Blogging is easy. You can even make a little money off of it. You just need three basic things. Something to talk about, a will to stick with it, and a place to write it all down (the blog).

Its not really that hard to come up with something to say, especially when you like to talk. But just in case you can’t come up with something, you might try doing a search for “article topics” or “topics to write on” on Google. There are all kinds of weird things to talk about. One of my favorites, is 50 Weird Things to do in an Elevator.

You have your topics now. You need a place to write. There are several free services out there, and it may be as simple as where you already have an account. I’m willing to bet that most of you have an account with Google of some sort, whether it is for YouTube, Gmail or just to have one. Thats good news for you, because on February 17, 2003, the world’s most-used internet search engine, announced the acquisition of Blogger. Surprise, you already have a blog account, you just need to go create a blog.

Another option, and perhaps more popular, is WordPress. It doesn’t matter really which one you choose, you could either go self-hosted (wordpress.org) or get a blog at wordpress.com. Whats the difference? To self host you would need to have a domain and some type of hosting.

Lets say you choose to go the self hosted way (wordpress.org); Great! You first are going to need a domain and hosting from somewhere. I would recommend HostGator. I’ve been with them for a little over a year now and have been happy ever since. Your blog would be operational %99 of the time! But that is a different story.

So you have your blog, you’ve got topics, and now all you lack is the will. I’ll be honest, its not the easiest thing in the world to maintain a regular flow of content. Sometimes, I even get “burnt out” on writing. But its things like this challenge that keep me going. Find topics that interest you, ones that you know a lot about.

As I stated earlier, you can even make money off of your blog, this is called “monetizing”. Again, using your Google Account, you can sign up for Google Adsense. Google allows you to place up to three frames of advertising per page, to earn money, either by Cost Per Click (CPC) or Cost Per Impression (CPI). I wont go into too much detail, but basically CPC means you get so many cents every time someone clicks on and ad in your site. CPI means you get so many cents every time an ad is “impressed” (viewed not clicked) on your page.

What does all this mean. It means yes, you can do it, and yes you can make some money (not enough to quit your job though). However, there are a couple of things I would forewarn about. When you blog, it should be based on your personal views and opinions. Sometimes, when you write something, there may be some one, or a few some ones that don’t like what you wrote. The important thing is that you cover yourself. Do your research on the articles you write. And once you have a finished product, even if you attract some “haters” don’t back down. As long as you provide facts and the reflect what you believe, then you have nothing to hide.

Things that I write from time to time are very blunt, and sometimes personal. I do attract a lot of emails that you as a reader never see. Just know, if you decide to blog, providing your content is factual, you have done nothing wrong.

There have been some really recent additions to blogging. One of those additions is comments. The definition of a blog is a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies; “postings on a blog are usually in chronological order”. Comments came around after the blog originally surfaced. So don’t be discouraged if you don’t receive any, or you receive “hate comments”. The reason you blog is to express personal experiences, or your opinions. This means that most people are either going to read your topic and leave. You aren’t a failure if you receive no comments.

I would love to see some new bloggers arise from this topic! If this inspires you to write some of your own, link back to this article, by using this link (right click and copy url shortcut).

Receive the rest of the 30 Day Challenge and future content by email:

Related posts:

1. Why do People Blog?
2. SocialSpark
3. Finding Yourself Bored

I can take a quick look at their profiles, and see exactly why they aren’t catching on like everyone else. If you have friends, who are not “getting it” either, or you don’t quite understand it, this is for you.

First things first, if you don’t already have an account, get one.

Fill out this form in detail. And please, put your full name in the box. Why? So people who know you can find you. Pick any username you like, because you can change it anytime you like. Just remember, people might judge you for what you put.

Once you have signed up foran account, head over to your settings page, and add your avatar, and fill out the bio. These are the two most important things on your twitter account. You can change your picture as much as you like, but try to keep it as long as possible. People will get used to seeing your face. Likewise, you can change your bio whenever you want, and as you give and take more from the service, you will (and probably should).

Complete the rest of your bio, including location (city and stat are a minimum must. Don’t worry to much about the design part of your profile at this stage, you can worry about that later.

[Read more on building your profile]

So you’ve set up your profile. Now what? What exactly is twitter?

Wikipedia defines Twitter as “…a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.” The network basically operates as a giant chatroom. But that may be a bit simplistic. Depending on your goals, Twitter can be any number of things. But to the newcomer, the best way to describe it, is a party.

In the offline world, when most people go to a party – certainly a big one, with lots of people they don’t know – what do they tend to do? Right: hang out with their friends. A few people have that admirable quality where they can readily mingle in just about any social situation or group but the majority feel more comfortable staying where they are.

If you do this on Twitter, it will never make sense to you. You will never ‘get it’, because at its root Twitter is all about socialising. Twitter is not Facebook. By simply following your friends or people that you know, it will always seem a cold and somewhat vapid place.

