I like to write about my hobbies and experiences so blogging about my hobbies works for me and helps me make money online. Making money to spend on your hobbies by talking about your hobbies online is just, well just perfect.

It’s great to have hobbies but sometimes life takes a turn and you don’t get to enjoy those hobbies the way you used to. Well that’s what happened with me and my fishing hobby. In Feb. 2004 my heart decided it had taken enough of my abuse and stopped working.

I count my blessings as I made it to the hospital alive, three of my brothers had heart attacks but never made it to a hospital while the third eventaully had to have a heart transplant. So you can see the males in our family don’t seem to last long.

There was nothing they could do as a quick fix for me. The damage was done and permanent and the blocked arteries were blocked to close to the heart for a bi-pass.

It was a very depressing time in our lives but what do you do. I wasn’t about to give up but I didn’t know that it would take almost five years before I would be able to go fishing again. That was more depressing than the heart attack.

Long story short I finally passed my stress test and was giving the okay to go fishing again, just not alone yet.

I am not sure how much, how little or even if I got any sleep the night before my first day on the water. I know I felt like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning.

I was up and ready to leave at 5am but of course had to wait for my lovely wife to get ready so we finally left at about 7am.

I wore my wife out that day, she couldn’t believe how fast I could walk. Well I have been walking to live for the past four and half years. She was worn out completely by the end of the day but never once complained or asked to go home. Bless your heart dear.

One of the great benefits of having a localized fishing blog would have to be the people I meet through the comments they make. Some even live close to where I do.

One day I received a comment from JT asking me if I would divulge a smallmouth hot spot I had mentioned in a post. He wanted to take his two kids there for some smallmouth excitement.

At age 5 I was put into the Children’s Aid in Ontario and spent my childhood moving from one foster home to another. I was on a downhill spiral that wasn’t turning out good. I was withdrawn and didn’t trust anyone. I was just a sad little boy, until one day a new foster brother took me fishing.

My life changed that day Chuck took me fishing. Fishing was very theraputic and my life took a different turn from that point on so I certainly preach to others to take kids fishing.

Well JT and the kids had the best day ever. He even took pictures and is writing a little story I will post on my fly fishing blog, probably next week.

This past Friday JT took me fishing, that story will be on my fishing blog as well. I was going to go into it here but you can just jump over to my blog if you’re interested.

I must admit that once I had my heart attack I thought life was over as our family history has shown that none of the men in our family live to see 45. Today I am 56 and I plan to do a lot more fishing before I take that final fishing trip.

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Image via Wikipedia You’re excited and your heart is racing!  Your blog has finally been created and you even have a few post already.  The problem now is that no one seems to be reading the blog you created.  The tips below should help you find the audience you so need to succeed.

1.  Take the time to create content that is worth reading.  What is written in your blog should be interesting enough to keep people’s attention and should be timely.  It is important to update your blog regularly.  I use keywords in my content to help my blog to be picked up by search engines.

2.  Become a part of communities that are relevant to blogging.  Talk to other bloggers about what has worked for them, and do not be afraid to take their advice. Watch the forums relevant to your topic.

3.  Be sure your RSS/Atom/XML feed is published where people can see it.  You can do this very easily on a blog hosting site such as Blogger.

4.  Choosing great titles of your subjects and articles.  The title is the first thing I look at, if it doesn’t grab me I most likely will just move on to the next.

Think about what potential readers will be searching for, and incorporate keywords into your titles.  You can also subscribe to a search reporter such as Word Tracker.  These groups publish the most popular searches each week and can help you decide what topics you would like to include in your blog.

5.  Take part in other people’s blogs.  Comment on them and offer feedback.  Most comment features offer you the opportunity to post a link back to your blog, and you may interest that blog’s owner or a reader of that blog who may be interested in what you have to say.

I use other people’s blogs to learn but also to gain a one way link back to my own blogs. I look for blogs that have the DoFollow option active.

6.  Set up your email and forum signatures to include the address of your blog.  This is easy advertising that you take the time to set up once.  You never know when a potential reader may click on your link and become fascinated with what you have to say!

7.  Research the internet and find blog directories.  List your blog there to attract potential readers.

8.  Write articles and submit them to online article directories.  These can be easily found in a basic web search.  Most directories allow you to place an author’s byline at the end of the article.  You can include a link to your blog in that byline.

9.  Use an update service or ping service to let readers know your blog has been updated.  This can serve as a gentle reminder readers that you are out there with something to say!

