If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you use the Internet in new and powerful ways. And, I’m also guessing that, because you’re at least fairly Web savvy, whatever your dream job is or turns out to be, it’ll likely include some form of technology, even if it’s in a supporting role.

And, if you don’t have your own blog . . . well, hmm, you should.

Here’s a great resource I recently came across for teachers, but virtually of them apply to anyone who’s blogging, or wants to.

It’s from Teaching Tips and it’s a great resource.

Check ‘er out.

Popularity: 46% [?]

I’ve written about Christine Kelly and her site, Self-Made Chick, before.

She’s smart, funny, generous with her knowledge (self-made, at that), and generally right-on when it comes to all things netpreneurial.  This chick walks the talk!

She’s recently written about how she turned her experiences (in business and in life) into a short ebook and made a few bucks along the way.

I’m confident she’s going to make a lot more before she’s done with this little mini-venture.

And, specifically for those of you who’re exploring online publishing, her model’s a good one if you want to get something into a downloadable ebook format.

So, check out the Self-Made Chick.  Good stuff and a Top 5er.

Popularity: 41% [?]

If you have a digital product you’d like to try selling online, I invite you to try Teachbits.com.

Teachbits is a division of one of my other companies, InfoSource Learning, that is designed to allow teachers to buy, sell, and share learning materials.

BUT . . . we have a pretty liberal view of who we consider to be a teacher . . . if your product (ebook, online lesson or course, program, video, or other tool) is designed to be used by adults, then we have a category for that . . . adult learning. 

In fact, if it’s legal and ethical, chances are your product can find a home at Teachbits.

Teachbits takes care of all the transactional backroom stuff, and you simply collect a quarterly royalty check for the bulk of the sale.

So, come on over, check ‘er out, and get involved.

Teachbits.com

It’s easy, fast, and free.

Michael

PS  A lot of the contributors have contributed free stuff to the site as well so, even if you’re not a possible author or contributor, you might want to stop by and pick up some of the goodies.

Popularity: 31% [?]

At last count, I think there are (and this is official, mind you) 18.376 gazillion ways to make money online, if you believe all the hype that the gurks (the get-rich-quick guys out there) throw your way.

I’ve been thinking to myself for years that it would be great if I could build a site that showcased just the .000001 percent of those schemes that actually worked.

Well, Dream Job Pals-O-Mine, I don’t need to do it, because Eldon Sarte has already created such a tried-and-true list of online money-making goodies (some that pay just a few bucks, and others that offer considerably more) over at Wordpreneur.

Eldon’s site is geared mostly to the wordsmith crowd, but virtually all netpreneurs will find an item or two to gobble up.

Check ‘er out and let me know which, if any, are already working for you.

Popularity: 15% [?]

I’d really  appreciate a little feedback on this.

I’m trying to convince a good friend of mine that he should write a short report that tells a Web newbie exactly how to set up and run their own blog — not using one of the freebie services like Blogger . . . but actually at their own site (http://www.YourName.com)

This Dream Jobs Dialog blog is done with Word Press (free software, but you need to know where to get it and how and where to install and customize it) and hosted at a service called Site5. Read more »

Popularity: 30% [?]

You know, when all is said and done, you look around you and you realize that most success stories are built around a simple idea or theme.  What makes them successful, usually, is that the person or people behind the success story were just so damn good at executing their “simple” plan.

I think we trip ourselves up sometimes by over-complicating things; we make a process out of something that should be an over-and-done thing, or we undertake elaborate research when all we really need to do is take Step 1, follow that with Step 2, and then another small kaizen-like move. Read more »

Popularity: 35% [?]

If your dream job is to work with words or ideas in some fashion, you really oughta check out what Eldon Sarte is doing over at Wordpreneur.

Wordpreneur is all about writing for dough, and there are a ton-o-sites with that same focus.  However, what makes Eldon’s site different is his slightly-offbeat-yet-laser-focused attitude and take on all things writing and publishing. Read more »

Popularity: 42% [?]

I just picked up a book called Your Portable Empire: How to Make Money Anywhere While Doing What You Love, by Pat O’Bryan.

Not sure if it’s any good yet, but I do know this . . . O’Bryan has some great chapter names in the thing, which drew me in to begin with.  Here are a few chapter titles: Read more »

Popularity: 24% [?]

Whatever your dream job, passion, or current work, chances are you work with a website . . . or should.

And, as you probably know, getting high placement within a search engine (Google and Yahoo are responsible for over 90 percent of all online searches) means more traffic to your site.

Unfortunately, there’s a whole lotta misinformation on the techniques to use to optimize your website for better search-engine traffic.  In fact, billions of dollars are spent every year, by small and big outfits alike, in their marketing departments to try to achieve high search engine results.

Tons of books written on the topic.

Hundreds of workshops and seminars you can attend.

A gazillion, or so, self-proclaimed experts.

So, after having perused, read, and attended a few of the above, I found it amazingly refreshing to come across a “here’s what it’s really all about” article in my local paper, The Orlando Sentinel, about search-engine optimization.

The story focuses on what one of our area’s search gurus (Jason Dowdell, the owner of Labitat)  recommends.

Hey, I don’t know Dowdell or Labitat, and don’t vouch for ‘em, BUT . . . the basics sure ring true, so check ‘em out.

1. For the main search terms your site is targeting, use the biggest headlines.
2. Make sure your content is relevant to the headline or section it appears in.  If your headline is about Writing Services, for example, the text explaining those writing services oughta be about, well, hmmm . . . writing services.
3. Every page of your website should have a link that takes you back to the homepage.  (A lot of people do that by having their logo clickable — to return to the homepage — on all pages.)
4. All hypertext links should describe where the link takes you.  Don’t use Click Here links.  For example, if you want the site to take you to Teachbits.com, make Teachbits.com itself a clickable link.
5. Each page on the site should have a title that represents what’s on that page, so don’t use things like untitled or home as your page names.
6. Your home page should prominently display the linkable sections of the site.
7. Google, Search Engine Numero Uno, by mucho, places a lot of emphasis on its own PageRank calculation.  Google determines PageRank, in large part, by the number of other websites that link to yours.
8. For images you load on your site, use descriptive names such as Teachbits Product List instead of labels such as file7 or image13.

Good stuff; check ‘em out.

Then, let me know if you’d add or subtract anything from the list.

Popularity: 11% [?]

By Mark Kenny

Even as a full time employee, hopefully you should still be able to set aside time to earn additional income on eBay. Entrepreneurs, work at home parents, and others looking to become self employed often use eBay to test the waters before they make the leap from employee to self-employed.

Read more »

Popularity: 8% [?]