The secret to “getting” Twitter, is in two parts:

1. Follow more people, so
2. More people will follow you

It really is that simple. As you follow and are followed by more people – new people, not just the friends you came in with – the ‘Twitterstream’ will open up and you’ll be privy to a lot more information. In turn, when you share information yourself, you’re giving back to the stream.

If you do this consistently, and well, you’ll attract more followers, many of whom will engage you directly. In turn, you will correspond with other Tweeters yourself, and relationships will develop.

You should follow anyone and everyone! Twitter makes it very easy to follow new people – simply go to their profile page, and click on the ‘follow’ button. Equally, it’s just as easy to ‘unfollow’ anybody, which means that at no time are you risking anything. Again, Twitter isn’t like Facebook – by following somebody, or letting somebody follow you, you’re not exposing all your secrets to some random stranger. The personal information on your profile page is basic and all your Twitter friends will see is your name, location, website and bio. That’s it. There’s nothing to worry about.

There are three main ways to find new people to follow:

1.    Use Twitter’s ‘Find People’ feature
2.    Use Twitter’s search function
3.    External services

Each of these are beneficial in very different ways.

As a new user on Twitter, if you follow less than ten people, certainly if these are ten people you actually know, the service won’t make any sense to you at all. Yet, if you follow too many random users, it can easily get confusing any overwhelming. Furthermore, if your following count is too in excess of your number of followers, you could actually end up looking like a potential spammer (both to other users and Twitter itself).

So what’s an ideal number of followers for the new user? I would say a good starting point is the number of people you know plus about another twenty people you don’t. So, if you know ten people on Twitter, seek out and follow another twenty or so. If you use the various search and tracking facilities outlined earlier this should be very easy, and hopefully you’ll find lots of people with whom you have a common ground.

When you reach this number, sit tight for a while. Let people start to follow you back. This will include some of the people who you are following and new people that appear out of the ether.

The rule of thumb on Twitter was generally that to be polite one should always follow back everybody who chooses to follow you. This is social media, after all. But this has always been more of a guideline than an actual requirement, and as the platform has grown it is wise to be somewhat careful before automatically clicking on the ‘follow’ button.

When you get a new follower on Twitter, the site will send you an email announcing this. This email will come with a link to this new person’s homepage. It’s good advice to get into the habit of regularly checking out these links. Some of these users will be spammers and some of them might just not be your thing.

Tip: Try and let your ratio of the people you are following to the people that are following you get a little better than 1:1 before following more people. This isn’t essential, but it will ensure that you keep things under control a bit. Remember, Twitter is a two-way medium. If you’re following a thousand people but only being followed by ten, you’re going to be a pretty small voice in a big crowd.

By following the advice above and, most importantly, really getting stuck in, Twitter can be enormously entertaining and offer a significant amount of personal value as an educational tool. Make the effort, share information and engage with others, and it won’t be long before you’ll be telling your friends how they can ‘get it’, too.

Related posts:

1. Dear Twitter Noob: 5 Tips to Help You Hit the Ground Running
2. Twitter is for Old People?
3. 5 More Twitter Tips

Because you persisted, eventually the penny dropped, and Twitter suddenly seemed a place of enormous opportunity. You started to recommend the service to your friends, and then watched the process repeat itself through their eyes.

• “I don’t get it.”
• “I have nothing to say.”
• “Who are these people following me?”

Here are five tips that all newcomers to Twitter should read and implement to help them get off to a good start.

1. Use Your Photo for Your Avatar

Twitter has a default avatar in place when you sign up for a new account. If you leave your avatar as the default, it tells veterans of the service one of two things: you’re either a newbie, or (worse) a spammer.

Your choice of avatar will be one of the most important decisions you will make. It’s the first thing most people see when deciding whether to follow you – it should represent what your Twitter account represents. Your avatar should tell us a little bit about who you are.

Ideally, your avatar should be a recent photo of YOU. Alternatively, it can be your brand’s logo, but if you’re the only person who will be using the account a photo is still better. It’s more personable and people will warm to you and become familiar with it.

You should never EVER EVER use an avatar like you would on MSN or AOL such as a cartoon, a picture of a celebrity, or a TV show. People expect to see your face, It makes you seem real.

Also, if you decide to go with a photo of you and your spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, you and your child(ren), or your entire family, expect people to be confused as to who exactly is writing the tweets. This is also a “trick” some spammers and marketers use to make there account seem more “safe”

Spend some time working on your photo. Upload a large image in as high a resolution as you can manage taken with a decent digital camera – go for a JPG or PNG over a GIF. Twitter allows up to 700kb and will shrink the photo down to size for you (avatar sizes are 73×73). When someone visits your profile page and clicks on your image, it will get bigger.

