below about Pantyhose - LoL! Like, there's a 100+ page views from "pantyhose runs" "Madonna sheer tights" "Beyonce leggy" searches - just seems totally bizarre!<br />
<br />
Photo credit: <i><u><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/850693" target="_blank">sxc.hu/cornetta</a></u></i><br />
<i><br />
</i> <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<embed src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmarla-20%2F8010%2Fab6e44cf-567e-480d-b1e4-0087627cf12d&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate" id="Player_ab6e44cf-567e-480d-b1e4-0087627cf12d" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="Player_ab6e44cf-567e-480d-b1e4-0087627cf12d" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="200px" width="600px"></embed></OBJECT> <noscript>&amp;amp;lt;A HREF="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;amp;amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;amp;amp;ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmarla-20%2F8010%2Fab6e44cf-567e-480d-b1e4-0087627cf12d&amp;amp;amp;Operation=NoScript"&amp;amp;gt;Amazon.com Widgets&amp;amp;lt;/A&amp;amp;gt;</noscript></div>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-13757157485147658212012-03-29T22:31:00.000-04:002012-03-30T00:38:01.425-04:00Facebook Popularity: Narcissism or Proactive Self Marketing??<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiab145mX2V-RvSZZhPhee2gyjAc4f-ITYbQNYkNHvyX2LAwP7gO9JWP7ZTIADILdckhNY6RA8s07QydsI2pRLQI7FtE1zVJJbe0DoLRojuBqI3hurpF-IT1Ezyn9EprEz_whMGDTQ15qg/s1600/sxc.hu_ILuvMebutton_raichinger_844844_81000736.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiab145mX2V-RvSZZhPhee2gyjAc4f-ITYbQNYkNHvyX2LAwP7gO9JWP7ZTIADILdckhNY6RA8s07QydsI2pRLQI7FtE1zVJJbe0DoLRojuBqI3hurpF-IT1Ezyn9EprEz_whMGDTQ15qg/s200/sxc.hu_ILuvMebutton_raichinger_844844_81000736.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/844844" target="_blank">sxc.hu/raichinger</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/popular-facebook-youre-so-vain-according-new-11136130.html"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Popular on Facebook? You’re so Vain According to New Study</b></span></a><br />
A new study connects Facebook activity with narcissism. While some may think "doh" or "that’s news?" -- others counter that egotism on social networking sites is just self-promotion for a reasonable purpose. So what's the diff?<br />
<br />
COMMENTARY | ABC News reported a new study... Is being popular and active on Facebook really anti-social, egotism too? Maybe, maybe not…<b> <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/popular-facebook-youre-so-vain-according-new-11136130.html" target="_blank">Read More</a> </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Backstory</span></u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was a <b>Wild Card News Topic</b> assignment from the Yahoo! Contributor assignment desk with a small upfront payment and is page view performance bonused. Mark Zuckerberg... not a favorite of mine... but popular search topic... Facebook IPO in a month or two or so... Yahoo! suing Facebook... there's just gotta be some page view magic for this article -- right? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, not yet. One of the things I'm learning is that popular topics also have a lot of search results for my lil ol' article to compete with. The experienced writers say that <b>photos matter</b> -- having a great pic in the article that appears in search results will generate significantly more page views. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, a <b>free and allowable pic</b> for this article has been elusive so far. We're only allowed to use free photos from <a href="http://sxc.hu/" target="_blank">stock.xchange</a> and <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">wikimedia commons</a> and any free-for-public-use online media kits. Even then, we can only use those with standard restrictions. </span><br><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If there's any extra special restrictions -- we can't use them. A "photographer must be notified" restriction is ok, the problem is with a bunch-o'-extra restrictions like "share alike" and stuff like that - most often found on the wikimedia site. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there's the<i> Facebook-icons-are-trademarked thing,</i> so can't use those either for the article. We can use only one <b>paid photo site</b>,<a href="http://www.istockphoto.com/" target="_blank"> istockphoto.com</a>, but I'm not going there just yet.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I'm trying again to find a free & allowable pic that might fit the article. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll post each pic here as I find them - first up is the<i><b> I heart myself </b></i>button above. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">L</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">et me know what ya think! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-71575008248623884762012-03-26T14:59:00.001-04:002012-03-28T19:58:25.126-04:00Why Obamacare (aka Romneycare) Matters to Me and Should to You<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsc2D_IPiihJmVs6fuL-_tO_FxSvyoCXgfECtqzPLJUgxFjFvCyOrRglwBzj8GfAw48IS2Raoam58LaylZ0OAFDJ3TE8RZEka2mNOS4Hfr6-ciPZlVqeF8yXiUPcpp_-4gzqP0QmrPeM/s1600/Supreme_Court_Front_Dusk_wiki_Noclip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsc2D_IPiihJmVs6fuL-_tO_FxSvyoCXgfECtqzPLJUgxFjFvCyOrRglwBzj8GfAw48IS2Raoam58LaylZ0OAFDJ3TE8RZEka2mNOS4Hfr6-ciPZlVqeF8yXiUPcpp_-4gzqP0QmrPeM/s200/Supreme_Court_Front_Dusk_wiki_Noclip.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/republicans-does-right-life-include-right-to-11117668.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Republicans: Does the Right to Life Include Right to Health Care?</span></a></b><br />
