“How do you write your articles?” A question that I was asked various times and I thought that I had to write an article about it and share its answer with you guys. It’s very healthy for any blogger and her/his blog to set a certain criteria/routine of how they’re going to create content for their blogs. Personally I follow some steps in every article I write that I think are “a-must” for every article, there are other steps I do with some articles only. Before listing these steps or things I do, I would like to say that with time these steps turn into a habit.

1- Collect Ideas:

Whenever an idea pops into my mind, I just write it down either on a notepad or on my iPhone notes! Whenever I decide to write, I just take a look at my notepad and a lot of topics will be waiting for me there. This activity also helps you in bulk writing, which is the best thing any blogger could do!

2- Summarize before going into details:

After choosing a topic to write about; I start by listing all the main points that the article will evolve around. After listing all the main points, I start writing about each one separately and add some intro text and closure if needed.

3- Do some research:

While writing my articles I have to do some research on the topic itself, I have to validate my knowledge before sharing it with others. I am not saying go steal information from other writers, but at least to make sure that what you are saying is true, valid, and is adding benefit and value to your readers.

4- Professional proof reading:

After I finish writing my articles, I always share them with my wife, who is an English Copywriter originally, to proof read it, fix all my grammatical and spelling mistakes and re-phrase some of the sentences where needed. It is really important to have someone professional to proof read your articles, you should be aware of spelling and grammar mistakes that could make some of your readers lose trust in you or just not give your articles the importance that they deserve!

5- Read it one more time:

After having your article proof read, you should go over it one more time in order to make sure that there are no spelling or contextual mistakes after it has been adjusted by the proof reader. By reading it for the last time you will also be able to make sure that it has a complete message, that it’s relevant and adds value to the reader.

This is how I usually write my articles, how do you write yours? Do you have any specific criteria which you follow when writing your articles or do you write them immediately onto Wordpress editor and publish them directly?

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As most of you know, I am planning to take my blog to the next level and generate full income from it or at least from my online presence/connections. I have to agree that in order to take it to the next level I need to dedicate time for it and commit and honestly this is appearing to be very difficult with my current situation, since I am a full-timer and sometimes I need to stay late at work and I have some other responsibilities alongside that as well. Having said all of this, I will still try hard and do my best to make it happen and quit my 9-5 job just for the sake of this blog!

Being a full-timer doesn’t give me the chance to dedicate time for my blog which I can’t do anything about at the moment, but I am really working my A#$ off to have it done so I can push more quality content into it, engage more with my readers and create better presence. I think the most important thing in a blogger’s journey is time and everything related to it. We are talking about time management, time dedication, prioritization, and getting your tasks done in the least possible time. Basically bloggers should know how to utilize their time, specially ones who have other full-time jobs and think of taking their blogs to the next level.

At the same time, I am currently taking good amount of Wordpress development projects and I am being paid for them, which comes under the point mentioned above “monetizing my online presence”. I also write for different blogs and provide support and consultation services to some friends and clients. Yeah, I do all of that at the same time. This might be normal for you and it might be a “WOW” factor, I am not complaining about the situation; in the contrary I am so liking it. The learning curve you go through in such situations really add more and more to your horizon and especially when it comes to time management.

What am I planning to do?

Honestly speaking, I have a plan that will take time right after Q1 ends, where I will be dedicating time for my blog and you will be feeling it. I will also be publishing my e-book, this should take place within Q2 if I was lucky enough in getting things done. Very soon I will be publishing a new page that will contain guest posts restrictions and I will be accepting guest posts from everybody who writes anything related to the topic of SteitBlog.

I felt like sharing this with you, just to let all bloggers (specially new ones) know that they should never give up. Keep trying, insist and set clear goals which you want to achieve! You will do it!

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Social media and blogging in specific is becoming a must for everyone. Yeah, everyone should blog and use social media even if not for making money or any other professional use.

An article that created a big buzz yesterday was that The Pope Benedict XVI had a message for priests of the Catholic Church: they must proclaim the gospel by not only having a website, but by blogging and utilizing new web communication tools. Everybody is expecting 2010 to be the year of social media and blogging on ALL levels!

If you don’t own a blog, why don’t you start blogging right now? Don’t you like to have a place where you can share your ideas and thoughts with the whole world!? Everyone does! Blogging also could either be FREE or could cost you a little amount of money if you are looking into getting your own domain name! Time is ticking, one day you will be wishing you would’ve started a blog a couple of years back.

If you are worried about the topic you are going to write about, think deep inside yourself; isn’t there any area that you are knowledgeable about? Or don’t your friends always come and ask you about a certain topic? If not, then start a personal blog where you can share your personal opinions, thoughts and daily experiences.