Avoid raunchy photos. If you’re a man with his shirt off, much as it may appeal to many on a base level, nobody is going to take the things you have to say seriously. This isn’t MySpace.

It’s okay to change your photo, but try not to do it too often – users tend to see your image before your name, and can get lost if you change your image too frequently. Only 5% of your followers don’t care about your avatar.

2. Complete Your Profile

Blank, half-filled profiles on Twitter are a big no-no. Take the time to complete it.

• If you’re an individual and want to be taken seriously, include your real name – not your nickname or an alias.
• Make sure your timezone and location are accurate – you don’t have to be too specific on the latter, but the more you are, the more relevant people you will attract as followers. If you’re a business, it should be very specific.
• Fill out your bio with things that are interesting and relevant to you. This will ensure that when people search for users to follow your account will show up – if you just include quirky or cryptic stuff then expect quirky and cryptic followers (or, more likely, none at all)
• If you have a blog or a website, do include it. Alternatively, link to your LinkedIn profile or even your Facebook. Again, it tells us more about you. Avoid using shortened URLs, as this can seem like a bit of a scam.
• If you don’t have a website, don’t include one. Linking back to your Twitter profile makes absolutely no sense at all. And linking to something stupid or offensive will make people hate you.

Think twice before protecting your updates – if you are a convict, running from the police, you might want to consider a more secure network. Twitter is predominately about socialisation – you’re encouraged to meet and converse with people you don’t know. Twitter is not a place to hide.

The theme for your profile isn’t something you should worry too much about right now. Twitter has a few default themes to choose from, and for now, you should just choose any one you like, or upload a background image of your choice. Just remember, people have different monitor-sizes.

3. Find People to Follow

MOST IMPORTANT PART! Twitter will make absolutely no sense to you at all until you start following people. And they need to be relevant people. If you don’t find the people you follow interesting, Twitter will not be interesting. That simple.

• Use Twitter’s Find People feature
• Invite your friends from other social networks and via email
• Pick ten people from the suggested users list
• Check out external trackers and directories like Twittercounter and Twellow
• See who your friends are following
• Use Twitter search to see what people are talking about in your industry
• Re-visit your favourite websites and blogs, and see if they list their Twitter profile (most do)

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

4. Be Interesting

Don’t take Twitter’s “What are you doing?” question too literally. There’s a place for the inane on Twitter, but if that’s all you tweet about, people are going to get really bored, really quickly.

Find and share content. If you’re a business, think engagement first, and marketing second. It’s okay to tweet out links to your own website, but do so on an ocasional basis.

People are on twitter to engage in conversation. About things that are interesting to them or the community. Take a look at the trending topics. The secret to Twitter success? Be famous, useful or interesting.

5. Engage

Twitter is all about socialisation. That’s the ‘social’ part of ‘social media’! It pays to adopt a policy of listening to yoru network first, thinking about what is being asked of you, and then formulating your response.

• Take risks. Start conversations with strangers. Don’t be shy – everybody’s doing it.
• Ask questions, both one-to-one and open to your entire network. Twitter is a great way to get solutions to things that require experience or an opinion. And if somebody answers your query or solves your problem, publically thank them.
• Answer questions. If you know the answer to a posted question, answer it. If you know some of the answer, or can recommend somebody who does, reply back. Don’t wait for or assume somebody else will do this. Take the initiative.
• Use Twitter’s search facility to find common problems and solve them with your expertise.

Think about changing your username.

You can change your Twitter username at any time, and it’s not a good idea once you’re established, but it something you should think about when you first sign up.

Here’s why:

• If you want to be taken seriously – certainly if you’re promoting your business – try and use your real name, or your business name
• For individuals, first name last name works best. If that’s taken, try combinations using your initials and first/surname.
• Tip: the shorter your username is, the better. Why? Retweets.
• Avoid underscores unless you have no other choice
• Don’t use combinations of letters and numbers, as this can make you look like a spambot
• This isn’t MySpace or Bebo – studmeister won’t do you any favors at all.

Twitter usernames are becoming as precious as domain names, and are running out fast. But with a little ingenuity and care I’m sure you can come up with something memorable and smart.

Related posts:

1. 5 More Twitter Tips
2. So You Don’t Get Twitter
3. Twitter is for Old People?

1. Twitter Isn’t Third Person

Remember the old days when Facebook status updates were always third person? The status boxed used to come with a fixed “is” before each message, which ment you always had to be doing something.

Because of its limitations, Facebook eventually dropped it as part of the status box, but the majority still updated in the same way.

Twitter has never been third person. Each tweet is a standalone piece of the news delivered in 140 characters or less. It is not your name doing or saying something. It’s not an action. It’s a message. Hence you should NEVER write tweets in such a way.

This happens all the time with new Twitter accounts (and many established ones). Yes you can partly blame this one on twitter, by specifically asking us “What are you doing?”. So, how should one write a tweet?