The Supreme Court needs to be the adult in this Left Wing vs. Right Wing health care reform feud. In a twisted paradox, it's a Right to Choose Healthcare righties vs. the Right to Choose Life lefties political showdown.<br />
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<b>COMMENTARY |</b> According to the Associated Press, the fate of the Affordable Health Care Act <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/4-republican-justices-control-fate-health-law-115552374.html" target="_blank">rests with the Republican appointees</a> on the Supreme Court. The old health care system was not working because of denial of coverage to those with pre-existing... <span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/republicans-does-right-life-include-right-to-11117668.html" target="_blank">Read More</a></b></span><br />
<br />
<u><b>Backstory</b></u><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This blog post is an experiment in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) magic. Hey, why not try to get some page view magic from a hot topic for next three days since Obamacare is in the Supreme Court today and for the next two days? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The article was written for a <b>Wild Card News Topic</b> assignment picked up from the Yahoo! Voices Assignment Desk. I chose to write about Obamacare health care because of the AP article that was published when the Supreme Court case was two weeks ahead, thinkin' it'd be relevant for a few weeks. It did include an upfront payment ($5) - YAY - and gets page view bonused at $1.xx per 1K views. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even better, it was selected as an <b>Editor's Pick Feature</b><u>,</u> meaning that it's prominently displayed on the Yahoo! Voices <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/news/?cat=62" target="_blank">News front page</a> - YAY - again! It started on the day of publication as the largest feature on the top left of the page. It migrated after a day or so to the top right spot, then down to the "More Picks" list. As of this moment, it's 5th down on the list. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Featured status is soooooo very helpful with racking up page views. I'm not yet in the six-digits page views like many of the News and Political Featured Contributors are -- more like low four-figures per featured article. This article is almost at 3K page views as of now. I'm hoping the Supreme Court case this week will pick up the pace from searches and such. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One bummer though: I've had three similar Wild Card News Topic assignments be picked up and published in the regular Yahoo! News also. That's usually generates some great numbers too. But this article didn't go there, (no idea why not), but the Voices Feature selection got about as many page views as the others that did go there. So it worked out, I 'spose...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This past Saturday, I stumbled into Twitter and noticed one of the top trending hashtags was <b>#ILikeObamacare</b>. So I jumped on that trend and had a great time tweeting this article and retweeting all of the other pro-Obamacare tweets that I agreed with. I noticed that anti-Obamacare folks got into the tweetup as well. Those folks really like to post comments and such in articles too - so we'll see how this blog post goes. Hey, feel free to rant or rave in comments - just no personal attacks or irrelevant spam & stuff...</span><br />
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<embed src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?rt=qf_sp_asin_ssw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmarla-20%2F8003%2Fa2276b5b-dd86-4152-9140-c2e58668014b&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate" id="Player_a2276b5b-dd86-4152-9140-c2e58668014b" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="Player_a2276b5b-dd86-4152-9140-c2e58668014b" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="280px" width="336px"></embed></OBJECT> <noscript>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;A HREF="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?rt=qf_sp_asin_ssw&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmarla-20%2F8003%2Fa2276b5b-dd86-4152-9140-c2e58668014b&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;Operation=NoScript"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Amazon.com Widgets&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/A&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</noscript>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-54128154019753833572012-03-17T01:13:00.000-04:002012-03-28T20:20:51.827-04:00Have a Fear of Public Speaking or Stage Fright?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ2s65Zv_rGqdJ0wsWADugfTHL7PU_I3lSsNdkjZ07SAZsNNf21kSUmdVaRRBMBbxvSAqWiEPrRMtVVwitQDFXgl0uOvkSuM1d6D1OuEHU6apYTbTZR7h1IpPfmJRCSHh3_npSJomTnME/s1600/iStock_boxlady_4x6_000017613670Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ2s65Zv_rGqdJ0wsWADugfTHL7PU_I3lSsNdkjZ07SAZsNNf21kSUmdVaRRBMBbxvSAqWiEPrRMtVVwitQDFXgl0uOvkSuM1d6D1OuEHU6apYTbTZR7h1IpPfmJRCSHh3_npSJomTnME/s200/iStock_boxlady_4x6_000017613670Small.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/i-conquered-stage-fright-fear-public-speaking-10973674.html?cat=31" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">I Conquered Stage Fright and Fear of Public Speaking in a Most Unusual Way...Art Class</span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Getting beyond extreme shyness to become a (reluctant) art class model was the best personal and professional growth development thing I've ever done, albeit inadvertently. My stage fright transformed into a calm and comfortable me on stage ever since.