To your way of thinking, that’s one of those pieces of advice that’s simple, but not easy. In fact, you may be tired of hearing this from every Tom, Dick, and Harriet. Maybe you want to shout: “Okay. Content. I got it, but how do it get this content?”

Sure. You can purchase content from a retail articles site, but the real answer is to create your own. Maybe you’re not a professional writer with the ability to knock out a post in the time it takes you to read this one, but, I have some secrets that might make it easier for you.

The Truth

First, let me be honest with you. Pro writers don’t just turn on the tap and wait for ideas to gush forth like water from a spigot. However, we do know a few tricks of the trade.

1. Make a commitment to blog on certain days each week. My goal is to blog every day. Sometimes I don’t reach that goal, but most times I do. If you’re just starting and have a lot of time constraints, just choose one or two days a week to blog.

2. Establish an editorial calendar for your blog based on the number of days a week that you commit to blog. Let’s say you’re going to blog on Sundays and Thursdays. Print out a monthly calendar. Then mark the days you’re going to blog by outlining that day’s “box” in red.

3. Brainstorm with pen and paper. I actually have one of those no-spiral notebooks that I use for blog brainstorming. Get one if you want to keep track of your ideas. Sit back and start brainstorming on paper.

If you already have a focus for your blog, this will be easier. If you don’t, but you know that you want to share something with the world, this will give you a way to discover what you wish to share.

List everything that interests you enough that you’d like to talk about it with someone. Read over the list and circle the words that really resonate with you. Next, below these words, list something that you either know or want to know. Do any of these things kind of clump together in areas of interest? If so, those are your “umbrella” topics that lead to your Categories or Labels, and you’ll write about these topics again and again.

4. Assign an umbrella topic or Category/Label to each day you want to write.

5. Immediately, write 2 blog posts under each category and notate the title of your post on the appropriate day. Upload the article to your blog dashboard and schedule it on a specific day. If you plan to blog 2 days a week, that immediately covers you for 2 weeks and takes the pressure off.

6. Mark your next writing day on your calendar. Don’t let more than 1 day go before you are brainstorming and writing again. Ideally, spend 10 minutes each day brainstorming ideas based on your Categories so when your writing day rolls around, you know what you’ll write.

7. Capture ideas. Keep a small notebook or use your cell phone or some device that’s easily accessible to note ideas as they crop up. Once you start writing and thinking of ideas, you’ll be amazed at how easily ideas come to you.

Example

Look over at my Categories. These are the things that interest me all the time. I write a lot in Internet Success and Writing Biz to help other writers or those who just want to blog because it’s fun or they’re trying to make it part of their business marketing plan. I always have something to say about that because the topic is of broad interest to many and covers virtually anything that helps you succeed with words.

Each week, I print a weekly calendar with each day having a specific overall topic of interest. For instance, Review is on one day. Writing Advice on another. Internet Help is on another. This calendar isn’t an ironclad must-follow plan but a jumping off point for my imagination. My Categories fall under these broad “umbrella” topics.

I may have read something in the daily paper that I want to talk about instead. But, if I ever find myself in the creative doldrums, I can just look at my “umbrella” topic for the day and know I can write something about it.

It’s like cooking dinner at night. If you lay out the package of frozen chicken in the morning, it’s there when you come home in the afternoon so you know you’ll be cooking some kind of chicken for dinner. If you don’t lay out something, you come home and wonder: “Geez, what am I going to fix for dinner?”

Takeaway Truth

Professional writers know this truth: the more you think; the easier to find ideas, and, the more you write; the easier the words flow.

As recent as 25 years ago, I knew women in corporate positions who refused to admit that they knew how to type for fear they would be seen as lowly secretaries rather than corporate rung climbers.

The world has changed. Now, to master a typing keyboard is to master the world of the Internet.

I had a lot of fun last week timing my typing skill with Key Hero. Once upon a time I could type 90 words a minute. By the way, that means 90 words with no mistakes.