Any way you want to. There are no set rules and guidelines on how a tweet should be written, Tweets are essentially first person in nature, but ca also be quite toneless, like when delivering a news item or sharing something interesting that you have found.

If you share a lot of links, most of your tweets will be built around a headline and a link, with a little creativeness if and when necessary. If you use Twitter just to chat with friends, your messages will likely be quite talky and loose. Or, like a lot of people you’ll find yourself somewhere in the middle – and engaging blend of content sharing and personality. If your unsure of what to say in your tweets, striving for this balance can work really well.

2. Monitor Your Replies and Mentions

Because nobody has instructed you on the nature of replies and mentions, you remain oblivious to any messages that are sent your way, unless you happen to notice your name appear in the timeline.

On Twitter.com there is a sidebar on the right side of the window that contains a number of selections, the most important of which is the replies/mentions link, which is directly below the home button and reads @username (where username = your actual username, i.e., @sonnicdrummer). Click on this and Twitter will re-populate your timeline so only the messages sent to you, or any of those in which your username has been mentioned, appear.

Again, because Twitter is all about engagement, this is REALLY important. If people are sending you messages and you’re not seeing them, then you can’t respond. And if you don’t respond, people will stop sending you messages. That simple.

Most Twitter clients will notify you of mentions and messages, but Twitter.com does not. You will need to actually click the button yourself.

3. Be Personable, Not Personal

Twitter often attracts some very strange behavior, and this is mostly due to the fact that it is an entirely open, public network. The best approach here is to fall somewhere in between. If you withdraw too much, and become distant, others are going to struggle to warm to you because you can come across as cold and robotic. Alternatively, if you’re too personal, and share too much, you’re likely to make other people uncomfortable and nervous; for fear of what you might say or do.

You want to be engaging and friendly, but also remember that Twitter is an open network. It’s easy to forget that you are still on the internet, and that tweets are for all intents and purposes forever. Even if you delete them the don’t go away. Google tracks and links to everything that you say. Your boss could be reading your tweets. Your future boss could be reading your tweets. Not to mention your spouse, friends and family. Be smart.

4. Master the URL Shortener

Twitter only allows you to send up to 140 Character messages. This means you have to be creative with your messages, and this is especially true when you are sharing a link. Most links, are often far too long to be manageable and this has led to the creation of various link-shortening websites. It’s important that you familiarise yourself with URL shortening and make a habit of it.

Twitter has partnered with bit.ly, and as a result the already-popular URL shortener is now the industry leader. Bit.ly has always been a personal favorite because it also provides a link-tracking and statistical service which is really useful. These features are only available to those who have a Bit.ly account, so it’s worth your time to register for this free service.

5. Try looking at Twitter in a Different Way (With Software)

Everyone starts out, on Twitter.com and very quickly begin to realize that its features are a bit limited.

• For your home computer, I suggest you download Seesmic Desktop or TweetDeck. Different people have different opinions about which is better.
• At work, we’re often not allowed to install software, so a web-based Twitter application is necessary. Seesmic Web is the best.
• If you’re a business looking to manage your Twitter account with multiple users, I recommend HootSuite or CoTweet.
• The iPhone has a plethora of Twitter clients, including TweetDeck, Tweetie,Twitterrific and many more.
• For your Blackberry, I recommend ÜberTwitter.
• Your Android phone could do a lot worse than Twidroid.
• For your Windows-based mobile, I don’t think anything is better than Dabr.

Experiment with as many as you can and find what works best for you.

Take Your Time with Tweets

Twitter is a real-time social network, and updates can come through thick and fast, especially when you start to follow a lot of people. As such it can sometimes seem like you need to operate in a super-fast way yourself, rushing out loads of tweets just to keep up.

Mistake. Twitter is high-speed, but that’s only because you’re seeing the collective. Individually, people update on a much slower basis and it’s important that you maintain a manageable pace to ensure the best quality in your tweets.

The learning curve on Twitter is quite steep and it’s easy to pick up bad habits at the expense of good practices and etiquette. By following these simple tips above (and those in the previous article), you can move from newbie to pro in no time at all.

Related posts:

1. Dear Twitter Noob: 5 Tips to Help You Hit the Ground Running
2. So You Don’t Get Twitter
3. Twitter is for Old People?

Basically, an energy drink is a glorified can of soda, advertised as an energy booster. Both are carbonated beverages containing caffeine and sugar, the difference being that the energy drink contains a lot more.

The average soda holds 25-40 milligrams of caffeine, whereas most energy drinks have double that. For instance, the popular energy drink NOS, contains a whopping 130 milligrams of caffeine per can! When caffeine from an energy drink lingers in our system, insomnia may follow. Of course, this is a risk with any caffeinated beverage, but the risk is greater with energy drinks because of the massive amounts of caffeine.

Rare is the chance for you to suffer from the drawbacks of energy drinks if you happen to drink them properly. However if not, your life can be at risk.