</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 23px;">Great stage presence -- or not, can make or break a promising career. In business careers, making </span><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-speaking-anxiety-career-killer-131500756.html" style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 23px;" target="_blank">a speech at the office</a><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 23px;"> requires overcoming the notorious fear of public speaking. In performaning arts careers, well...ya gotta </span><i style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 23px;">perform</i><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 23px;">. Conquering my performance paralysis and extreme shyness on stage was no easy feat... until the most unusual day when I went to an art class...</span> <b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/i-conquered-stage-fright-fear-public-speaking-10973674.html?cat=31" target="_blank">Read More</a></span></b><br />
</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> <span style="color: #073763;"><u><span style="color: #073763;">Backstory</span></u></span></span></h3>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, so yeah -- this was an <i>extreme</i> way to confront that "<i>they're all staring at me</i>" freeze-up thing! </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was a figure drawing model for the local Art League for about a year. The models were rotated weekly, so my turn in the limelight was once every four or five weeks, usually... </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But one time I did have a three-weeks-in-a-row run when they decided to switch to painting instead of drawing. That was tougher because I had to hold the exact same pose during each of the 20 minute sessions for the entire hour and a half workshop. </span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The paintings were displayed at several art shows. I was afraid to go to them for a looksee at the final <i>final</i> finished paintings at the art shows, because I thought somebody might recognize me! Like my back, butt, and boobs would be recognizable in a clothed crowd on the streets at an art show!</span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So the experience most definitely resulted in no more paralyzing "<i>they're all staring at me"</i> freeze and panic during the first moment up front and center. </span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And in case you were wondering, nope -- I did not turn into an extroverted exhibitionist<i>. </i>No graduation to topless beaches or nudist camps, then or now!</span><br />
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</span></span></span></span></span></span>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-44008616105567667152012-03-07T07:59:00.002-05:002012-05-03T09:24:34.332-04:00How I Make Extra Cash Working from Home (part-time)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64HS86d9z_4SWwHcGEcH-UyWYCr7HX2RiU4paOtJesKDxO-M1oQRV_90-dNJRrkP8ezOHVNzf2Qq8FxD8c1EPafSh6kj3HHJLM1Hu2F6VA_A4KyU-thL4WIEj3mjBaJ9mBWimFahFI3M/s1600/sxc.hu_greendollarsign_rigor789_1229466_32700830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64HS86d9z_4SWwHcGEcH-UyWYCr7HX2RiU4paOtJesKDxO-M1oQRV_90-dNJRrkP8ezOHVNzf2Qq8FxD8c1EPafSh6kj3HHJLM1Hu2F6VA_A4KyU-thL4WIEj3mjBaJ9mBWimFahFI3M/s200/sxc.hu_greendollarsign_rigor789_1229466_32700830.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/first-person-im-unemployment-im-still-working-162800890.html" style="line-height: 16px;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: white;">First Person: I'm on Unemployment but I'm Still Working</b></span></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Earning up to $58 a week by self-employment or part-time work is allowed without any reduction in unemployment aid in my state, Florida. This is how I've earned extra pocket cash during unemployment.</span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">In </span></span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1330360266_1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;">Florida</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;">, an extra $58 per week can be earned without any reduction in </span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1330360266_0" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;">unemployment benefits</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;">. Who knew? I certainly didn't during my first two months of </span><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1330360266_3" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22px;">unemployment</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"> last year! </span><span style="line-height: 22px;"><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/first-person-im-unemployment-im-still-working-162800890.html" style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Read More</a></span></span></span><br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=marla-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=031256984X&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=7CB4E1&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br />