10.  Create a blogroll or link list of blogs that you enjoy reading.  As with commenting on other’s blogs, this can introduce your blog to other bloggers as well.  This opens the door for your blog being linked by another blogger and their readership being introduced to you as well.  However, do not create a huge blogroll just for the sake of trying to get links on others’ pages.  This can be annoying for your readers.

The most important thing to remember is that a solid readership does not evolve overnight.  It takes time to get to know people and their interests before your blog can become successful.  Spend time reading other blogs, making comments, and getting to know those writers.  Have fun with it, and allow your blog to grow naturally on its own.

Blogs can be wonderful marketing tools, and they can also be wonderful for social networking and creating friendships.  With a little effort and some time, you can develop a readership full of loyal, interested friends.

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Image by Darwin Bell
via Flickr Over the past few years, blogging has become somewhat of an art form, one I have grown to love, even Charlie seems interested.  In the sense that all writing is art, blogging is just another branch of that.  Many who spend the time creating and maintaining a blog are those who choose to use the internet as their means of sharing their thoughts, feelings, hopes, dreams, and everything about life in between.

Many people use these blogs to share themselves with others all over the world.  Those who choose to do so can easily set up an account with a blog provider and create a blog for their own personal journals.  This is a great avenue of expression for many.

Blogging for Profit

Recently trends have also shifted towards the use of business blogs.  These are used to promote companies or products.  Bloggers generally post articles that are relevant to the company or product and are intended to draw attention from potential customers.  This can help to increase sales, thus becoming a profitable venture. Blogging All The Way To The Bank

For those interested in creating a blog, consider the following tips to insure that your blog does exactly what you want it to do.

Your Audience

First of all, it is important to take into consideration the audience to whom you will be addressing.  No matter what your purpose, you have to generate a blog that will be interesting to them.  A blog is your voice, but you have to “speak” in a way that others can understand and will want to return in order to be successful.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Word

Secondly, remember the importance of pictures.  Often, a good picture can say more than pages of writing.  Not only does it say what you cannot many times, but it also helps to make your blog more entertaining to browse.  This does not mean you have to post personal pictures of yourself.  Remember to be safe and also to protect the privacy of others, but you can post any photo that does not insult those who would be reading your blog.

I use FireFox as my default browser and use an addon from Zemanta to add images to my blogs. Check it out. The addon allows me to choose from a number of graphics based on the words in my blog post. They also include links to other articles based on your content. This addon comes in very handy when I don’t have an image prepared myself.

Note: The images don’t always match but most of the time they do and that saves me a lot of time.

The Goal Is To Help Others

Next, consider being constructive in your writing.  For starters your blog can be on any topic, or lack thereof, that you wish, but consider using that avenue to be of some benefit to others.  I really didn’t start making money online blogging until I started a topic that helped others learn more about that topic.

For me personally I started blogging about my favorite hobbies, but only the ones I spend money on. I figure if I don’t spend on a given hobby others most likely don’t either, so I skip those hobbies, unless I just want to share without the hope of making money with them.

Sure, you can write about anything you want, but it is often nice to include some articles that would be helpful to those reading your blog.  Provide some useful information instead of just entertainment.

Easy Reading

Along the lines of keeping the interest of your readers, do not make a blog that is too technical or formal.  Using complicated techniques or extremely highly-educated language may turn off readers instead of welcoming them.  Remember that you can make quick factual statements and shorter blog comments instead of feeling that you have to make a lot of long entries.  You are generally not writing to an audience made up solely of scholars.

On the other hand, if your topic is technical and you know your readers will be as well then fill your boots. Make it as technical as you need to in order to satisfy your readers.

Plan For Scanners

In addition, remember that most people who read blogs typically enjoy the internet by scanning for information.  You would be best advised to offer shorter statements and colorful pictures with article links than to offer long articles that readers may find too overwhelming.  As mentioned earlier, remember who your audience is.

I tried to keep this article short but the more I am sharing with you the more that comes to mind I should tell you. I will certainly have to make this into more than one post.

More Than Just Reading

Finally, if possible, add some sort of interactive function to your blog.  You can include videos or audio segments.  You can also have a guestbook or comments area where readers can post their own thoughts in relation to what you have said.  You will be able to see how others react to your reactions about life.

Yes, even those blogs that are created for fun serve a purpose.  Whether you create a blog to sell a product or just sell your sense of humor to the rest of the world, a blog is a great avenue for creative writing.

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