I’ve had a wonderful surprise today. Every morning I check the traffic on my blogs. I pay keen attention to the new visits so that I could check out what they are and the connection they have (or have made) with my blog. As you know, one can't afford to miss such opportunities.This morning, on Sunday's Child Lives At Annie's House, I noticed that I had a couple of views from Mediacom. This is a search engine powered by no other than the golden giant, Google. When I clicked on the link I realised that someone searching for literary agents and distance had been offered my blog first. Yes, my blog came up top in a Google search!.I know this is just small pennies, as this resulted in just two visits. Nevertheless, it’s excited me enough to write about it, especially since two notable Literary agents' sites came below my link.This has made my day. Today I get 2 views, but who knows how many zeros could be added to that in the weeks ahead. Here’s the link.image source for above picture 
I follow The Pen Is Mightier Than The Spork mainly for personal reasons. As some of my readers know, I work in TV and have done quite a lot of work on Dr Who and Torchwood. This blog’s owner, James Moran, has written some of the very work I’ve done. Isn’t that amazing? Well, now you know why I have to follow this blog.There hasn’t been many current posts, (I’m sure he’s busy writing scripts for his new film) but this cannot, in any way, mitigate the helpfulness of the older ones on the blog. If you want to write for TV or film, this is the blog for you. There’s a world of advice on how to go about doing just that. Go to the ‘frequently asked questions’ just right of the home page and get a bulk of useful advice on scriptwriting, acquiring an agent, how to break into the business, where to submit, and much more.This is a blog with a difference because you get your fill of Torchwood and Dr Who blogging/writing information while filling up on what you need as a script writer. I recommend this blog without reservation.
More and more I’m encountering blogs that ask you to join or sign in before you’re allowed to make a comment on their post. Now, I’m not the most learned blogger out there, but surely this does more harm than good. Why do I have to be an exclusive ‘member’ of any blog? I follow quite a few, and make an effort to support them by way of commenting on their pages. I don’t understand the idea of insisting that your readers join up before being able to contribute. I see my reader’s comments as an honour to me, not the other way around.
Whenever I remember, I determine whether or not ‘joining’ is required before I try to leave a comment. Nevertheless, I do forget in the heat of the moment and feel like kicking myself for wasting my own time when I get to the ‘submit your comment’ panel, only to be confronted by a message that asks me to sign in or join up.
Yesterday, I had to make a comment I thought was very important. When I got to the end of the comment panel and realised the site was ‘one of those’ I decided that I would after all join up, just so I could leave my comment. I started to fill out the dreaded form. Name, address, email address, country, postcode, annual earnings, Hold on! They want to know my annual earnings!
No way.
I left the site. That was the last time they’ll see me. I’ll take my comments elsewhere, thank you.
And what bizarre question has someone asked you lately?
I wrote an article some time ago about lazy ways to make money. I’ve been re-reading it recently and found that the advice was, and still is astoundingly helpful. I’d forgotten some of the things I researched, but re-reading it today gave me a spring in my step after taking note that more than 4,000 people read it within a short period of time. Now that we’re in the tight embrace of the credit crunch, I want to bring this article back to life. The points I gave all involved very little ‘work’ and some decent, legal tricks and tips to get that extra cash into your very own hands.
If making money is what you’re after and you don’t particularly want to do any extra work, why not skip over to this article and have a feast day.
For my American readers, when I say ‘drive’ in the article, I mean ‘driveway.’ Initially I had some readers asking me if I meant ‘car.’ Sorry for the mix-up but I also had to cater for other English speaking people accessing the piece.
Go on and get some dough.
I follow Write and Earn A Living because I know that the blogger gives workable advice that she has already tested and proved. This writer earns money from publishing material on several online sites, and has done so for years. She shares the information she’s learned the hard way, by creating tutorials specifically aimed at people seeking to make money writing online.
Not only has she published literally hundreds of well-written, well-researched articles, she’s now releasing a series of Bedbug books for children. Her dedication to writing and teaching is astounding.
If making money writing online, whilst honing your craft is your goal, ‘Write and Earn a Living’ will teach you to do exactly that.
In the current economic crises, it’s obviously wise to keep spending to a minimum; especially when it relates to arbitrary outgoings like home improvement. However, we shouldn’t have to give up on this altogether, because there are several simple ways of doing it well, yet cheaply. 1. Need a new kitchen? Reuse your old cupboards, but change the doors and door handles. It’s wasteful throwing out good cupboards. Keep your sink. Replace the taps. 2. For home improvements, hire a semi or retired builder. He may work slower, but he’ll do a more careful job for a fraction of the cost. Wait until you can combine jobs and you won’t have to pay separate costs for separate jobs.3. Wooden/laminate floors are easier to keep clean and cheaper than having carpets. Consider this when you’re choosing your new floor covering.4. If you can make payments by instalments for material bought, without paying interest, grab this with both hands. You hang on to your money longer, thus earn a higher interest from your bank. Pay at the last possible moment (without costing yourself late fees), so your money stays longer in your account where it belongs.
5. You would be surprised at the amount of tools available for rent at your local tool shop. If you don’t have a visible one in your area ask your hardware or DIY shop, and they should point you in the right direction. If you’re capable of doing the work yourself it’s obviously cheaper than calling in the professionals. However, if you didn’t have to buy (thus maintain) large and medium tools needed to do the job, it would be cheaper still.
6. Source building material yourself so you get the discount for bulk buying and not your builders. Remember that even if they get half-price discounts on materials, the price they’re charging you will remain the same.
7. Buy white paint (cheaper than colour) and mix the colour you want yourself. DIY shops stock vials of paint colour with very detailed descriptions of how much you need for each shade of the colour you desire. All you need is a strong hand to mix it in.
8. Still on paint, matt colours may be cheaper, but they wear fast especially if you have kids or pets. Buy paint you can easily wipe down and clean with little effort. These last for years, thus save you time, energy and money over the years.My book, 'How to Spend Less' is now out. Details on how to buy it can be found on this page.
It’s a bit late, but my eleven year old has just heard of the credit crunch. I don’t think she clearly understands what it means but she knows enough to realise that consumers have to give up things we would’ve otherwise had.She came into the kitchen while I was cooking and asked me a simple question. ‘What would you give up?’ I have to admit I was stumped. Not only did I not have an answer, the question had not even occurred to me before she asked it.
What would I give up. I thought about my shopping and realised that I haven’t been putting anything in my shopping trolley that I could actually leave out. I considered the clothes I’d gotten for the kids and there was nothing I would return to the rack, was I given the choice. I already save on electricity and gas. Entertaining the kids is always done sensibly. In my mind I wildly tried to find something I could easily do without. I don’t like wear make-up unless it’s put on me for work, my hair is a wash-and-go mode that needs no styling, and our social circles are made up of people who specialise in ‘everyone-bring-a-pot’ parties. I still can’t answer the question, but it made me realise one thing. Living well and comfortably takes a lot less than most people think. We have a good life. Like most people we have a mortgage and bills, and live within our means. Our lives, comfortable though it is, hasn’t come from buying more than we need. Comfort for us has been getting exactly what we need and just the right amount of what we want.Overspending has been a curse for so long, that it took this current economic downturn to make us realise that a good living can be had for much less than we previously thought. It’s widely believed that we’re on our way out of the recession, but if it were to get worse and you had to tighten your belt further to keep spending at a minimum, what would you give up?Read more in my book, ‘How to Spend Less.’ Details on this page.