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<span style="color: #073763;"><u><span style="color: #073763;">Backstory</span></u></span></h3>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was only on Unemployment for 3 months and only earned extra cash for a couple of weeks before I returned to work (part-time) and Unemployment comp ended. The point of the article was that I<i> could have </i>earned extra cash for the whole frickin 3 months if I'd only known! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The article mentions 3 ways that I've earned extra cash (other than writing): </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">odd jobs, paid surveys, and mystery shopping. There were some snidely comments, mysteriously gone now, noting that the article should have included links to the<i> legitimate</i> paid survey & such sites.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I agree, they shoulda, but the Yahoo! article format stuff has limits on how many links (3-ish) in an article and where the links are going to & such. So the below links are to legitimate sites that I have earned cash from and know first-hand are legit and are not affiliate links (just because I haven't yet figured out the how-to for that yet).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, scroll down on the right side to my Blog Roll to find several great "Work from Home" blogs that have done a lot of research of the many options available - site links included. For those asking, these are my favorites:</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Paid Surveys:</u></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u><a href="http://opinionoutpost.com/" target="_blank"><b>Opinion Outpost</b></a> </u></b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u><b><a href="http://www.i-say.com/" target="_blank">Ipsos i-Say</a></b></u></b></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Tip</i></b>: Recommend </span><a href="http://www.surveypolice.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b>Survey Police</b></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> for checking up on the latest Paid Surveys scoop, reviews, & they have a very active discussion forum. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Mystery Shopping:</u></b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.marketforce.com/the-shopper-force/" target="_blank">Market Force</a></b></li>
<li><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.mysteryshops.com/prospective.asp?" target="_blank">CRI</a> </b></li>
</ul>
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Tip</i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: Mystery shopping isn't as easy as it might seem, so try the above sites first if you're new to it. They provide easy & free online shopper training and you can try several types of shops before getting credentials. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Tip</i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: For </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">love-it mystery shoppers, graduate to the <a href="http://www.volition.com/mystery.html" target="_blank">Volition site</a> and <a href="http://jobs.volition.com/exec/sfs/jobboard" target="_blank">Job Board</a> which is popular industry-wide with companies and shoppers actively looking for shopper gigs as well as useful tools and tips. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Tip</i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Professional certification is not required for most mystery shops, but can be helpful in some cases to get preferred assignments. If you decide mystery shopping is for you, professional (paid) industry association membership and certification options are found at the <a href="http://www.nationalassociationofmysteryshoppers.org/index_files/About_NAMS.htm" target="_blank">National Association of Mystery Shoppers </a>web site. </span><br />
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</span>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-51284676263609807202012-03-01T04:47:00.004-05:002012-05-04T11:47:00.287-04:00Entertainment Industry Behaving Badly: Lindsay Lohan on Saturday Night Live March 3<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGEekH6KHDg623GM-1RyjnsoQp-w6qSDRd263t0q9dAkURMaMI_AgwzPXEO37L7kOcSGVYj_ZAN7CBLc36nzhnOLjG9vpKnrsw1GfYi93Zguanh7aSilPJ68wbc74Oeh7HuRls_rH7Sg/s1600/Lindsaylohanmugshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGEekH6KHDg623GM-1RyjnsoQp-w6qSDRd263t0q9dAkURMaMI_AgwzPXEO37L7kOcSGVYj_ZAN7CBLc36nzhnOLjG9vpKnrsw1GfYi93Zguanh7aSilPJ68wbc74Oeh7HuRls_rH7Sg/s200/Lindsaylohanmugshot.jpg" width="161" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lindsaylohanmugshot.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Lindsay Lohan Mugshot</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/http%3A%2F%2Fvoices.yahoo.com%2Findustry-rewards-bad-behavior-again-lindsay-lohan-10985940.html" target="_blank">Industry Rewards Bad Behavior: Lindsay Lohan on SNL</a></span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Lindsay Lohan is scheduled to host Saturday Night Live on March 3. I wish the Industry would not reward her like that and here's why. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">Repeatedly on probation for drinking while driving, stealing, and a variety of other some such nonsense -- the entertainment industry is way out of touch with the rest of us.</span>..</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/industry-rewards-bad-behavior-again-lindsay-lohan-10985940.html" target="_blank"><b>Read More</b>.</a></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> <span style="color: #073763;"><u><span style="color: #073763;"><br />
