Writing Articles To Build Your Online Presence - A Beginners Guide

One of the most effective (and free!) ways to get noticed on the web is to write articles. Even if you have no writing experience, it is easier than you may think, even fun. You can write an article on just about anything you want and choose how you want to publish it.

The best way to start is to write about a subject you understand thoroughly, such as the subject of your ezine if you have one.

Use a search engine to research what you want to write about, and browse some online discussion forums which relate to your subject to gain additional knowledge.

There are article-writing ebooks and other literature available on the web that can provide you with useful advice if you are intimidated to write your first article. Just do some web searches to see what you can find. Some of the literature is free, some isn't.

As you conduct your research, begin writing a rough draft immediately while ideas are still fresh in your mind. You can revise, edit and rearrange later. Your article doesn't have to be perfect, as long as it is presentable and easily readable.

Keep your lines formatted to about 60 characters. The 'Lucida Console' font uses the same amount of space for each character, so you could use it then set your margins accordingly in your word processor program.

I use Notepad which uses Lucida Console by default. I turn off word-wrap and set the window size to where I want it and hit 'enter' as my text fills a line. You may come up with a method that works better for you.

When your article is finished, you'll need to add what is called a "resource box" at the end. This is where you place a few lines which include your name, as well as anything you'd like to offer your readers.

You should make your resource box stand out by placing a line of asterisks or hyphens above and below it, for example:

*********************************************************
Copyright ? 2005 [your name]
[email address if you wish]
[several lines to advertise your website, ezine, offer
freebies, etc]
*********************************************************

When you feel comfortable with your article and ready to publish, you can choose from several different options available to you. You can use all if you so choose:

* Article Directories
* Ezines
* Article Announcement Lists

Article directories are websites that you can submit your article to. They will review it then publish it on their site, making your name and links in your resource box available to all who are interested in the information you provide.

You get an added benefit of having your website's search engine ranking increase as your link is placed in more and more article directories! It all depends on how much time you want to spend submitting to the hundreds of available directories on the web.

You can also browse ezine directories, searching for ezines relating to your article's subject. Look for those which indicate they accept article submissions.

Send a polite email to the publisher asking to submit your article, and include the article. If you prefer, send it as an attachment.

There are also article announcement lists which you can submit your article to. These can be found by doing a web search for 'article announcement lists'. You have to subscribe to the list before you can post to it.

When posting to an announcement list, include in your email your rules for reprinting your article, such as allowing it to only be reprinted if no changes are made and only as long as your resource box is included. These rules are up to you, ultimately.

You can also use submission websites or software such as EzineAnnouncer which are designed to submit your article to a large number of places, cutting down on time you have to spend doing it manually. These programs come with a price, so look them up and decide for yourself if they are worth it to you.

Read this article again, and formulate a plan based on the advice given. The methods outlined above will get you well on your way to boosting your online presence, and you will be surprised by how effective they are.

Copyright 2005 Jeremy Hershberger

Jeremy Hershberger is a computer specialist, Internet marketer, and webmaster of his "Plug-In Profit Site". For free training and essential advice on building and enhancing an online business, subscribe to his Internet marketing newsletter here: http://www.online-income-solutions.com

Priorities: Dont Dry Your Dishes

Do your dishes really need to be dried, or could you just let the water evaporate? If you spend just 5 minutes per meal drying dishes, that equals a quarter of an hour per day, or 91 hours each year.

Imagine spending almost four days in a row standing at the sink drying dishes. No eating. No sleeping. No bathroom breaks. Just drying dishes for four days straight.

Now imagine doing something else with that time. Savoring the fresh air. Going on a camping trip. Playing with your children. Volunteering at the food bank. Upgrading your career skills. You can do a lot in four days.

Or you can dry dishes.

Some chores we have to do (like washing the dishes). But some are optional. You are given a short time to live. How you spend that time is your choice.

This inspiration was first published in A Daily Dose of Happiness: ( http://www.thehappyguy.com/daily-happiness-free-ezine.html ), to which one subscriber commented:

"Another thought is, do dishes, laundry, sweeping, dusting, and other chores as a family. The best conversations I ever had with my parents, grandparents, and other family members were when we were doing dishes or laundry, etc. TOGETHER!"