This is a constant reminder coming from the manufacturers of energy drinks. All of the people are probably aware that energy drink can do so much for you. This will not only help in increasing your level of enthusiasm in your work but as well as your confidence.

Energy drinks are mere beverages that are being sold in the market. The difference lies on the ingredients that these are made of as compared to the typical drinks that you are taking. These contain large doses of some legal stimulants that are approved by the FDA.

Stimulants such as ginseng are often added to energy beverages and may enhance the effects of caffeine, and ingredients such as guarana themselves contain caffeine. Adverse effects associated with caffeine consumption in amounts greater than 400 mg include nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness, increased urination, abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmia), and stomach upset. Energy drinks do not provide electrolytes, and have a higher likelihood of an energy “crash-and-burn” effect. Caffeine in energy drinks can excrete water from the body to dilute high concentrations of sugar entering the blood stream, leading to dehydration. If the body is dehydrated by 1%, performance is decreased by up to 10%.

Although not marketed as such, the Scottish drink Irn-Bru may be considered the first energy drink, produced as “Iron Brew” in 1901. In Japan, the energy drink dates at least as far back as the early 1960s, with the release of the Lipovitan. Most such products in Japan bear little resemblance to soft drinks, and are sold instead in small brown glass medicine bottles or cans styled to resemble such containers. These “genki drinks”, which are also produced in South Korea, are marketed primarily to the salaryman set.

The first drink marketed as being designed to improve the performance of athletes and sports stars arrived in the sixties. It was invented for the football team at the University of Florida, known as the Gators — hence its name, Gatorade. Designed to aid hydration and lengthen performance levels, it claimed that its ingredients were formulated for just such things. However, Gatorade is safer than many energy drinks and is known more as a sports drink.

In 1985, Jolt Cola was introduced in the United States. Its marketing strategy centered on the drink’s caffeine content, billing it as a means to promote wakefulness. The initial slogan was, “All the sugar and twice the caffeine.”

In 1995, PepsiCo launched Josta, the first energy drink introduced by a major US beverage company (one that had interests outside just energy drinks), but Pepsi discontinued the product in 1999.

By the year 2001, the US energy drink market had grown to nearly 8 million per year in retail sales. Over the next 5 years, it grew an average of over 50% per year, totaling over $3 billion in 2005.[22] Diet energy drinks are growing at nearly twice that rate within the category, as are 16-ounce sized energy drinks. The energy drink market became a $5.4 billion dollar market in 2007, and both Goldman Sachs and Mintel predict that it will hit $10 billion by 2010. Major companies’ such as Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Molson, and Labatt have tried to match smaller companies’ innovative and different approach, with marginal success.

As I stated earlier, energy drinks are typically attractive to young people. Approximately 65% of its drinkers are between the ages of 13 and 35 years old, with males being approximately 65% of the market.

Lets face it, we are all guilty of having an energy drink a time or two. Even those of you that “don’t drink soda” have had an energy drink at one point. And if you know me well, I have a NOS almost three times a week.

I want to make a belated new years resolution. Comon, who says I can’t make one in May? I’m gonna cut back to one energy drink a week. And I’d like to encourage everyone else to do so. In fact, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to cut out all caffeine in general, but I don’t think I can work my self up to that just yet.

So, if you want in on my new years resolution, starting today, cut it back to one energy drink a day. And if you are one of those “I don’t drink soda people”; stop your lies, and cut it back to one or two sodas a week.

Until next time I come up with something intelligent to say…

Related posts:

1. Sleep Deprivation
2. Alcohol

Depression. A mental disorder? Phase? Does it surprise you that out of every 10 people, 8 will suffer from a mental illness before they die. A 2004 study showed that 8% of American adults (which was about 17.1 million at the time) had experienced at least one major depressive episode in 2003. Among adults aged 18 or older who experienced at least one MDE during the past year, 65.1 percent reported having received treatment for depression in 2003.

WebMD defines depression as:

a depressed mood during most of the day, particularly in the morning

fatigue or loss of energy almost every day

feelings of worthlessness or guilt almost every day

impaired concentration, indecisiveness

insomnia or hypersomnia (excessive sleeping) almost every day

markedly diminished interest or pleasure in almost all activities nearly every day

recurring thoughts of death or suicide (not just fearing death)

a sense of restlessness — known as psychomotor agitation — or being slowed down — retardation

significant weight loss or gain (a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month)

I’d like to take a look at a few of the symptoms (as defined by WebMD); Insomnia, feelings of worthlessness, and markedly diminished interest.

Insomnia. If you don’t know, Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is characterized by difficulty falling and/or staying asleep. There are two types of insomnia, however, I only want to look at one. Primary Insomnia, which means that a person is having sleep problems that are not directly associated with any other health condition or problem. This conditions can include significant life stress (job loss, death of a loved one, divorce, moving), emotional or physical discomfort, environmental factors like noise, or interference’s in normal sleep schedule.

