I started Tweeting almost one year ago. And boy, has it been an interesting journey! Twitter is a fascinating tool, and I’ve met cool people and learned new things. One of the things I love most about it is connecting with people in my local area. It’s also great for marketing your blog and, by default, your business.

There’s a lot of power to harness with Twitter, so if you haven’t yet given it a try, you’ve simply got to start! Here’s what you do. After you sign up, start following a few interesting people you know (like me), and take a look at who they’re following. Follow a few of them, and also start looking at some local people (like a local radio or news station). You’ll start getting followers as you start following. And be sure you actually Tweet too.

For more ideas, check out my first post on the subject of Twitter.

I also stumbled across the idea of using Twitter to make a modest amount of money. There are companies out there that know the power of Twitter, and they want to get their names out there. So they use Sponsored Tweets. It works by Tweeters agreeing to Tweet on behalf of an advertiser (with full disclosure). You get paid through Sponsored Tweets, and you can cash out once your account reaches $50. They’re the same company that does PayPerPost (IZEA).

If you’re not already following me on Twitter, go ahead and do so. There’s a link to my CrayonWriter account under my picture, and a link to Sponsored Tweets in my sidebar.

Do you use Twitter a lot? How do you use it?

Yaro Starak and Gideon Shalwick sent me an urgent note to let you know they are very briefly opening up their powerful blogging coaching program again.

Why?

Well, they said that they got HEAPS of people that missed out because of the Independence Day Holiday in the United States last week.

And they wanted to give us another opportunity to join their amazing program, along with all the other 420 students who’ve already signed up this time round.

If you missed out last week for whatever reason, this is your chance to get in.

They’re opening doors on Tuesday, July 7th at 2pm EST Daylight Savings Time, and they said they’ll shut the doors again 24 hrs after that.

Here is the page where you can sign up:

Become A Blogger

Let me know if you sign up! Enjoy!

Blogging hasn’t died, as many predicted it would have by now. People are still starting new blogs, and some of us maintain our old ones. Blogging still makes money for people and companies, and it’s still a fun way to self-publish.

I just received an email from a reader of mine who said she’s been sitting on the blogging fence for some time now. I asked her, “What are you waiting for?” I also recently setup a blog/website for a relative of mine who needed to have an online presence for an upcoming play (if you’re in the D.C. area, check out TalesByOne).

So no, blogging is alive and well.

But what are you going to do about it?

If I had a little extra money, I’d sign up for a course on becoming a blogger. Why, when there’s tons of information online about how to start and run a blog already? Time is the simple answer. It takes time to research it all, and you’re bound to make some avoidable mistakes.

An online course can help you get your blog started physically, and then help you run and grow it successfully. The research will have already been done for you, so all you have to do is pay attention and follow through.

Stay tuned. Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.  pacific I’ll be announcing a program that will help you start your own blog from scratch.

Blogging often and well requires a bit of blogging inspiration. But is it wise to wait until that next “big idea” hits you? This has been my problem lately, so that even when I have time to blog, I just can’t think of what to write.

But there is help for blogger’s block! Here are 6 ways to getting something written on the page (in no particular order).

1. Open the posting page, or whatever program you use to write your blog.

2. Start writing something. Anything!

3. Look at some old posts from your stash of feeds (you do subscribe to others’ blogs, right?)

4. Go to your Twitter or Facebook pages and read what your followers/friends talked about recently.

5. Read your own past posts. You can recycle old posts, perhaps putting a new spin on them, or even re-analyzing what you thought in the past.

6. Open your favorite stock photo source and glance at a few pics. Sometimes a pic will give you an idea about what to write.

7. Now that you’ve written something, go back and check it over for errors. And make sure it actually makes sense.

And that’s it! Don’t spend too much time researching, thinking, or agonizing over what to write. That’s why it’s important to at least get that writing window open.

How do you find inspiration to write new blog posts?

Photo by Elaine Tan

I joined Twitter a while back, but I didn’t really “get” it until recently. I just got a new job (the PERFECT job, I think), that will use my multi talents. I’ll be doing business writing, Tweets, Facebook, blogging, and more!

Being the diligent new employee, I quickly did a crash course on Twitter this weekend, and boy! There’s a lot to learn!

What’s amazing is how involved Twitter can get. I’ve subscribed to a great blog about it (ProBlogger’s TwiTips), and I’ve started following some of the top Twitterers.There’s so much to learn and read, and it’s all shared by fellow Twitterers.