To that, I had to laugh...and respond: "Indeed, folding laundry is what passes for going on a date in our house!"

About The Author

David Leonhardt is author of Climb Your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits of maximum happiness: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/059517826X?v=glance

Get the Best Daily Doses in a free ebook: http://www.thehappyguy.com/l/daily-motivation-inspiration.php

Info@thehappyguy.com

What to Do if All Screensavers Fun is Grayed Out?

Finally, you have some time to personalize your desktop with an interesting screensaver. But wait... What's that? Why in the world the system prevents you from doing that? The screensaver controls are grayed out or, even worse, the whole Screensaver tab is missing from Display Properties. Don't panic! This article will help you change things for the better.

I've found that people who use Windows 2000/XP often can't enjoy screensavers because their system is configured in a way that prevents them from doing that.

Unless you are very experienced in administrating Windows, you may stuck with the problem. If you ever found yourself or your friend in a situation like this, add this article to your arsenal of screensaver tips.

Most of the time people encounter the problem with office computers. I should warn you, though, that some companies have a strict screensaver policy. Usually they allow only certain or no screensavers at all to be used on office computers.

If you are not sure how your company treats screensavers, I recommend you to consult your system administrator before applying any of the changes described below to your system.

So why can screensavers be inaccessible on your system?

As you know, Windows 2000 and Windows XP had many improvements over Windows 95/98 and Windows Me that made lives of many users easier and more comfortable.

But that's not all that made these operating systems so popular. Their developers also haven't forgotten about people who are responsible for administrative tasks when it comes to computers shared by different users and large computer networks.

Windows 2000 and Windows XP introduced a lot of new features needed specifically for their administration. Controlling/disabling screensavers was among them.

No matter whether it was their intention or an accident, your system administrator or the person who configured your PC could use this feature to your disadvantage. Now you'll have to use it once again and regain control over screensavers.

Here's what you should do:

Click Start and then click Run...

Type "gpedit.msc" and press Enter.

A window will open with a tree on its left. Expand the User Configuration node, then expand Control Panel and click Display.

Now look at the policies in the list to the right. Make sure that the policies starting from Hide Screen Saver Tab and ending with Screen Saver Timeout all have their state set to Not Configured.

If any of them has a different state, double click the line with the policy, select Not Configured and click OK.

Now close the Group Policy window.

Now you can open Display Properties and see whether screensavers are back. If they aren't, step back and check if you carefully followed all the steps described above.

Note that you can see a window saying you don't have permission to access Group Policy window when doing the step 2. That will happen if you are working under a restricted user account. You will have to log under an account with Administrator's rights or contact your system administrator.

With a little creativity, you can use the information in this article to prevent your kids and other unauthorized users from messing with your screensavers. The procedure is basically the same. The only difference is that you should specify meaningful values for screensaver related items instead of Not Configured.

About The Author

Roman Kramar is a software developer who enjoys writing screensavers as his time permits. Visit his site at http://www.elasticsystems.com/ to find out more about screensavers and his work. webmaster@elasticsystems.com

All Knowledge and Wisdom Comes Direct From God

These next set of verses are the heart and soul of this entire subject matter. All of these verses are telling us that all knowledge and all wisdom come direct from God and Jesus. The first verse will tell you that all the "treasures" of wisdom and knowledge are "hidden" in God the Father and Jesus Christ. Notice that God is comparing knowledge and wisdom with "treasures" and that this treasure is hidden within Himself.

This means that God and Jesus are the source of all Godly knowledge, and we have to first seek after the source in order to get this knowledge to be released to us. Here are some of the most profound verses in all of Scripture showing us that not only is God the source of all Godly knowledge and wisdom - but that He wants to release this knowledge to us!