A blog is the abbreviation of Web Log, it’s the new version of the old known note books which we used to call “Diaries”, remember them!? It will be very nice to have all your thoughts and experiences logged into one place and have them shared with your readers and someday along the line get back to them and enjoy reading them!

Below is part of the Pope’s message to the Priests:

“The spread of multimedia communications and its rich “menu of options” might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web, or to see it only as a space to be filled. Yet priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the Gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities which increasingly express themselves with the different “voices” provided by the digital marketplace. Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.” Via mashable

If you decided to start a blog for yourself, check out my Healthy Blogging 101 series where I share some good tips on how to choose the topic of your blog and how to build an affordable blog and much more.

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This is a guest post by James from TheInfoPreneur.

You write new content for your site, because you want people to read it. You promote it as much as you can, but there is only so much one person can do and unless you are about to employ a whole team to spread your content and products for you, you need to let your readers do it for you;

Buttons

Everyone wants their latest post to go viral and be the new must see web page and the very best way to do this is to have buttons. Digg, Tweetmeme, Sexy Bookmarks all of the plugins and extremely easy to put into your site and make it astonishingly easy for your readers to spread your work. Think about it, one reader with say 50,000 followers on Twitter, Re-Tweets your article via your Tweetmeme button and that’s traffic, It only takes the right person to push the digg button for it to be seen by an incredible audience.

Don’t go over board on the button front though. I have seen sites with two Re-Tweet buttons at the top and bottom of every post, it’s over kill, I prefer one at the top and one at the bottom with more options at the very bottom of the post, for me and the readers of my site, it works. Every site is different though so have a play around and see what works for you.

CommentLuv

I love sites that have commentLuv enabled. CommentLuv is a plugin that allows your readers to automatically leave a link to their latest article at the bottom of their comment. But how does this spread my content? Well, directly it won’t, but the best thing about it is, it increases the amount of comments you will get, at least it has on my site. By having more people visit your site and contribute to the post you will inherently gain more social spreads via your buttons.

Guest Post

Allow people to guest post for you. Having others write for you, whatever market you are in, is a fantastic way to increase traffic. Think about it, not only are you promoting your site, but your guest poster is to increase their onlinepresence. It doubles your work rate and is a fantastic way of getting new readers because of the new writing style your guest brings.

So there you have it, let your readers spread the love.

TheInfoPreneur was set up by James Richmond 3 months ago, Since then he has published nearly 180 post and now has an Alexa Ranking of 73,000. He replies to everything and is committed to his site and his readers. Unbeleivable motivated, this guy needs to be watched. For someone who has no qualifications at all, TheInfoPreneur is a rare breed of website.

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If you are subscribed to SteitBlog’s newsletter, you should have received by now the email I sent earlier last week. I am currently offering, FREE of charge, help and support to all of my readers! Just email me what you need from me and I will be more than happy to help you out!

I can help you install Wordpress on your hosting, I can help you monetize your blog, I can help you customize your blog, I can help you in a lot of things or at least I can help you find the right answers to your questions! Since I believe that the major factor behind the success of this blog is its readers, I am trying to show appreciation and respect by helping you in anything related to the Internet, Blogging or Technology!

In order not to get spammed I am not going to include my email address over here, but you can either subscribe to my newsletter and reply to the emails you receive from it, or fill in the form in the contact page and I will be more than happy to assist you!

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Darren Rowse, the author of “31 days to build a better blog”, is re-launching his e-book and giving out 3 FREE bonuses to all of those who get it before the 19th of January.

I got my copy earlier when Darren launched it the first time and I will be sharing with you guys different reasons why I recommend getting it if you still didn’t grab your copy yet!

1- Darren has managed to divide the content of his book in a very useful way, where the readers can really benefit out of it. He separated his tips into Daily tasks which each blogger can easily do and use to improve his blog.

2- Darren also didn’t forget to add to each day, a HOW and a WHY paragraph so the reader could really know why this task is important and is a must do task.

3- Over 19,000 copies were sold so far and it is highly recommended by a lot of A-List bloggers.

4- Darren is offering a 31-days money back guarantee which means that after the 31 days challenge are over and you think you haven’t benefited from the e-book or if you are not satisfied, you are totally eligible to ask for a refund, 100% refund!

5- As a new year’s offer, Darren is giving out 3 FREE bonuses to get your blog going in 2010. He is giving out: Free Report: 9 Things to Do to Get Your Blog On Track in The New Year, Podcast with Leo Babauta from Zen Habits and a Podcast with Neil Patel from QuickSprout.

