My first thought was to title this, “Research Your Competition”, but I decided that sounded all wrong. If you recall, back in Part 5 of the How To Make A Living In Your Pajamas series, I said:

The only thing missing now is an actual web site. In the old days, that would have meant hiring a designer and spending lots of money and time developing a nice-looking site. Those days, luckily, are gone. You can have a site up and running very quickly. You’re going to do this by installing a free WordPress blog.

Just in case you didn’t get the significance of that, it means you became a blogger when you installed WordPress. And just in case that doesn’t mean anything to you, it means that you… Continue reading

Posted on September 30th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Making Money Online | 1 Comment »

An author bio is a short, descriptive paragraph about you and your expertise. Generally, anyone who submits articles to article directories will be given the option to include two or three sentences about themselves at the end of the article. An example would be:

Jane Doe, a graduate of Harvard Business University, is the founder and CEO of Acme Corp., a worldwide business and technology consulting firm. Jane shares her expertise in business management and technology at her technoblog, www.janescooltechnoblog.com.

Writing an author bio about yourself is one of the hardest things we ever do! Despite the fact that it’s just a few words, it’s very difficult to objectively describes ourselves and our talents in the third person. But as with so many of the exercises… Continue reading

Posted on September 29th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Branding | 1 Comment »

Let’s start with what a tagline is. A tagline is a short phrase that sums up the tone or topic of your site or blog. Emerging from the cocoon to break free… is the short phrase within the logo of this blog. It sums up both the logo design as well as the point I’m often trying to make in my posts. My goal is to help others break out of their cocoon (that 9-5 office cubicle), and find the freedom to make a living from their home (in their pajamas). My tagline reinforces my blog’s message.

Do you have a tagline? Does it reinforce or sum up the message you are trying to deliver? Does it reflect the tone of your site or… Continue reading

Posted on September 28th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Branding | 2 Comments »

Lately, I’ve been guiding you gently into the process of creating a decidedly Web 1.0 flavor of content creation - ebooks. Because the world is comfortable with ebooks, you should be comfortable creating them. But Web 2.0 has brought about a plethora of ways that you can create unique, profitable content that goes way beyond the old-fashioned ebook, and you should explore them and use them as well.

Presenting your knowledge in unique ways can turn ordinary information into extraordinary content. People learn and absorb information in different ways. Some respond better to visuals, others to sound, and yet others to the written word. By using various methods of presentation, you are more likely to capture attention… Continue reading

Posted on September 27th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Tools of the Trade | No Comments »

Recently, I showed you how quick, easy, and free of cost it could be to create your own eBook. The problem, of course, is the content! You have to actually write something in this eBook of yours, now don’t you?

Part of the procrastination process is fear. We are afraid to try something new. We are fearful that what we attempt to create will be inadequate. I say, SO WHAT? Do it anyway. Start writing an eBook today just for the experience. It doesn’t have to be top-quality. You don’t ever have to show it to anyone else. Think of this as simply a trial run.

This exercise will simply help you learn the mechanics of the process, the… Continue reading

Posted on September 26th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Creativity Exercises | No Comments »

I was reading my horoscope today and it had some words of wisdom that can apply to you and your business of making a living online. It said:

There are many ways to connect with others, but the most effective method is the one that puts you in the most comfortable frame of mind. You need to feel relaxed in order to make other people feel that way. So if you don’t like noisy, crowded bars, don’t go to them! You’ll only feel anxious the entire time — not to mention the fact that you’ll meet people who like what you don’t like. Where you go and what you do is an extension of your personality.

While I agree with that premise completely when it comes to life in general, I… Continue reading

Posted on September 25th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Making Money Online | No Comments »

Trust is an essential component if you hope to make a living online. There are certainly people who can make money without having the trust of their users, but I definitely DO NOT recommend ignoring the importance of trust.

It is vital, in my opinion, that you prove yourself worthy of being listened to. If you are recommending a product, especially an affiliate product, your readers need to feel that they aren’t being sold down the river. The best way to prove your trustworthiness is to recommend only products that you truly believe in - time and time again.

If you’ve actually used a product and know first-hand that it has worth, then you can easily convey that knowledge to others. When… Continue reading

Posted on September 24th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Making Money Online | 1 Comment »

Many a business person will tell you that networking, and the contacts you have available to you, is a huge key to success. That applies to the one-person, online, work from home business as well. The difference, however, is that much of that person’s networking will be virtual and online. I have a huge network of contacts to draw upon, but I’ve never actually met 99.9% of them face to face. That’s ok. I’ve established a strong personal and professional relationship with them, and I know that I can count on them when I need them. Of course, they also know they can count on me as well.

This network of contacts will be there if you need support, outsourcing, links… Continue reading

Posted on September 23rd, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Keys To Success | 5 Comments »

One of the things that scares most people about venturing into this “make a living online” business is that they don’t know what they can contribute. I have no doubt whatsoever that everyone has knowledge to share, and that knowledge can translate into making a living. We’ll cover this particular topic many times in the future, but today I’m going to focus on just one small aspect.

Who are you? You first need to understand that before you can see what it is you have to contribute to the world’s knowledge base. This little exercise is going to help you find answers to that question. You can then use the results of the exercise later on when we discuss other related aspects.

By now, you’ve probably seen… Continue reading

Posted on September 21st, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Business Development | 2 Comments »

When it comes to making a living online, I do things my own way. I don’t tend to follow another marketer’s lead, and the information I give out here reflects how I do things. Still, I’m not the only person in the world who has made a living online. There are lots of others, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t absorb information from other reliable sources as well. Of course, many of these people charge a LOT of money to share their knowledge, so when you get a chance to soak up some of that information for free, you might want to take advantage of it.

Yanik Silver is one such example. He sells his knowledge for thousands of… Continue reading

Posted on September 20th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Making Money Online | 1 Comment »