"... both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:2)

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! ... For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:33,36)

"For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright ..." (Proverbs 2:6)

Daniel answered and said: "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him." (Daniel 2:20)

"Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven - what can you do? Deeper than Sheol - what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea." (Job 11:7)

'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' (Jeremiah 33:3)

"Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given." (Matthew 13:11)

"... that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe ..." (Ephesians 1:17)

"Surely the Lord does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7)

"But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets." (Daniel 2:28)

"If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31)

All of these verses are telling us that all things - including all knowledge and all wisdom comes direct from God the Father. These verses are showing us that not only is God the source of all knowledge and wisdom - but that He wants to release this knowledge to us. He wants to show and reveal great and mighty things to us. He wants to tell us deep and secret things that the average person will not have access to.

Not only will God give you His knowledge - but He will make sure to give you the understanding of that knowledge and the wisdom to be able to use it! All of this can be given to you free of charge. All you have to do is be willing to seek after it, and seek to work with this knowledge to fully understand it and how it can apply to different parts of your life.

The last verse is Jesus telling us that if we will "abide in His word" - that we will then have the ability to know the truth and that the truth will be able to make us free. In other words - if you are willing to abide in the Bible, which is His Word, and seek to understand what you are reading - then you will be fully loaded with an incredible amount of truth covering a wide variety of topics and issues in your life. And once you have a lot of truth on a lot of different areas of your life - then that truth will help set and make you free because you will no longer be bound up with wrong thinking!

However, notice that Jesus says we have to "abide" in His Word in order to be able to get these truths worked into us. Abiding means that you are willing to spend a lot of regular quality time in reading the Bible for yourself and seeking to understand and implement these truths in your everyday walk with Him.

All of the above verses are giving us an incredible revelation in that God and Jesus are only too anxious to release Their knowledge to us if we are willing to do our part by seeking after it.

Article written by Michael Bradley of Bible Knowledge Ministries. Their website is a resource of Bible commentary and teaching. They currently have over 100 Bible articles. All free of charge.
The article was an excerpt from Michael's E-book titled, Seeking After the Knowledge of God You can go to their site and download the book free of charge. ? 2005 by Michael Bradley. All Rights Reserved.

Tips on Boosting Your Self-Confidence

How you feel about yourself truly does affect your interaction with others.

It truly saddens me when I hear women using negative talk when referring to themselves. We aren't born with self confidence but it is something that we gain throughout our lives. There are many things that we encounter over the years to help build or break that confidence but ultimately it is up to us to maintain our own self-confidence. Those who lack self-confidence are truly losing out on opportunities for happiness, fun, growth and often love.

Here are just a few tips that anyone can use to help build self-confidence

• Start off each morning and end each day with a positive statement or thought. Create your own mantra. (i.e: "I am intelligent", "I will have a positive day", "I will succeed".)
• Get to know the TRUE you and accept yourself. The more you accept your true self the more others will do the same.
• Make a list of all your positive characteristics and achievements. Keep adding to this list as time goes on and be sure to keep your list in a place where you can access it and read it at will.
• Choose your words/thoughts carefully: Take time to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. If you are faced with a challenging task -- instead of saying something like: "I will never get this done on time" try to rephrase that and say something like: "When I finish this task I will treat myself to something nice" or "This may be challenging but I can do this".
• Take what you are good at and enhance it. Let others know about it! Hold you head up high and proud and know you have a special gift inside of you.

Building up self-confidence takes time and commitment but it is well worth it. You will soon find yourself embracing yourself and giving off a very positive energy that will surely come back to you.

Aurelia Williams is the mom of four busy children, a Personal Life Coach and the owner of Real Life Solutions, which is an informational site that also offers products, articles and a great newsletter. You can also hear Aurelia daily on the WAHM Talk Radio show, she is the Resident Life Coach.

The Liquid Vitamin Mineral Approach

Liquid vitamin mineral

The liquid vitamin mineral dietary supplement is a must have for maximum vitality and health. In today's fast food environment most of us do not get the proper balance of food for the necessary for optimal health Unfortunately the body only absorbs 10 to 20 percent of the nutrients found in traditional pills and capsules. Thus the case for the liquid vitamin mineral.