I’m still pretty fast, but not that fast because, frankly, I’m not pressed by an overbearing employer to produce, produce, produce! Since I’m my own boss, a kinder, gentler boss than any I ever had in an office or corporate setting, I work at a comfortable pace rather than a carpal tunnel injury-producing state.

I told my husband about this typing test website, and he made his usual comment: “I wish I could type faster and better.” Being the good wife that I am, I did a search and found some websites that help you improve your typing skills.

For him, and for you who wish to improve your keyboarding skills, here are some websites to help you. Any of these will do the trick if you put in the time.

Keyboarding Practice

Power Typing

Sense Lang

Takeaway Truth

It’s never too late to improve your basic skills. All you need to do is make a commitment and take action.

Let’s begin at the beginning, and that means with the foundation of our language: the words. There are thousands of words in any language. Classifying the words into a category based upon what the word does in language makes it easier to understand and learn a language. These categories are called the parts of speech.

Once you know in which category a  word is found, that is, which part of speech it is, you know where it is to be placed or used in a sentence. ccRules of grammar (and good speech) are governed by using the correct word in the correct place.

How Many Parts of Speech

When I learned English grammar, we were taught that there are 8 parts of speech. Sure, some now teach that there are 9 or even 10 parts of speech, but that’s because some words have been broken into more detailed categories, i.e., the article adjectives the, an and a are broken out from adjectives into a separate classification called determiners.

I believe in the KISS rule: keep it simple, sugar! Therefore, the parts of speech according to my Grammar for Grownups are, as I was taught: noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

Nouns are words that represent a person, place, or thing. Examples of nouns: boy, woman, city, Houston, dog, house, Jack, prince, chair.

Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. Examples of pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they.

Verbs are words that show action or a state of being. Examples of action verbs: hit, type, run, chop, write. Examples of verbs that show a state of being: be, am, is, are, was, were, have, has, had.

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. Examples of adverbs: is lovely,  rang loudly, moved slowly, never speaks.

Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns. Examples of adjectives: beautiful woman, big boy, small child, short man, brown dog.

Conjunctions are words that join elements like words, phrases, clauses, or sentences together. Examples of conjunctions: and, but, or, nor.

Prepositions are words that link other words to nouns. Examples of prepositions: in, over, around, under, below.

Interjections are words that are short exclamations. They really serve no purpose in the sentence except as a device of expression and are usually followed by an exclamation point. Examples of interjections: Oh! Wow! Ah!

Takeaway Truth

Parts of speech are the foundation on which you will build your grammar skills, noun by noun, verb by verb, word by word.

Survey Says

Now, a recent survey by Marketing and Research Resources Inc. and  published online in the Wall Street Journal, reveals that those with eReaders read more than they did with traditional printed books. To be specific, their results showed that 40% of eReader owners read more now, while 58 % read the same amount. Those who read less amounted to only 2% of respondents.

The survey looked at owners of three devices: the Amazon Kindle, the Apple iPad and the Sony Reader because all of these have been successful since hitting the retail market. Amazon says customers buy 3.3 times as many books after they buy a Kindle. Recent statistics cite 15% of all U. S. book sales as being ebooks.

Takeaway Truth

It’s like I’ve been saying. An eReader doesn’t replace books; it’s an adjunct to books. It just gives a reader another way to read books.

Battery Backup

I’m a big believer in battery backups and surge protectors. The router was plugged into one by my desk. Did it save my router? Nope. So much for the expensive APC backup.

Tuesday morning found me on the phone with AT&T. After an hour of trouble-shooting wherein I repeated, at the service tech’s request, all the things I’d already done to reset the router, the tech announced that they’d have to send someone out to my house.

Great! I wanted to ask in which year I could expect them, but I held my tongue. Unbelievably, I was told the tech would be here between 8 and 12. Even more unbelievably, the tech showed up slightly before 12. Unfortunately, the tech didn’t have the right kind of router so had to go back to the field office.