6- Darren is also giving out a FREE, a 1 hour long podcast including questions and answers where he answers different questions asked by various bloggers who want to take their blogs to the next level.

7- The 94 pages e-book, with the FREE bonuses and the 1 hour long podcast, is sold for ONLY $19.95.

To all of you guys who haven’t yet gotten their copies, it is highly recommended to all of you and it is a GREAT way to start your 2010 blogging journey! Go grab your copy right now!

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Yesterday I was asked a question by my friend Jamie: “Does your blog have a unique selling point? Why should ppl subscribe to yours and not others?” and afterwards a very important point crossed my mind and I raised it immediately and I thought to share it with you guys.

My answer was that I never promote my blog over other blogs, all blogs within the sphere complete each other instead of competing like any other industry! That is the cool thing about social media, that you can never force a reader to read your blog, or buy your product, or for example promote yourself over other bloggers as if you are better than them or your blog is better, it’s not the case at all! Readers are attracted by the quality of your content and the way you write, they either like it or they just bounce off your blog!

Blogging, unlike other industries, requires focusing on quality more than promotion, since readers will find your blog if its content meets their requirements and satisfies their needs.

Back to the core of the article, I don’t think any blogger would ever think of promoting their blog over other bloggers, in the contrary, we consider ourselves as colleagues and friends. Our blogs complete each other rather than compete, each of us has his own loyal readers where at sometimes we might share some loyal readers and we might be each others’ readers!

Let’s take SteitBlog for example; the following bloggers (just to count a few) are good friends of mine and all of us blog around almost the same thing; Blogging and Making Money Online, and we read each others blogs.

1- MikeCJ

2- Daniel Sargent

3- Derek Jensen

4- Robert Bravery

At the same time, I do follow and look up to some other A-List bloggers (to list a few) whom I consider as friends/mentors:

1- Darren Rowse

2- Daniel Scocco

3- David Risley

4- Chris Brogan

So do you think in blogging there is competition between different blogs under the same niche? Do you have colleagues or competitors in the niche you blog about?

For now I just want to cut the article short and see what you guys think about this issue, and we might work on follow-up articles if we find out that there are different points of views!

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Tomorrow On The 18th of January, Online Profits is opening its doors for the 2nd year! Online Profits, by Daniel Scocco, is one of the strongest (if not the strongest) collaboration program available on the Internet that takes you hand by hand on how to create your online business, traffic it and monetize it!

I was honored to take part in Online Profits last year and to be amongst the first people to try it and I really can’t tell you how beneficial it was, not only the information you get from the tutors, but from the connections you create and the benefit it gives back to your business by interacting with other users in the forums.

Why should you consider Online Profits?

1. First Class Mentors

The lessons of the Online Profits training program have been produced by top experts from different fields and specializations. Combined they have years of Internet marketing experience and have generated millions of dollars with online projects. Here is a list of the mentors:

Daniel Scocco, Michael Gray, Neil Patel, Yaro Starak, Chris Garrett, Tamar Weinberg, Hamlet Batista, Zac Jonhson, Courtney Tuttle, Nathan Rice.

2. The Most Complete Program

The Online Profits training program is by far the most complete on the web, and therefore it is ideal for the people who want to learn all the different facets of Internet marketing. Here is the list of modules (each of which contains lessons, video tutorials, case studies and interviews):

1. Introduction and Business Principles
2. Domain Names
3. Setting Up Your Website
4. Markets and Niches
5. Business Models
6. WordPress
7. Web Design for Entrepreneurs
8. Blogging
9. Keyword Research and Mini Websites
10. Online Forums and Communities
11. Online Stores
12. Web Content and Linkbaiting
13. Basic SEO
14. Advanced SEO
15. Link Building
16. Traffic Generation
17. Web Metrics
18. Social Media
19. Selling Advertising
20. Email Marketing
21. Affiliate Marketing
22. Pay-per-Click (PPC)
23. Landing Page Optimization
24. Selling Your Own Products

Again, Online Profits will only open for new subscribers for one week starting from tomorrow. After that time frame they will close the doors again, probably for the rest of 2010. If you don’t want to miss the launch, you can subscribe to their newsletter which is placed at the bottom of the page and get notified about it.

You can pay for this program in four payments of $98 (sums to $392 in the end)! If you pay in full, you will be entitled to a lifetime access to the program, including the lessons, exclusive resources, content library, social clubs and private forum.

They are also are giving away a free report named: 10 Deadly Business Mistakes You Should Avoid.

Update: I have just received an e-mail from Daniel informing me that the launch of the course was postponed till the 18th of January, 2010. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but you still can get the FREE-Report when it is published and you can also subscribe to their mail list to get notified once the course is open for registration. Sorry again!