Backstory</span></u></span></span></span></h3>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">Well, she did it anyway! Nope, I did not watch the SNL episode when Lindsay Lohan hosted. The reviews were mixed...this article from MTV News seems like the fairest </span><a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1680377/lindsay-lohan-hosts-saturday-night-live.jhtml" target="_blank">http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1680377/lindsay-lohan-hosts-saturday-night-live.jhtml</a></span><br />
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</span>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-7852774294220428582012-02-24T14:51:00.000-05:002012-03-24T12:06:43.158-04:00Through the Looking Glass: Guide Dog Puppy at the Zoo<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVH05DaAVGJHttN44BEHFhAaLj3J8IL8lAkjVjcgBhGZVETDSZ_hVnkCS5-3OMAmVKYVsP0rxZdRrYoc520MPFudz3eFmzNuKDuHlPFLgyFo7hYMaYsgJG_IN7a6LJkjWu3-jmWKwYu4/s1600/sxc.hu_dogzoobigcat__aklepsteen_386856_9265.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVH05DaAVGJHttN44BEHFhAaLj3J8IL8lAkjVjcgBhGZVETDSZ_hVnkCS5-3OMAmVKYVsP0rxZdRrYoc520MPFudz3eFmzNuKDuHlPFLgyFo7hYMaYsgJG_IN7a6LJkjWu3-jmWKwYu4/s320/sxc.hu_dogzoobigcat__aklepsteen_386856_9265.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Credit:<a href="http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=386856" target="_blank"> sxc.hu/aklepsteen</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/a-dogs-day-zoo-10982222.html?cat=47" target="_blank">A Dog's Day at the Zoo</a> </span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The poem was inspired by this photo of a Guide Dog puppy in a training session at the zoo.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 23px;"><br />
Puppies in training…a day at the zoo </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">They have a job… to learn how to do </span><br style="line-height: 23px;" /><span style="line-height: 23px;">Be eyes and ears - for others in need </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">Of a guide dog to help - them to succeed</span><span style="line-height: 23px;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-size: large;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/a-dogs-day-zoo-10982222.html" target="_blank"><b>Read More</b></a></span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;"> </span></span><br />
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<h3>
<span style="color: #073763;"><u><span style="color: #073763;">Backstory</span></u></span></h3>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763; line-height: 16px;">I LOVE this</span><a href="http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=386856" style="line-height: 16px;" target="_blank"> photo<span style="color: #073763;">!</span></a><span style="color: #073763;"> If I were going to write a children's book, it'd be the cover. Found the photo when </span><span style="color: #073763;">I took an assignment from the <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/" target="_blank">Yahoo! Contributor Network </a>Desk to write a poem based on an image. Although there's no upfront payment involved, the poem assignments are one of my favorites because they get me into more of a creative thinking (and writing) zone. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;">This pic had so many ways to go for a concept to poeticize like "Let's Do Lunch...or Not" or "How Much is that Big Kitty in the Window?" or "You Ain't Nothin' but a Cheetah"or "What chyou Lookin' At?"... corny stuff like that. Ultimately went with a two-sides of the<strike> fence</strike> glass of "working critters" theme.</span><br />
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Some animal advocates are really against zoos, but I'm not so sure that born free and living in the rough and tough wild is all that great either. Yet I'm an advocate for saving rain forests and wildlife sanctuaries and all that stuff, but I've always liked zoos too. Although I certainly don't advocate caged living, Jack Hanna and other zoo-keeper folks seem to be effective animal welfare advocates.</span><br />
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So the poem explores a few thoughts about animal roles in the zoo and as human helpers. Hope you enjoy it!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> </span><br />
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</span></span></span></div>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-34007829708733487672012-02-19T03:25:00.000-05:002012-03-24T05:06:56.431-04:00Bailout Banks Behaving Badly: Ode to My Car<br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/first-person-im-pre-approved-auto-loan-im-233300661.html" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">First Person: I'm Pre-Approved For an Auto Loan But I'm Keeping My Old Car</a></span></h1>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtoeD7GvIQWc2jWhyOHUKbUcPMq6c7r-2dJPZBAV2sSbETSwUiC84c-bK_OMID5bdXmm6YmI-6RXaSIvUWroLV9DqnsHofQt5ZZtTkKPqqbO7kmknhN57ecVZzMEfF4uBUKO0E8K9AMvs/s1600/sxc.hu_carinrows_thoursie_1100643_27263858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtoeD7GvIQWc2jWhyOHUKbUcPMq6c7r-2dJPZBAV2sSbETSwUiC84c-bK_OMID5bdXmm6YmI-6RXaSIvUWroLV9DqnsHofQt5ZZtTkKPqqbO7kmknhN57ecVZzMEfF4uBUKO0E8K9AMvs/s200/sxc.hu_carinrows_thoursie_1100643_27263858.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-size: xx-small;">sxc.hu/thoursie</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I received an unsolicited credit offer to buy a car, but I'm broke, underemployed, and $42K in debt... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-size: large;"><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/first-person-im-pre-approved-auto-loan-im-233300661.html" target="_blank">Read More</a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">As much as I want and need a new car, I was amazed to receive this snail mail credit offer because of...well, being <i>broke</i> and all...how in the heck did I get pre-approved???