Feelings of Worthlessness. This one is pretty self explanatory. It may not surprise you to learn that feeling worthless is very common among women, but men can sometimes feel the same. Feelings of worthlessness are entirely subjective. They are all in the mind. They have no basis in reality. They do not constitute a problem that requires “fixing”, and you can choose to stop feeling worthless simply by opening your mind.

Diminished Interest. You may lose interest in everything around you. You may not want to do anything or see anyone. Things that would bring you pleasure before are now just one more burden to deal with.

Does any of this sound familiar? Maybe you know someone feeling some or all of these feelings? Now you may sit and ask yourself, “why have I just been overwhelmed with all this information? Now I feel sad/depressed.” There is a purpose, but we aren’t quite there yet.

Did you know, 90% of people that are depressed, cover it up? Or at least attempt. They try to hold their head high, keep their back straight, keep their eyes straight ahead, walk like they have a purpose and destination. But the sad realization is, you cant just cover it up. You may be able to hide it externally, but on the inside it’s still there. Then what?

Now the purpose.

Some of you may know (or have noticed), I have been fighting depression for about two months now. Events in my life have turned a direction I didn’t want, and frankly the consequences, have been un-healthy. I’m writing this as a notice to the public that I have been able to overcome 80% of these feelings. I firmly believe that there is a simple approach that can cure feelings of worthlessness or depression, even if you’ve felt crushed by those feelings for many years.

OK, I know that some of you are now cross with me. You may even want to scream at me “it’s all very well for you to say that, but I’ve been feeling worthless all of my life and I have no idea how to stop and it’s driving me CRAZY and, and, oh I’m so sick of being ME!”

Whether you’re cross or not, I’d like you to think carefully about what I’ve go to say next. I’ts about how we might assess what something is worth.

Whats the easiest thing to value? Lets start with a twenty-dollar bill. In perfect condition, crumpled, whatever, its worth 20 dollars right? To you, to me, to anybody. Imagine for a second. Take that twenty-dollar bill, seal it in a water tight container, and drop it in the pacific ocean. Whats it worth now? EXACTLY! It still has an intrinsic value of 20 dollars, but in order to hand it over to a storekeeper in exchange for some food, you’d have to rent a pretty sophisticated boat, some fancy detection equipment and maybe a team of skilled divers to get it back. This would cos far more than 20 dollars would it not?

At the bottom of the ocean, your perfect, crispy twenty-dollar bill is worth less than nothing.

So what’s that got to do with you? You had some intrinsic value when you were born. Everybody does. You had potential capacity to make the world a better place, to bring joy and happiness to others. That was worth something. It still is. Because you still have potential capacity to do those things.

No matter how tough your childhood, no matter how rotten your luck, you can CHOOSE to enrich the world every day simply by the way you interact with others, by the way you make caring decisions and by the way you feel about yourself. If you are feeling worthless, what proactive steps have you been taking to overcome those feelings?

I dealt with it the wrong way. Blamed myself for everything. Sucked up away from my friends. Lost interest in my blog (which obviously I enjoy doing). Feeling worthless is a safe option. Feeling worthless is an easy option. Deep down, all of us really want to feel valued. Needed. Loved. But the truth is, we will feel valued only if we are willing to contribute something to the world around us. Whether or not we do, is a choice. OUR choice.

A few of you might be annoyed with me at this point because you’re still feeling worthless but you don’t agree that you are either choosing the safe, easy options or looking for a sympathy vote. Lets take a look at your, and my logic.

Have you ever found yourself saying “Don’t put me down. I’m not like that. I AM WORHT MORE THAN THAT!”? I know I did, and thats exactly my point. That’s doubting your self worth. Simply meaning you are not doing as well in the areas that matter to you. The truth of the matter is that NO-ONE is worthless, but others make themselves worth more than others.

The past couple of weeks, I’ve been trying, though very hard, to do a few simple things. 1. Acknowledge my real value. 2. Make a commitment to build my self-esteem. 3. Be your own judge (sorta).

1. Acknowledge your real value by writing a list of your strengths, attributes and the good things that you do each day.
2. Make a commitment to build your self-esteem and keep adding positive things to your life every day and find it within yourself to eliminate things from the negative side.
3. Be your own judge (sorta). It is true that you know yourself better than anyone. On this earth. This one has been the kicker for me for more than just the last couple of months. Lately, I have been trying to run my own life. Make my own decisions. Do my own thing. But what I have been missing a major point.

As a Christian, I was saved from “wrath,” that is, from God’s judgment of sin (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). My sin has separated me from God, and the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23). (Biblical salvation refers to our deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin.) Only God can remove sin and deliver us from sin’s penalty (2 Timothy 1:9;Titus 3:5).