Long Story; Short Version

To make a long story short, a hundred bucks plus labor, by 2:00 I had the new router up. Another 15 minutes, and I had all the computers in the house networked again. Just in time for another even worse thunderstorm at 4:30. I couldn’t even get everything turned off before the power died. No power for 3 hours. No air conditioning!

AGHHHHH!

Fortunately, we all survived without melting.

Takeaway Truth

Don’t depend on a battery backup to save your equipment during a storm. Turn it off just to be safe.

Awards = Excellence

Awards like these aren’t just given away willy nilly. They’re awarded based on merit, and Virginia-based Cobb Technologies earned these awards. They’re Virginia’s leading independent document solutions dealer, and they offer personal service to their clients, from maintaining a large inventory of the leading brands like Canon, Konica, Minolta, Kyocera, etc, to hands-on document management.

Service Oriented

With more service technicians than the usual document management provider, they have specialists with a remarkable combined 700+ years of experience and possessing the most advanced certifications available. No wonder they have more than 6,000 customers in all industries.

Good To Be Green

As part of their commitment to their customers, Cobb Technologies is working to help their customers make environmentally-sound purchasing decisions about their office equipment. They offer a free download of their green equipment guide, Cobb Technologies’ Eco-Friendly Office Equipment Guide.

Takeaway Truth

Experience, service, and reputation are the hallmarks of a successful company.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Since LEED Existing Building Certification began in October 2004, this 90-year-old company has helped their clients earn the all important 200 ENERGY STAR® Label. They’ve even captured 8 ENERGY STAR® Partner Awards for Servidyne.

LEED, run under aegis of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), strives to improve a building’s performance in 5 crucial areas: energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality, materials selection, sustainable site development, and water savings.

This not only improves our environment, but it also reduces energy costs by improving energy efficiency. In today’s economy when a company needs every edge it can get, this savings represents a win/win situation: improved ecology and improved bottom line profits.

Regardless of your budget, Servidyne can help you achieve your energy goals. They’ve saved their existing clients millions so chances are they can help you even though your budget may be much smaller. One of the best things about them is that they’re not a Johnny-come-lately. They’ve been around for decades. They’ve changed with the changing times, and they’re available to work with you.

Times may have changed, but Servidyne’s mission remains unchanged: “To meet the ever changing needs of companies that own and operate buildings.”

Takeaway Truth

The world is changing. Isn’t it nice to find a company with a great rep and a history of service?

There are many times when you may be faced with the problem of sending a big file to someone. Here are a couple of sites for you to consider.

Send This File

If the thought of FTP scares you, then you’ll probably love the idea of emailing your photo or massive document files instead. Most email accounts have limits, but Send This File.com is different. I heard about it from Kim Komando’s newsletter and checked them out.

Benefits

Free.

No registration required.

Send to recipeint’s email addy, with a message if you wish.

Send up to 2 gigs.

Files available for 2 weeks.

We Transfer

WeTransfer.com is also an email process that’s easy. Just follow the simple instructions on their website. Your recipient receives a link to the transferred file via email so they, and you, don’t have to bother with email attachments. You do have to register, and there are free and paid versions, but the pricing is low if you go that route.

Benefits

No software to install.

No limit on file size or number of files sent.

Secure as email.

Takeaway Truth

The Internet contains a lot of free resources if you know where to find them.

We’re tired of those fitness centers that seem more like a place to meet singles than to work on your fitness goals. Also, we don’t want to be intimidated by either the facility or the staff.

Whether you’re just beginning your journey to better fitness or you’re a true athlete, training to compete, you will benefit from certified Houston Personal Trainers found at The Train Station. They can create a fitness program tailored to your current level of fitness and the goal toward which you’re working.

Custom Designed Fitness

With many different fitness regimens available, including weight training, cardio, therapeutic stretching, aqua fitness, and Pilates in Houston, along with nutritional counseling, your custom-tailored fitness program will give you the most rewards for the time invested because it’s all designed to target what you’re body needs to meet your goals.

