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Writers Looking for Markets?

Read this article from the Wall Street Journal Business Section
America’s Newest Profession: Bloggers for Hire by Mark Bell with E. Kinney Zalesne

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A couple of exerpts:

The Information Age has spawned many new professions, but blogging could well be the one with the most profound effect on our culture. If journalists were the Fourth Estate, bloggers are becoming the Fifth Estate.

bloggers who do it for a living successfully are 2% of bloggers overall. It takes about 100,000 unique visitors a month to generate an income of $75,000 a year. Bloggers can get $75 to $200 for a good post, and some even serve as “spokesbloggers” — paid by advertisers to blog about products. As a job with zero commuting, blogging could be one of the most environmentally friendly jobs around — but it can also be quite profitable. For sites at the top, the returns can be substantial. At some point the value of the Huffington Post will no doubt pass the value of the Washington Post.

Whether you are looking for extra income or a whole new writing gig -
blogging has to be explored. Already blogging? Stay tuned for a series
of extra income tips for writers coming soon on this blog.

Again- America’s Newest Profession: Bloggers for Hire

May the muses be kind
But let me remind
It’s still up to you
Twitter’ll help too
And,
I’ll see what I can do.

- Val Spangler, Mister Senior Blogger
@SeniorTweet on Twitter.com
Senior Writer Blog
Senior Tweet Blog
Twitter Search Tools
Business Twitter Uses

Ideas, trends, tips & content!

What’s on the minds of the readers in your niche? Find out on Twitter through Twitter Search You’ll find networking and business benefits you never would have imagined. Twitter is one of the fastest growing socialmedia sites on the internet. Catch the wave!

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Thanks for coming back to my blog. Please comment and share any ideas, challenges or subject matter you'd like to see covered. Your contributions are valued! - Val

Video builds lists!

Video attracts and engages visitors. If you are building your email list (and
you should be), incorporating video into squeeze pages is a no brainer.
However, for many of us, the technical side of video is quite daunting.
Add to that some insecurity about one’s appearance and “stage fright”
and most of us stay away from video (and even audio).

Successful internet marketers use videos alot and much of the time it is
in their squeeze pages as well as on their sales pages. If you want to adopt
their successful strategy and tactics, here is the tool you have been looking
for - Easy Video Producer.With just a web cam and Easy Video Producer
you can have your own personalized video on your squeeze page collecting
names and email addresses of your visitors in no time.

Easy Video Producer is FREE!

About those other concerns, appearance and stage fright - Easy Video
Producer allows you to redo your video until you get it the way you want
it. Plus that flexibility takes alot of the nervousness out of the process.
Believe me your visitors are far more concerned about your message and
your offer than they are about your appearance.

HERE IS THE BEST PART! Easy Video Producer is not only free to you -
it is free for you to give away on your squeeze page. Your visitors give you
their names and email addresses and they get this easy to use free
service as well as the ability to give it away free themselves. Such a deal!
VIRAL VIDEO!!!

How and why is someone giving away something of this value for free???

Well, like many internet marketers, this company has learned that free
products and services are the way TO START BUILDING YOUR MASSIVE
MONEY MAKING LIST!. Using this strategy gives them and you a
better strategy for getting more eyeballs in front of their other products
and services.

Easy Video Producer is in prelaunch. Click on the link below and save
your place in the process and start building your downline down to 10 levels.
You’ve heard it before and I will repeat it again for you here…

THE MONEY IS IN THE LIST!

Even if you are a social marketing wizard and have a lot of followers,
if you are not building your list, you are leaving a lot of money on the
table. People still read their email and it is an additional way to continue
to build a relationship - remember, every email is a selling opportuntiy.
You don’t have to sell every time - in fact, you shouldn’t! If you are
a social media marketer, you know the future is in building relationships.

The use of video creates an impression of authority as well.

I’ll stop here by reminding you- “>Easy Video Producer is FREE!

So get your place in line by watching the prelaunch video and signing up
to get ready to have access to this highly viral, easy to use, “>Easy Video Producer.
Click on this banner below or any of the other EVP links and get started
building your massive email list. It will put money in your pocket.
The Public Launch is Tuesday, March 10. You will get specifics when you sign up.