God has rescued me through Christ (John 3:17). Specifically, it was Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection that achieved my salvation (Romans 5:10; Ephesians 1:7). Scripture is clear that salvation is the gracious, undeserved gift of God (Ephesians 2:5, 8) and is only available through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

So in fact the point that I was missing, was that the life I had turned over to Christ, was the life I was leading. Making my own path. This I have found, has been the biggest issue of why I have been so unhappy.

I bring this all to the public eye, to hopefully help others, who may be feeling the way I was, and in a way still am. For me, the first step to realizing why I was so unhappy, was realizing that I had fallen away from my walk with God.

I have not yet completely solved my problems, but I come one step closer every day. And I want to leave off with this statement. I know I am not the only one who has felt this way. I don’t understand fully the effects of depression, or understand why events in life can lead someone to feel this way. I also don’t know everything there is to know about the Bible, and I would venture to say the man who says he does, is a liar.

To the title of this article. Everything, is not always as it seems. These feelings that I have been having, like many others, are natural, and do happen from time to time. But I’m here to tell you that these feelings you might be having about yourself are wrong. I believe now, that I was put through these experiences to share with others. So now I have placed them here in hopes of helping.

If in anyway, this article has helped you or a friend, I’d like to know about it. If you need someone to talk to, I’m here, and ready to listen.

Related posts:

1. Drug Legalization
2. Euthanasia
3. Abortion

Sniff.. Sniff.. Anyone else smell that? That my friends is the smell of money. Not just any money. No, its the smell of earned money through the power of writing.

There has been a lot of talk lately, on how the Blogger makes his money. Now of course the most common way a blogger can make his or her income, is through advertising. You know, those sites you sign up for so you can place ads that may, or may not be relative to your content.

The other option, would be to set up a PayPal account, and sell posts. You could sell space on you’re blog, by yourself, and hopefully, earn a living. All of this seems way to time consuming, and yo’re right, it is.

I have found that the “Pay per Post” system earns more income than the “Pay per click system”, but earning traffic for these posts can be a chore; so why not let someone else find that traffic for you?

SocialSpark! One of the easiest ways to earn revenue on the things you write about. Set up is simple! Sign up for SocialSpark by filling out the online form. Add a little javascript to your blog, and VIOLA! You now have made it through the first step of monetizing your blog!

I have found SocialSpark to be one of the best Pay per Post sites out there! Within a matter of minutes, I was ready to start accepting payment for the things I write. No monthly fee, no hassle. Just simplicity. What more could the average blogger ask for? There isn’t an easier way for you to start earning money through your blog.

If you have a passion for writing, and wish you could turn that passion into money, SocialSpark is for you!

Related posts:

1. Finding Yourself Bored
2. Blogging. Why? How?
3. Why do People Blog?

There are so many different ways one can go about entertain themselves by using the internet. Some people decide to use extra time to try and make a little extra money.Some people enjoy playing either free or paid games. Some people just surf the web or type to no end with blogs and forums and other things like that. As you can already start to se the different things you can do are limitless.

Previously mentioned, people can attempt to make money via the internet.  This can be very difficult sometimes, and often dangerous, but still there are many ways to safely obtain this goal. If the idea of making that extra buck pops up in your mind, you should explore your different options, ensuring that they are safe. Research is key! There are pay to post sites out there, where all you have to do is provide something that you type up, and you get paid for it. The only real problem with these programs is that they pay very little.

A second method to attempt could be through sign up or paid survey sites. Remember how I said research is key? This two methods, I personally believe are scams just to obtain your email address, and in many cases, your personal information, whether that be a bank account or mailing address. Many of these sites say they will pay you, but once you get close to a payout, they stop giving you offers.

Lastly, and slowly, why not try some pay per click sites. This one you will need to have some way to post advertisements up somewhere. This does not include your facebook or myspace profile, and in fact breeches their Term’s of Service. But the basic idea of this type of site is, you the payee, designates advertisements that you would like to promote, and you are given a certain number of revenue each time the add is clicked. These clicks are usually worth a pen, but you will get a buch of clicks (providing you can generate the traffic), so in the end, this option could pay off.

Making money over the internet not float your boat? Why not try out some online games? There are many sites out there that offer free games, or even some that offer paid games. One of the best sites out there for free games, is Kongregate. Now I say best, because kong doesn’t ask you to install anything other than adobe flash player, which every game on the site is built on. They don’t have millions of games, but they are a solid, no spam, completely free game site. Be careful though, if you are easily addicted to stuff, like farmville, this option may not be for you.

The internet is a great place to turn, when you are in need of something to do. You can make yourself some money, enjoy some video games, or even just surf around. The internet is a great tool these days, and continues to grow. I leave you with food for thought. Although the internet, provides a great place for money and fun, at what point is it too much? Can you spend too much time on the interent? Can you think of some harmful ways to spend time on the internet?