Not Their First Rodeo

They’ve been helping Houston women get fit since 1991 when they opened their first location. With that many years experience, they know what it takes to provide you with the fitness program you need. Now with two locations, there’s probably a studio convenient to you.

Check out their website for pricing (you’ll be surprised how reasonable it is) and other information.

Takeaway Truth

Cher once said: “Fitness – if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body.” The bad news? There’s nothing in a bottle that will create a good  body. The good news? Creating a good body is within your reach with the right gym.

My children and their peers are college graduates. They’re all intelligent, educated people yet I find myself, with my kids at least, correcting their speech occasionally. Sometimes they’ll have to write some important memo or letter at work, and they’ll run it by me first because I am the family editor.

Many times I’ve said: “One of these days I’m going to write a grammar book for you Gen Xers and Millennials.” With today’s technology, it’s so easy to publish a book. I decided that I should put action to my exasperated statement.

GRAMMAR FOR GROWNUPS:

For Kids From Public Schools After Grammar Was De-emphasized

Admittedly, the tag line needs a little work.

Everyday I hear TV’s talking heads speaking, and I cringe at their grammatical errors. I see egregious errors in newspapers and magazines. In today’s world, no one seems to know when to use I or me and who or whom. Don’t get me started on himself, herself, or myself. No one seems to know the rules regarding comma usage, complete sentences versus sentence fragments, or even when to start a new paragraph.

Accept The Challenge

I’m taking the challenge of helping you build a solid foundation in English Grammar, and I’m issuing you a challenge to finally learn what you missed in school. If you’ve ever broken out into a sweat when having to converse with someone important to your career, or, worse, having to write an important letter, this book is for you.

You know Who You Are

Face the truth and do something about it. For better or worse, you are judged by how you express yourself in speech and in writing. If you haven’t experienced the panic associated with presenting yourself as intelligent and educated, you will eventually. Perhaps you’ll find yourself at a dinner with someone important to your career or your personal life, i.e., the hiring decision-maker at a company or the prospective in-laws of the person you love.

These people may be less tolerant of grammatical errors than anyone else in your life. You just never knew how you will be judged, but make no mistake. You will be judged. Above all, you don’t want to come up lacking in the final assessment. Don’t blow your chance to make a good impression.

Grammar For Grownups will help you learn what you should have learned in elementary school. Don’t be afraid. Good grammar is a lot easier than you think once you clear away the confusion and start with the basics. I’m going to walk you through this step by step.

How This Will Work

Grammar For Grownups will present a lesson here on Joan Slings Words every Sunday. These lessons will comprise the text of a book that will be published for eReader devices and in print should you wish to always keep a reference copy on your bookshelf or tucked away in your desk drawer at the office.

You can access these lessons in several ways.

1. Read the blog on Sunday.

2. Subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed.

3. Subscribe to the Kindle edition of the blog.

4. Buy the eBook version. As soon as I get a few lessons underway, I’ll make the book available. That way you can start accumulating the lessons. With eBooks, when you buy the book, you’re not charged when a new version is released. With each new lesson, I’ll update the book’s text.

Takeaway Truth

Grammar For Grownups is your second chance to learn what you missed the first time around.

Wren’s Legacy

Inspired by the birth of their son Wren on March 9, 2010, the founders of ePubBud decided that it would be great to make a children’s book about Wren’s too-short life. Wren passed after only 12 hours of life, but his parents found that putting together the photos and his story into an eBook to share with family and friends helped them deal with their tragic loss.

Idea Grew

They progressed from wanting to make a free eBook for friends and families to thinking about making an eBook for the new iPad to creating a site similar to YouTube where anyone could create and share their own eBooks about children.

The rest, as they say, is history. You can buy books and create your own books just by signing up for a free account. Offer it for free to the world or sell it. The eBooks are distributed in open.epub format which means any eBook reader can be used.