Some simple research will that a deficiency in nutrients can cause us suffering and may even shorten our lives. Can you even begin to imagine what this maybe doing to our children and grandchildren as their bodies and minds are trying to develop? Crazy behavior, inattentiveness, bad grades, ancy-pants, hyper? Humm...?

After snooping around a little we also learned that four to five crop rotations were planted each year on a single plot of land, intense farming practices have depleted vital nutrients from the soil. 99% of us are deficient in minerals...The alarming fact is that foods, fruits, vegetables, and grains now being raised on millions of acres of land no longer contain enough certain needed minerals and are starving us, no matter how much of them we eat.

Take a peek at the U.S. Senate Document 264 and the 1992 Earth Summit Report support these findings and suggest that 99 percent of Americans are mineral deficient.

We have a serious malnutrition problem here in the USA but its not for the lack of food. Thus the obvious need for the liquid vitamin mineral.

Review the nutritional deficiencies chart and learn about the Senate document 264, earth summit report liquid vitamin mineral supplement

Mens Moissanite Wedding Rings, or Is Moissanite a Mans Best Friend?

As mens wedding rings become more and more popular mens moissanite wedding rings become popular at an even faster rate. Wedding rings for men are here to stay and so are mens moissanite wedding rings.

What is moissanite I hear you ask? Moissanite is the newest jewelry stone which is taking the jewelry industry by storm. And whilst moissanite is popular amongst the women, mens moissanite wedding rings are taking off.

Moissanite is a naturally occurring crystal, or jewel, which was only discovered in 1893. It was originally found in tiny quantities in a meteorite which had fallen in the Arizona desert. It was discovered by doctor Henry Moissan, after whom it was named.

It exhibits many of the qualities of diamonds and looks identical to diamonds to all but a few of the most experienced jewellers. So identical in fact that sohisticated equipment is needed to distinguish it from diamonds. Moissanite even outperforms diamonds in most of the natural qualities for which diamonds are so renowned. Most importantly, it is much cheaper.

Moissanite is second only to diamond in hardness, and is harder than any other jewel. It does not scratch, fade or change color. It has more brilliance than diamonds or any other popular gemstone.

It occurs naturally on earth but only in tiny quantities so it was not until the late 20th century that it became available in sufficient quantities for jewelry making. This followed extensive research on moissanite and the discovery of a reliable method of making it in a lab to very high quality.

Whilst a new jewel in its own right it was immediately compared to diamonds due to it's high quality and much lower price. Now moissanite engagement rings are a hit amongst women, and mens moissanite wedding rings are following fast.

As a man does not generally wear an engagement ring his wedding ring may be the only piece of jewelry that he wears so mens moissanite wedding rings are designed to catch the eye, unlike womens wedding rings which are designed to complement the engagement ring rather than detract from it.

Many mens moissanite wedding rings are often set in either gold or two tone white gold/yellow gold. As moissanite is much cheaper than diamonds he has a choice of more stones and bigger ones, so often buys a ring with 2, 3, 4 or more stones in it. Moissanite is not graded in carat (karat) weight exactly like diamonds but it's comparable diamond carat value is usually offered so that buyers can see exactly how much stone they are getting for their money compared to buying a diamond.

For example it is very possible to buy mens moissanite wedding rings with a number of moissanite stones of 3 to 5 mm diameter of somewhere around 1.5 carats (diamond equivalent weight) for around $500 - $800. Or a single moissanite stone of 7 to 8 mm diameter.

Compare that price to buying the same ring with equivalent diamonds and you will be very pleasantly surprised. And your ring will look just as good, or better, than the equivalent diamond ring. And usually the modern man understands that money spent at the start of the relationship is money that is not available later on when the important things, like kids and a house, arrive.

So men, if you really want a wedding ring that shows off exactly who you are with style and sparkle, but don't want to spend so much money on it that it makes you uncomfortable, then a mens moissanite wedding ring has to be considered.

But which one? That's up to you.

Find out more about Mens Moissanite Wedding Rings, as well as Moissanite Engagement Rings and Loose Moissanite Stones at Peter's website, The Magic of Moissanite.

? 2005 Peter Crump.