I will definitely be one to take full advantage of this free service as I grow my
email list while I am also making new friends on Twitter and my other social
network sites. Make sure you take advantage of this no strings free offer -
you’ll be glad you did. Easy Video Producer - public launch on March 10th.
Sign up and get on their notification list and hold your place for your down-line.

Val Spangler
Mister Senior Blogger
@SeniorTweet on Twitter.com
Senior Writer Blog (You are here.)
Comics Cartoons and Creativity
Business Twitter Uses

The elite meet in the Twitterverse!

Combine your traditional list building with a social network marketing strategy. Sign up with Twitter. You will find new friends from around the country and around the world - people you’d never meet otherwise - expand your universe - follow tweeters of your own choosing - great fun! But! keep the discipline to manage your time to write. Let Twitter add to your writing - not be a distraction.

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This weekend I read two reports - the first is a report that all serious bloggers should
put on their must read list: Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008. Interesting
and informative as well as motivating reading. And what does it say to blog writers.
Well, I’ll share what it said to me and, after you get a chance to read it, please share
what it says to you.

The Report was organized serially as follows:

• Introduction
• Day 1: Who Are the Bloggers?
• Day 2: The What And Why of Blogging
• Day 3: The How of Blogging
• Day 4: Blogging For Profit
• Day 5: Brands Enter The Blogosphere

Who are bloggers? See if your information agrees with Technorati’s findings.

The Blogosphere Report provides a Global Snapshot of Bloggers with some
interesting if not surprising demographic data. Most bloggers are well educated,
upper income and younger. Globally, two thirds of bloggers are male. Women in
the US participate at higher rate than globally.

A segment snapshot breakout of personal, professional and corporate bloggers is
provided with an interesting add-on of the percentages of those with advetising on
their sites. A gender breakout is also provided with few surprises there. One to note
is that women tend more towards personal blogsand men to professional. On the age
front, bloggers (ages 45-54) represent 15% of the total senior bloggers (55+) represent
8%. If you confine yourself to writing to these two groups they only represent a total
of 23% of the blogosphere. Keep in mind that represents 17.7 million bloggers. Also,
other sources indicate the two older age groups (boomers and seniors) participation
in the blogosphere is growing at a faster rate than that of the younger ones.

On another note, while I was also doing some research on “long term care” this
weekend (my wife and I are 68 and 70 respectively), I came across some life
expectancy charts and related articles that made me rethink my blog writing audience
and blog mission. In 2008, the boomer generation was defined as being between the
ages of 44 and 62 (those born after WW II from 1946 to 1964). Seniors include
anyone over 62.and and and The generational (by age) breakdown helped my focus
my writing and blogging. My focus has been on seniors (alone) - however, after
looking at these charts (and with all of the “financial crisis” news all around), I realized
that the same issues facing seniors today are also there for the “boomer generation”.
Many boomers get a double whammy - they have senior parents who are ill prepared
for retirement and for the rising costs associated with aging. So for boomers the
perspective is a bit different but the issues are still the same: retirement income,
health insurance, long term care possibilities, and on and on. And some may have to
provide for the needs of their parents.

As if you needed another sobering thought these days, find out where you are on
this life expectancy chart and see what general statistics indicate is your present life
expectancey. If you have living parents, chart their stats. Good news - bad news!
The good news is that you have a lot more years to live. The bad news is that you
have a lot more years to live. I know, I know, that’s not bad news - it just means
that you have a lifetime in front of you, … so you better prepare.

Writers! That’s opportunity. That’s content.

Senior Bloggers and bloggers who write for an audience of boomers and/or seniors.
They have challenges and problems that you can help them with. They can use some
help in finding quality of life answers. Given these uncertain times, they can also use
some entertainment and encouragement. Humor can also help.

See where you and yours fit on this 2004 statistical chart of life expectancy averages
(Source United States Department of Health and Human Services) Note: life
expectancies continue to increase in the US and in many countries around the world.

Food for thought? Material for writing?

What do you think?

- Val

Link to: Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008.

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