</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Writing the article was fun because it just seemed so absurd that a bank would do that and really -- how mean is it to offer a sparkly, brand new car to someone that can't afford it? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Then, the more I thought about my old car (and recent repair bill that I couldn't afford either), I remembered one of my favorite karaoke songs...or I should say, karaoke performances...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">A group that I used to work with were karaoke fanatics and would go to local Orlando karaoke bars once or twice a week. Now mind you I can't sing at all, but I went along a few times just because they used to rave about one lady who's lone karaoke stage song was Adam Sandler's 'Ode to My Car'. It was said to be<i> hilarious</i>! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Not familiar with the song, the group emailed a download to me to take a listen to Adam Sandler's original version before my karaoke bar initiation. It <i>was</i> hilarious, but also contains a heavy dose of the 7 dirty words... </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">The lady who did the 'Ode to My Car' karaoke was a fun, 60-something, almost-ready-to-retire sort and did do a ROFLMAO version.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">So I had a brilliant idea to mention the song in the article, because my old car is almost as awful as Adam's tribute old car. So I went looking for a link to the song and things just got better...</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Found a link on YouTube with an Adam Sandler live performance of it from an HBO special. Even better, the year of the performance was the same as the model year of my car!!!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">How perfect was that! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">So, I wrote the last line of the article "I'll keep my old car...that's as old as this Adam Sandler '<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjHkIm3Z3gA&noredirect=1" target="_blank">Ode to My Car</a>" video. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">But it didn't make it past the editors and was frickin deleted..<i>.sigh... </i> </span></div>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-8093096899593646802012-02-14T18:21:00.000-05:002012-03-30T00:40:11.526-04:00Single on Valentines Day: Dating Without Online Singles Sites<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAZ6Coo4q-NElCIvc45T00lHR2LPm5lZH-D0dhJHLwAIKvqylCnVkSEn-3f_AuFZ0evZVaIWQmQEK03e1L9ZDxJLXmm3l7ADhPUr7UpF4BvM-9nBDXWEpiLV5WyUaOwdXt9YEGvdXyd9U/s200/sxc.hu_couple_ZoofyTheJi_1145614_24504249.jpg" width="200" /></span></div><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/new-year-start-dating-without-online-singles-10808917.html?cat=39" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">New Year New You: Start Dating Again Without Online Singles Sites</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;">Are you uncomfortable (re)entering the dating scene using the Singles Meet Market dating sites? I am. Effectively advertising yourself as single and available to the opposite sex doesn't require aggressive or expensive online singles marketing...<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/new-year-start-dating-without-online-singles-10808917.html?cat=39" target="_blank">READ MORE</a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #073763;">I wrote this piece because I've been single too long and would like to meet a nice guy, start dating, fall in love, get married, and all that other romantic stuff. My friends and family are constantly encouraging me to join the online Singles sites but I'm just not comfortable with it.</span></span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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So the article is about my plans to go places, meet people, and do things again. </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">I'm broke and can't afford to go places and do things that cost much and I'm not really feeling like I look my best. So, I'm getting a makeover this week - courtesy of my sister-in-law.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Not an extreme makeover, just the hair. I'd show a before pic but I don't want to scare you. If I'm happy with the result, I'll post an after pic...</span><br />
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</span>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-56913578127355854292012-02-07T01:17:00.000-05:002012-05-04T11:22:22.282-04:00My Dancing With The Stars Celebrity Wish Lists<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/5-single-boomer-celebrities-dancing-10838337.html?cat=39" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">5 Single Boomer Celebrities that should be on Dancing With The Stars</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"DWTS" could transform these perpetually single baby boomers personal lives for the better and why it would be fun to watch them...</span><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1426278404"> </a></span></span><span style="line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/5-single-boomer-celebrities-dancing-10838337.html?cat=39" target="_blank">Read More</a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/5-single-music-celebrities-dancing-10839603.html?cat=33" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">5 Single Music Celebrities that should be on Dancing With The Stars</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #073763;">Divorced or long - time single, these Pop - Rock music stars might benefit from a go on the "DWTS" dance floor. Here's why...