So have you joined Twitter yet? Follow me @crayonwriter and be sure to let me know in the comments below that you’ve started following me. Twitter will be my microblog, so enjoy and join in the conversation(s)!

Crayon Writer is officially two years old! Happy Anniversary, Crayon Writer!

Though I haven’t been writing as often as I used to, I’m proud to have made it to the 2-year mark. Now it’s time to reexamine my goals, both for this blog and my life and hopefully that will help me keep Crayon Writer going for another year.

When I first started this adventure, I just wanted a place to talk about my life as a work-at-home single mother. But as my daughter grows and changes, I’m finding that I do too. Working from home is still my goal, but it may not be a reality in the near future.

My daughter’s already been going to preschool, and kindergarten is right around the corner. She’s turning into a lovely, independent child, who often prefers to “go somewhere,” preferably without Mommy hanging around. On the other hand, I’m still not keen on sending her to school for 10 hours a day, so I have to have some type of home-based work (along with a part-time job).

So join us in our next adventure(s)! This year, with my daughter as a 4-year-old, things are going to be exciting. There’ll be adventures in babysitting, possibly a move to a new state, interesting jobs, and definitely some freelance copywriting gigs.

Thanks for being part of our lives these past couple of years!

I’m going to break one of the long-standing “rules” of blogging. But it’s no problem, especially since the blogosphere is ever-changing.

One of the first things I learned was to never explain why you were away so long. Well, I’ve had some loyal readers who might actually want an explanation…at least, I’d want to know what happened if I were in your shoes.

When my blog was regularly updated, I had loads of time on my hands. But then I started working an 8-5 job (sometimes I worked 7 days a week), and I had to prioritize. As a single mother, when I got home at 5:30 or 6:00, my only priorty was spending quality time with my daughter. When she went to bed, it became wind down time and/or get all my household chores done before I crashed.

So there you have it! My first blogging rule disobeyed. Hope you didn’t mind too much.

Hopefully, with the help of that huge post-it note, I’ll find a way to get back to blogging. While you’re waiting, feel free to go back and read some earlier posts. I’ll be doing the same, hoping to get inspired once again.

Being busy doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t fit in writing, especially if you take advantage of modern technology.

I just got a new cellphone with a keypad, internet, and all sorts of cool features, so I can quickly type out blog topic or even a blog post while I’m out and about. When an idea pops into my head, of course I can write it on a piece of paper or in a notebook, but that hasn’t worked for me.

So now I’ll be writing my quick ideas on my phone. If I have enough time, I’ll even login to my blog and write a whole post while mobile!

Have you used your mobile device to keep your writing “on” even when you’re out and about?

As “Maria” from The Sound of Music says, starting at the very beginning is a very good place to start.

Recently I wrote Anne over at AboutFreelancing.com because I realize I feel like my freelance writing career needs to start over. While I don’t have to start over from scratch (I do have a good portfolio), I do need to get started again.

One piece of advice she had for me was to start writing on Crayon Writer again, even if it’s just a little bit, so here I am.

Next, I need to figure out what’s holding me back from being the writer I know I am.

What about you? Are you living your dreams? Any advice for those of us who aren’t quite ready?

Just imagine…

You’ve heard about the blogging phenomena making the rounds lately.

And you’ve even though about setting up your own blog.

But perhaps the biggest question you’ve had so far is:

“What on earth shall I blog about?”

But don’t worry, you’re not alone.

And there’s some good news for you as well…

Not many people know what they want to blog about when they’re just getting started.

And that’s why Yaro Starak and Gideon Shalwick have just created a special X-Factor Strategy video that shows you how….

If you’re in any doubt as to what you should be blogging about, this X-Factor strategy video will get you off to a great start.

The video is an elaboration of one of the X-Factor strategies inside Yaro and Gideon’s report - The

Roadmap To Become A Blogger, which has already been downloaded 8,789 times in the last week!

It looks at a little-known feature of the social media giant Facebook, and shows you how to use it to your advantage and uncover multiple exploitable niche areas.

You can watch the whole video, without paying a cent or even giving away your details, over here:

X-Factor Facebook Video

Just go ahead and watch the video…

It really won’t cost you a thing, and it even comes with a full transcript that you can print out and follow along while you watch the video.

It’s a no-brainer - just go and watch it now:

X-Factor Facebook Video

If nothing else, you’ll get to know how to make friends with people from all over the world at the click of a button. And that could be very handy when you’re doing research for your new blog project.

I’ve watched it myself, and it’s really very straight forward and easy to understand. Let me know what you think.