P.S. This is a cool place on the web too.

Related posts:

1. SocialSpark
2. Tips for Our Economy: Finding a Job
3. Simple is Good

You won’t be surprised if I tell you that people under 25 years are the main Internet users, only this group of people takes the 25% of all population; but they also just represent 16% of all Twitter.

And which age group takes the majority on Twitter? 25-54 years old, they take up to 64% of the Twitter population (me included of course). 20% for people over 55 years and 16% forthose under 25. Yeap, you read it right, 20% of Twitter users are over 55 years.

If you start thinking about it (and when I say “thinking” I mean checking your list of followers and following) you would probably notice that you have a bunch of friends, a selected group of celebrities, and would probably see a large number of marketers, companies, brands, channels, journalists or even PR guys. And that’s not exactly the main focus of teens these days.

It doesn’t feel like the teen wave didn’t appear just yet in Twitter? Can we expect a new teen market for Twitter as it was for Facebook? Sadly, I don’t think so. Everyone is too mesmerized by Facebook.

I myself, am certainly not “old”, yet I still use twitter. I use it for multiple reasons. Twitter is a great source of news (provided you get it from the right people). For instance.  I learn a lot about the world of Visual Worship from @worshipVJ.  I get updates on the software that powers my blog comments from @disqus, and occasional news worthy updates from @JohnBoozman.

As well as being a great news source, Twitter is a great place to keep up with my friends. My friends on Twitter are too many to list here, but rest assured, we have some fun conversations. Even you could join in on my conversations at Twitter.  I’m know as @sonnicdrummer.

I prefer Twitter over Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, you name it; because of its simplicity.  There are know apps to be had. There is just me, and my content.  What I want to say, when I want to say it, viewable by everyone at a moments notice.  It really is exciting right?

So why is it that youth today don’t use Twitter? I can’t really answer that question.  But I can tell you its catching on in a bad way. Media has caught on to Twitter, and turned it into the “Next Big Thing”. This in turn has increased the number of spam accounts (although Twitter denies this).

Bagged Milk Picture courtesy of @david_bullard

I would love to see a growing number of people my age using Twitter. As I previously stated, I have so many fun conversations. About bagged milk. Videos. Music. You name it.  And did I forget to mention that this conversations come with pictures?  Remember the bagged milk?

So now maybe I have you interested? Here are some ways for you to make Twitter useful:

1. Follow the news
2. Get better customer service
3. Ask for help
4. Promote your work
5. Discuss with friends
6. Meet celebrities

If you don’t have a Twitter account, I would encourage you to go sign up for one and give it a try. If its not for you, deactivate your account. No harm done. If you find you enjoy Twitter however, check out these tips to help make your experience better.

Related posts:

1. So You Don’t Get Twitter
2. Facebook Bores Me
3. Dear Twitter Noob: 5 Tips to Help You Hit the Ground Running

Awards are usually given to sites that are different and stand out from the crowd, but this often means they have non-standard navigation, lots of flash animations and unique design elements.

This means that these sites are generally less intuitive. Visitors have to think about what they need to do to get the information or result they want.

The more your visitors have to think the more likely they are to give up and go somewhere else. One click and they’re gone. Not good when you are trying to make money from your website!!

Photo of a cluttered website

“There is no such thing as a dumb web user, there are just dumb  websites”.

Always design your site for your audience, not for yourself. Everything  within the design should be aimed at making your visitor’s life easier. Don’t  make them have to think.

Your top three design priorities should ALWAYS be to make your  site:

…simple
…clear and
…intuitive.
Thats exactly what I’ve done.  Over the past years, this domain has been linked to my blog. Through those years, it changed, morphed, crashed, etcetera, etcetera. Once I finally settled on a design, I wouldn’t like it anymore. So I sat and thought. There are a ton of visitors to twitter.com, and why do so many people prefer that over Facebook or Myspace? Simplicity. Users of Twitter don’t have to look for what they want; information flows to them.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been working on just that.  Simplicity.  How could I manage to make my work content rich, while at the same time, not bogging down your computers with dazzle and style. While I find this new design Stylish, it doesn’t take away from the content. You shouldn’t have to look for what you want, and if you can’t find it, there is a huge search box at the top right.

Sadly enough, I had to take down the site for a couple of days to finish and tweak what it actually looked like all together.  Thankfully the Facebook version was still up. I’ve learned a lot over the years of design and content, and I still expand on that every day.

That being said, if there is anyone interested in web design, or writing that is reading this, two tips I have for you.  One, Simple is better.  Don’t over run your content with too much dazzle. Two, when an Idea pops into your head, write it. At the time of writing this, I have a little over 20 articles unpublished. I gotta get those out.

I leave you with this…. IceCream.

Related posts:

1. Finding Yourself Bored
2. Twitter is for Old People?
3. History of the Domain Name