</span><span style="color: #0c343d; font-size: large;"><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/5-single-music-celebrities-dancing-10839603.html?cat=33" target="_blank">Read More</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;"> <span style="color: #073763;"><u><span style="color: #073763;">Backstory</span></u></span></span></span></span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">Rumors are that the next season's "Dancing with the Stars" cast announcement is due at the end of this month. None of my suggestions are in the buzz...sigh...</span><br /><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">So these were my first two articles that were Featured Editor's Picks, meaning that they were selected by the Editor for prominent display on the front pages of the Yahoo! Voices sections for <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/entertainment/?cat=2" target="_blank">Entertainment</a>, <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/television/?cat=39" target="_blank">Television</a>, and <a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/music/?cat=33" target="_blank">Music</a>. How cool was that!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">If you click the links, you'll see that there's one big pic on the top left and two smaller pics on the top right. The "5 Single Boomer Celebrities" was featured on the big top left for I don't remember how long exactly, but it was several days. Then it moved down to the "More Picks" list of featured articles lower down on the page. The editor helped bunches by adding the great dancers pic to the article! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">The "5 Single Music Celebrities" article was also featured, but not in the top section - just in the lower "More Picks" list. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">Getting an Editor's Pick spot was a big boon to both my newbie self-confidence and page views. They were assignments that I'd picked up from the Voices Assignment Desk, rather than being unsolicited submissions (although those are welcome too).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Some Assignment Desk articles receive Upfront Payment on publication (mine have been in the $5 - $10 range) and monthly Performance Page View (PPV) payments (starts at $1.50 per 1K page views and goes up). For more info, the Yahoo! Contributor Network </span><a href="http://contributor.yahoo.com/help/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;" target="_blank">FAQ page</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"> is the best place to have a looksee. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">I'd had pretty sad page view counts up to this point, so I was going for popular search terms that I thought might help pick things up a bit. I'm not shy about celebrity name dropping for page views, so I gave a go and it worked pretty well! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">And - I really am a long-time fan of "Dancing with the Stars" so the words just flowed.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><br />
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</span></span></span></span></span>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-75267869807448403422012-02-04T11:02:00.000-05:002012-03-29T01:51:18.174-04:00Madonna... Superbowl... Will She or Won't She (wear these)???<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB283bv3AICXprEX1luu8aIrQa3kxiOFLYYjgCUiRpUGCqzlMCq7BbVXHrlNzo7xK2raBZMK72_usXN3NbGIEZhF8TwACdwilQqsVOFRbxuLjFIuzx83c0mxYgRbvr6cyUGOs3cK4GjjE/s1600/sxc.hu_legs_simoneaj_560961_24467946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB283bv3AICXprEX1luu8aIrQa3kxiOFLYYjgCUiRpUGCqzlMCq7BbVXHrlNzo7xK2raBZMK72_usXN3NbGIEZhF8TwACdwilQqsVOFRbxuLjFIuzx83c0mxYgRbvr6cyUGOs3cK4GjjE/s200/sxc.hu_legs_simoneaj_560961_24467946.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/pantyhose-glam-again-5-ways-stretch-sheer-10829015.html?cat=69" target="_blank"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pantyhose is Glam Again: 5 Ways I Stretch My Sheer Tights Dollar</span></b></a><br />
<h2 style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> <span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i style="background-color: white;"> Wearing Leggy Looks like Beyonce, Princess Kate, the Kardashians, and Madonna on a Tight(s) Budget</i></span></h2><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pantyhose is back in style! Cheap stockings can get expensive, not to mention the upscale brands, unless I use my easy, budget-saving, extended-wear pantyhose plan.</span></span> <br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preventing a pantyhose run was a daily obsession of mine 20-something years ago. Maintaining a yuppie "Dress to Impress" office look required pantyhose vigilance. But I was a Pantyhose Klutz!</span><span style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 23px;"> </span><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/pantyhose-glam-again-5-ways-stretch-sheer-10829015.html?cat=69" style="font-family: georgia, serif; line-height: 23px;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Read More</span></a><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Update:</b> YES she did, with thigh-high boots - a most excellent choice (so great that she took <i>my</i> advice---<i>eyes rolling</i>...)!