Health Alert

Be sure and read the About page and the special note at the bottom about the cause of Wren’s death. Everyone should know about the danger of Group B Strep and how easily it can be prevented by giving antibiotics when a woman goes into labor.

Takeaway Truth

Sometimes, out of tragedy, something amazing can grow. That’s Wren’s legacy.

Gosh, doesn’t that sound like a cliche Dear John letter?

Actually, I will be gone, but it’s only to school. My daughter the teacher started her teacher professional learning workshops yesterday. You may know these as Teacher In-service Days. You see, school starts, with the kids in their desks, next week.

Since she’s still on crutches, I’m her assistant. My goodness! I didn’t know school corridors could be so extremely long. I’ve been back and forth to the copy/laminating room so many times that I feel as if I’ve walked a marathon.

So it will be for the rest of this week. Next week, I’ll drive her to school, get her in the classroom and get the day set up then I’m free to resume being a writing.

I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little invisible for most of this week. Actually, that’s probably like being a little pregnant. But, I digress.

Takeaway Truth

I look forward to next week when I’m back at the keyboard, slinging those words again.

Benefits Of Lessons

As a daughter who took lessons and then a mother who insisted my children have lessons, I know
the benefits that a child gains from music lessons. In addition to improving their memorization and their motor skills, lessons can help build a child’s self-confidence thus enhancing self-esteem. Often, a parent finds that a child receiving music lessons does better in school and extra-curricular activities.

Not Just For Kids

It’s never too late to start music lessons. Young adults to older adults find a creative outlet in music that helps them deal with the stress of work and life. Many fulfill a lifelong dream of mastering the piano, or, at least, of being able to entertain in social surroundings. After all, haven’t you always admired someone who can sit down and tinkle those ivories at a party?

Available Just About Everywhere

TakeLessons.com provides singing and music lessons, privately and in school music programs, all across America. Visit the website and see How Lessons Work. Click the tabs at the top to Browse Lessons and Browse By City. Cruise the website, and you’ll see why they’re in 2,800 cities in the U. S.

Takeaway Truth

What’s the appeal of the piano? Author and scientist Kenneth Miller said: “The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air.”

What Is MobiTV

MobiTV is a top provider of technology solutions, and one of those solutions makes live news and on-demand TV programs available for your iPhone. You can get your news from ABC News NOW, FOX News or MSNBC, and you can view the most popular TV shows like The Office, 30Rock, and more.

How To Partake

Visit the website and check out the carriers. Your cellular provider is probably one of them. Then look at the list of TV channels and shows available to you. Now, download the MobiTV app because, best of all, it’s free. That’s right. The cost is nada, zippo, not even a thin dime.

The consumer appetite for media on mobile devices is big and getting bigger every day because once people realize what they can do with iPhone technology and apps, there’s no holding them back.

Takeaway Truth

I agree with author and motivational leader Stephen Covey who said: “It’s a fact that more people watch television and get their information that way than read books. I find new technology and new ways of communication very exciting and would like to do more in this field.”

Technorati

Technorati, a search engine for blogs, has the goal of helping bloggers succeed. They say they do this by “collecting, highlighting, and distributing the global online conversation.”

They were the first blog search engine, but they have become a full service media company. Their services are offered to blogs and social media sites, “connecting them with advertisers who want to join the conversation.”

As the premier blog search engine, Technorati indexes millions of blog posts in real time and surfaces them in seconds. The powers that be at Technorati say that their site is “the definitive source for the top stories, opinions, photos and videos emerging across news, entertainment, technology, lifestyle, sports, politics and business.”

That’s quite a claim, and they make this claim because they say they can track the authority and influence of blogs as well as gathering data on who and what is most popular in the blogging world.

As if that weren’t enough, they also publish original content every day on a variety of topics which is written by their hundreds of member writers.

To take advantage of their ability to increase your site’s visibility, register with them then claim your blog and use their tools to promote your blog.

Takeaway Truth

To make the most of your Internet presence, promote your site whenever and wherever possible.