I’ve finally decided to try writing online articles for pay.

I’ve heard a lot about Associated Content, and I’m going to try a little experiment. My plan is to submit 50 articles, some exclusive and some I’ve already published. The point is to see if someone, namely me, can make a living from AC, or at least a nice side income. I got this idea from ChrisBlogging, a great freelance writing blog I just found out about.

One of the things that attracted me to AC is that I can write about whatever I want, and possibly get paid for it. Even though I call myself a freelance writer, I don’t spend a lot of time writing unless it’s for a client. This experiment should be a great way to exercise my writing (and typing) skills, and hopefully I’ll make some extra money at the same time.

Stay tuned for updates. Once I have at least 5 offers, I’ll let you know what’s going on. From my understanding it takes about two weeks for articles to be reviewed.

If you’ve tried Associated Content, what do you think about it?

I mentioned recently that I’ve been meeting lots of new people on MyBlogLog. While I haven’t noticed an increase in subscribers, I have noticed some new networking opportunities.

One member, Vince, just launched a site called Bloggers Showroom, where blogs can be reviewed by readers. I think it’s a great chance to get exposure for your site, and also get much-needed feedback.

Submitting your blog is free, so why not take advantage of it? While you’re there, review my blog so I can find out how I’m doing.

Vince’s site also has a journal, so you can follow his progress through his own words. Though I haven’t been blogging for long, I have a feeling this site will do very well.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted some interesting links, so here we go.

Using the Blogrush widget, I found a wonderful post about improving your blog, called 101 Essential Blogging Skills. Some of my favorites:

 ”Don’t go on hiatus or take a break from blogging. Many bloggers experience times when their passion for blogging wanes. Rather than going on hiatus commit yourself to low-intensity blogging for the duration of the slump (links, short posts, and so on)…” This is advice I should have taken the past couple of months.

“Be transparent. Disclose your biases and affiliations, particularly when it comes to potential profit.” I hope you read my Disclosure Policy in the the Advertise section. That’s my way of being transparent.

“Recognize when advertisements are negatively impacting on your blog. Be willing to part with or change them if necessary.” I recently got rid of a few ads, hoping to make this blog more readable.

If you’re looking to buy a baby gift, check out BabyGearToday for reviews of cool things for your little ones.

I can’t believe I’ve never raved about The Golden Pencil, a blog about freelance writing that includes dozens of writing-related job listings each week.

Enjoy the links while I try to fix the bug in my blog!

I’ve been thinking a lot about marketing my business, and I want to have a little fun with the idea of marketing.

To grow my freelance writing business, I may have to think like a Basset Hound dog.

Successful marketing means being a good hunter. You have to put your nose to the ground, find those opportunities, and then go after them with everything you’ve got.

Basset Hounds keep their cool. They’re calm dogs, which is something a good marketer needs to embody. Go after an opportunity in a dedicated, but unrushed manner. Rushing can lead to mistakes.

Hunting dogs stay on the trail. Once you find a good opportunity, remember to follow-up. Don’t give up too easily.

Bassets are known to be stubborn. If you’re in business for yourself, especially if you don’t have a lot of friends/family who are entrepreneurs, you will have to be a bit stubborn to make it through when others tell you to ‘get a job.’

What kind of animal do you think can be related to your business style?

Here are a few links for your browsing pleasure.

Freelance Switch has just published a list of freelance sites, with categories from writing to designing.

The Copywriting Maven informs us about health insurance for freelancers.

Wendy Piersall of eMoms at Home reveals the secret of how to do future posting. I thought it was an obscure plugin…Thanks Wendy! I’m in business now (especially since I now author 3 blogs).

Enjoy!

Courtney Tuttle is having another contest to win money from him. As the winner of his last contest, I can vouch for its authenticity. He immediately deposited the winnings into my PayPal account.

Join the fun! Supporting Court’s site is a good thing too. He offers valuable content aimed at helping us all make money online.

Here are the rules for the next contest. I’m going to play again (maybe lightening will strike twice).

***Stop Copying Here***

New Rules:

• Create a post on your blog, copy these rules and paste them into the post.
• Make a guess! Link to my homepage with the text make money online $1.00, replacing the $1.00 with the amount of your guess. Example: make money online $100.56.
• Leave this link to the rules page intact.
• Use my contact page to confirm your entry by letting me know (make sure to include the URL of your post)! I will find most of them, but let me know to make sure!
• Those who enter between June 1 and June 7 will get four guesses. Follow the rules for each guess – 4 links.
• Those who enter between June 8 and June 14 will get three guesses. Follow the rules for each guess – 3 links.
• Those who enter between June 15 and June 21 will get two guesses. Follow the rules for each guess – 2 links.
• Those who enter between June 22 and June 30 will get one guess.

***Stop Copying Here***

So here are my guesses to make money online: $776.98, $802.34, $803.52, $1022.03.

Good luck!

I originally started blogging to complement my copywriting business. While that’s still a huge goal of mine, I also decided to become a professional blogger at the end of April. That is, my aim is to make a living as a blogger.

Even more ambitious, I want to make a full-time living working only part-time (isn’t that everyone’s dream?) Being able to work part-time would help me spend more time with my daughter, without all the worry about money issues. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to homeschool her too.

My first “mentor” in the professional blogging endeavor was, and still is, Yaro Starak of Entrepreneur’s Journey. In March, for instance, Yaro made over $6,000. He continues to make at least $5,000 each month. Part-time.

Yaro’s launching a program called Blog Mastermind, where new bloggers like me (and maybe you) can learn from him in an online mentoring program, have access to a special forum, and ask him questions one-on-one. If you want to get a taste of what he’ll be offering, check out the free report, Blog Profits Blueprint.

I am an affiliate of his program (though this is not a sponsored post), and I highly endorse it. I’ve learned so much from Yaro already. I hope you will too.

Click here to download the Blog Profits Blueprint, and Click here to join the Blog Mastermind Mentoring Program.

I wanted to take some time to mention some interesting posts I’ve found recently.

Lillie Ammann found a site where you can catch up on your fun reading, just five minutes at a time. For busy people, like so many of are, five minutes is about all we can spare for light reading. Sounds like a cute idea.

Bob Bly talks about four or five characteristics that successful people seem to have. It gives me some food for thought. I’m not the success I know I can be, and I often wonder why. If I go by his list, hard work and ambition seem to be the traits that I need to work on. What about you?

The Golden Pencil is a great resource for freelance writers and editors. It even includes a job listing service (for free!) And the articles are great reads too.

Enjoy!

I’ve gathered a few more links to some really good sites. Thanks to ProBlogger and the Carnival of Work at Home Moms and Dads, I’ve been doing more blog reading than blog writing lately. That will be rectified soon. In the meantime, take a minute to check out these blogs.

Casual Keystrokes: Five steps to start working from home

Blogfeeder: Top 5 Signs You’ve Graduated to the Copywriting Big Leagues

Courtney Tuttle wrote a very informative article about Technorati…why it’s important and how to boost your ranking. This is a must-read.

Josh Dorkin writes about how to use BlogLog to increase traffic. Another must-read.

Enjoy!