</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab" height="280px" id="Player_50b9f618-ee34-4776-bd8c-e1b0570b92fa" width="336px"> <param NAME="movie" VALUE="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?rt=tf_ssw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmarla-20%2F8003%2F50b9f618-ee34-4776-bd8c-e1b0570b92fa&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate"><param NAME="quality" VALUE="high"><param NAME="bgcolor" VALUE="#FFFFFF"><param NAME="allowscriptaccess" VALUE="always"><embed src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?rt=tf_ssw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmarla-20%2F8003%2F50b9f618-ee34-4776-bd8c-e1b0570b92fa&Operation=GetDisplayTemplate" id="Player_50b9f618-ee34-4776-bd8c-e1b0570b92fa" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="Player_50b9f618-ee34-4776-bd8c-e1b0570b92fa" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="280px" width="336px"></embed></OBJECT> <noscript>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;A HREF="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?rt=tf_ssw&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmarla-20%2F8003%2F50b9f618-ee34-4776-bd8c-e1b0570b92fa&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;Operation=NoScript"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Amazon.com Widgets&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/A&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</noscript></div><br />Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-58768993446818775262012-01-05T07:49:00.000-05:002012-03-24T18:37:52.894-04:00ABC's 'Pan Am' TV Show Article<a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/abcs-retro-60s-tv-show-pan-am-makes-going-glam-10690311.html?cat=39" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ABCs Retro 60s TV Show 'Pan Am' Makes the Going Glam</span></a><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Pan Am" is a fun-to-watch early 60’s retro perspective of the times in full color, in a day when TV shows and movies were actually filmed in black and white. But is the show an airbrushed colorized version of the day or Reality TV 60s style?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Once upon a time in the early 1960's, Elvis Presley dared to shake it up in movies like <i>Viva Las Vegas</i>; the Fab 4 began <a class="link interlink" href="http://voices.yahoo.com/topic/22755/the_beatles.html" rel="&content_type=topic&content_type_id=22755" title="the Beatles">the Beatles</a> British music invasion; the Space Race was launching; the Jet Age was taking off; Americans adored JackieO.......(<i>scrrrrrratch.....oh, wait.....um)</i> Jackie Kennedy that is; and Walter Cronkite declared on the nightly news "And that's the way it is on this day…..".</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://voices.yahoo.com/abcs-retro-60s-tv-show-pan-am-makes-going-glam-10690311.html" target="_blank"> Read More</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763;"><u><span style="color: #073763;">Backstory</span></u></span></h3>
<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">YAY - this was my very first published article on Yahoo! Voices!! It was an assignment picked up from their Assignment Desk and was a struggle to write correctly. I used to do some technical writing -- stuff like company procedures, how-to desk instructions, and the usual office correspondence. Most of the writing was cryptic, heavy on the bulletized lists and workflow charts -- like, not much in the way of complete sentences. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So writing for Yahoo! following their format and style requirements via The Yahoo! Style Guide, along with my rusty complete-sentences grammar was a challenge. Plus, the assignment asked for an "engaging, bloggy" voice - grammar and my bloggy voice persona just didn't seem to cooperate. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, I'd asked for a review within a LinkedIn Writing group, a "Rate My Writing" subgroup and one of the reviewers pointed out a goof. Because the article was published as an "exclusive" and I was a newbie - I couldn't edit it post-publication. So I had to go through the edit request cycle and in the process, the editor decided that the "Pan Am" show pic I'd used from their photo gallery wasn't usable and deleted it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #073763;">Max bummed - I went in search of a publicly available media kit photo for the show and found a site for the ABC TV shows. It was a most excellent find because I’m not credentialed media -- but they allow free public use with an easy request form. </span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the article ended up with a better pic than the one I had before - YAY again! </span><br />
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</span></span></div>Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5246740420407902382.post-29856976815012856722011-12-31T15:49:00.000-05:002012-01-01T02:13:11.553-05:00Happy New Year: New (Reluctant) Blog In WorkHi there! <br />
<br />Reluctant blogger here. Geesh - I've no frickin' idea how to make a blog page, so it's a (time consuming) work in progress. <br />
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The plan is to keep track of my articles, site memberships, and other assorted web stuff all in one place. We'll have to see how it goes. If I can think of anything interesting to blog about, might post something (I'm thinking once or twice a week - at most!).<br />
<br />Thanks for visiting & feel free to check back & see how it's going!<br />
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Happy New Year!Marla Mayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11888390455748716405noreply@blogger.com0