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Now after 2010 has started and almost everyone has set his goals and objectives that they want to achieve in this year, how are you going to work them?

First of all, if you haven’t yet set any goals for this year; it is highly recommended that you do in order to start your journey towards your goals.

Now after you have your goals set and written, you should not keep them as a private property or something that you don’t want anybody to know about, in the contrary, you should share them with your friends, colleagues and with the public. Yes, sharing your goals with others will highly motivate you in achieving them either by being advised or by getting feedback on your goals or by simply being ashamed of not achieving them so you work harder in doing so. I do believe that this activity works and I have tried it personally.

I consider myself a Goal Oriented person rather than being Task Oriented, since I love to set a goal that I want to reach in a certain period of time, regardless the procedure and the task I go through to achieve this goal! Since I am not a full-time blogger, while I sometimes can dedicate 5 hours or more a day for my blog there are other days where I can’t even afford an hour for it. Which honestly makes me sad but it’s a challenge as well, I will take it to the next level and be a full-time blogger some day. It’s just a matter of time.

You have to always keep your goals in front of your eyes, keep looking at them and recognize how far you are from reaching them! Moreover, you should also review them every quarter of the year, just in case you have achieved some of your goals earlier so you can add new goals to work on. At the same time, some goals might look easy to achieve but when the time comes and you work on them you find that they are hard and that you can’t achieve them within the assigned period of time. So, reviewing your goals every quarter will really help you know where you are standing in terms of your goals.

In my earlier post about the 2010 goals, I received a suggestion from my friend Mike to review the goals after the first quarter of the year over here on SteitBlog, which I think is a really cool idea and a healthy activity to do every now and then!

Since this topic is a bit long, I will be dividing it into parts! So this is the first part and so there are yet other parts to come.

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Throughout the year of 2009, I have been through many ups and downs, and with thanks to God I have properly launched SteitBlog and it is doing very well where it even surpassed my expectations. As I say goodbye to 2009 I would like to take the chance to thank some of the people who have helped me in one way or another in achieving my goals, or at least some of them.

Ayah Na’san

My wife, best friend and best supporter. I don’t think any man would need more than a great wife to be successful.

Rami Steitieh

My brother, the first person who introduced me to the Internet and was a HUGE source of inspiration to me.

Michael CliffeJones

A friend and a colleague who is a goal oriented person, that achieves whatever is on his mind. He was a great a motivator.

Derek Jensen

I consider Derek as my young brother, we met in 2009’s Q3 or Q4 and we have been close friends ever snce. He is a fast learner, very passionate and guess what? He’s only a teenager. All the luck D.

Daniel Sargent

Daniel, passionate and knowledgeable by all means. I applaud you for your decision in making blogging your full time job.

Darren Rowse

I consider Darren to be the GodFather of blogging, he is one great source of blogging information and inspiration as well. Author of two books and owner of a very cool Blogging Community (ProBlogger Community)

John Chow

John is the person who made me consider making money online through blogging, I first read about him in Entrepreneur Magazine.

David Risley

David is a very down to earth ProBlogger. You can easily talk to him, he replies to all of your messages and he provide you with all the support and information you need.

Kamel Asmar

Kamel is a friend before being a partner. We have a lot in common, we both love to act fast and we try to take all chances available. One of the best passionate social entrepreneurs I have ever meet.

Chris Brogan

What can I say about Chris? Chris is one social media expert on all levels, a main speaker in different international events and recently authored the great book, Trust Agents.

Robert Bravery

Robert is a friend of mine, who I was introduced to through Mike’s Life blog, he is from South Africa and he writes really cool articles in his blog.

Robert B. Yonaitis

The help and support that Robert offered to me is priceless. He helped me a lot in working on my first ebook which should be available VERY soon.

Sam Mutimer

Sam is a great friend and a great social media mind! She has excellent knowledge in social media, and knows very well how it works and how to apply it to corporates.

Chris Pearson

I would simply like to thank Chris for creating Thesis Theme. Thank you Chris for Thesis!

Jeremy Schoemaker

Jeremy is the Superman of blogging! A man who made it work after he was in debt for $50k and kicked off every job. Hats off Jeremy, you are such a success story!

Brian Belfitt

Brian is the guy behind BlogEngage, which I have been depending on lately to generate traffic to my blog and socialize with other bloggers in the sphere. I would like to thank you Brian for creating BlogEngage!

Last but surely not least, my sincerest gratitude goes out to my parents, whom without their continuous support and love, I could not have become half the man I am today.

Lets hope I haven’t forgotten anybody, if I happen to have; thank you to all who have made an impact on me and for influencing me in being the blogger I am.

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