Wow, the first birthday of this blog almost snuck right past me. I was checking out the past entries for another reason yesterday, and noticed that the first entry was almost exactly one year ago. But as fate would have it, I noticed, and so today, we celebrate the first birthday of this blog.

I guess I should go ahead and give a slight history of the blog. It started because I didn’t have a place to post non-SEO-related thoughts. I’d been blogging regularly for a couple of years on my SEO Scoop blog, but was frustrated by being cornered into one topic there. So, I decided a personal blog would make sense to have. Thus, this blog began as… Continue reading

Posted on November 29th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: General | 3 Comments »

Now is the perfect time to communicate with your readers. You could send them a Christmas card (or Holiday card if you want to be P.C.), or a note of thanks for sharing this year with you. Let them know how much you appreciate them. While you can certainly stick with the standard tried-and-true methods of communication, I’d like to suggest that you do something just a little more modern and fun. Here’s the perfect example, as I wish you happy holidays.

I’d like to thank all of you for spending time with me this year by giving you this little holiday greeting. You’ll see I prepared it just for you directly from me. (Yes, that’s me grinning at… Continue reading

Posted on November 27th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Forming Connections | 2 Comments »

So many people think they don’t have the knowledge or talent to make a living online. I’m here to tell you that nearly everyone should at least give it a try, if they are the tiniest bit interested in the possibilities of earning a living online. Let me give you an example, based on a real person I know.

This guy is one of those good old country boys that everyone just adores. He’s funny and cute, but not too cute. He loves telling a good story, and embellishing it when he feels it’s necessary to stretch the truth just a bit to make the story better. You know what I mean…”the fish that got away was this big”…that kind… Continue reading

Posted on November 26th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Making Money Online | No Comments »

Each of your site’s visitors is important, and you should welcome and embrace them all. That statement sounds like an obvious one, generating a Duh! response, but it actually is one that needs to be considered. There are webmasters who don’t appreciate every visitor, and although their reasons may seem logical, I must disagree with them. Let’s take the following as an example.

Some people prevent certain users, such as Digg visitors, from seeing their site, using the theory that since many of these visitors use ad-blocking scripts, then they should not be allowed to view the site’s content.

Sure, a visitor uses bandwidth, thereby costing the webmaster a bit of money. In return, the webmaster expects that the… Continue reading

Posted on November 25th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Forming Connections | 4 Comments »

It’s Black Friday, folks, but instead of fighting the crowds at the malls, you can find all the on-sale stuff online too. What a fun, fun, fun, fun day to be able to shop and get bargains, bargains, bargains! I’m going to be doing a lot of shopping at Amazon’s Black Friday Sales Event. Amazon will be offering hourly deals from 6am to 6pm PST along with thousands of products on sale for a limited time. Also, we all get gift wrapping for $.99 per item. Sweet!

So take some time off today, spend a little money, and have fun!

Amazon.com Widgets

Posted on November 23rd, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Good Deals | 1 Comment »

Taking a break for a few days. Everyone enjoy!… Continue reading

Posted on November 21st, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Life | No Comments »

Everyone should at least consider incorporating their small home business. I’m no expert on incorporation, and I could never hope to be, so I’m not going to try to explain this whole process to you. In general, however, you should do some research on this because incorporating may have the following benefits for you (depending upon what type you choose):

• reduces your personal liability for business debts or lawsuits
• saves on taxes
• makes your business more credible
• makes your business easier to sell or transfer

Let me reiterate that I’m no expert (not even close), so I don’t want to give you any more advice on this, because I’m afraid I’d be giving incorrect or bad advice. Obviously, discussing this with a lawyer is a good idea, but in the meantime you… Continue reading

Posted on November 20th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Business Development | No Comments »

I’ve heard some people reject the idea of having their own blog or site because they don’t believe they are capable of writing well, or they say they can’t type. I always counter that objection by saying, “Phooey!” If you are capable of speaking, you are capable of creating content. You can simply dictate into a microphone, and you don’t even need a human secretary to transcribe it. Speech recognition software has come a long way, and frankly, it’s to the point where it’s good enough to be usable.

If your computer’s operating system is Microsoft Vista (any version), you already have speech recognition software to work with. Vista’s Speech Recognition application comes free with the operating system, and it actually… Continue reading

Posted on November 19th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Content | 2 Comments »

Thanksgiving is less than a week away. For those of you in the US, you’re probably already thinking about planning the meal or looking forward to getting together with the family. Even if families cannot be together during the rest of the year, Thanksgiving is one of the holidays that tends to draw everyone to the same place. We all get to catch up with one another’s lives, and find out who is doing what out there in the big, wide world.

This is a perfect time to discuss your plans to work from home. Of course, if the idea is news to everyone, you’ll probably get some resistance, but that’s ok. Constructive feedback is great. You do need to… Continue reading

Posted on November 17th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Business Development | 1 Comment »

Today, I blogged about motivation on my SEO blog, but that was directed towards a specific situation. Here, I’d like to discuss motivation in more general terms. Specifically, I’d like to ask you some questions. I’m interested in your thoughts and your processes. By sharing motivational strategies, I think we can all benefit from each other.

• What motivates you? What gets you fired up?
• Do you use any kind of motivational tools, and if so what are they?
• Do you follow any motivational blogs or sites?

Now I leave this post in your hands. Talk to me about motivation… Continue reading

Posted on November 15th, 2007 by DazzlinDonna
Filed under: Motivation | 4 Comments »