 As a savvy website domain owner, staying ahead of the curve and maximizing your online visibility is crucial. One of the key metrics you should pay attention to is your Domain Authority (DA). But what exactly is domain authority, and how can you improve it to dominate the search engine result pages (SERPs)?
What Is Domain Authority? Domain Authority is a metric developed by Moz that gauges your website's ability to rank in search engine results. Ranging from 1 to 100, a higher score indicates a stronger potential to rank well. Picture it like a popularity contest, but for websites, where 100 is the ultimate "cool kid" status, and 1 is, well, not so popular. How To Check Domain Authority And How DA Works To check your domain authority, turn to Moz's Link Explorer, a top-notch domain rating checker. Numerous online marketing platforms and SEO tools can also provide this information. When you obtain your domain authority ranking, it will be a number between 1 and 100. Starting out, all new websites begin with a humble DA score of 1. But fear not! As you accumulate high-quality backlinks over time, your score will gradually rise. Keep in mind that DA operates on a logarithmic scale, so reaching 10 is easier than scaling to 20, and so on. To keep tabs on your progress, regularly monitor your domain authority history and use a domain rating checker. What's A Good DA Score? So, what constitutes a "good" domain authority score? Well, it's relative and depends on your competition in the search results. In some niches, a score of 20 or 30 is excellent if your competitors' scores are below 20. However, certain niches may require a DA of over 70 to have a fighting chance at securing a spot on Google's coveted first page. Remember, domain authority is a predictive metric, perfect for comparing websites or tracking a site's ranking over time. While not an official Google metric, it serves as a reputable benchmark used widely by SEO experts. DA VS. Page Authority While domain authority reflects your overall website's ranking strength, Page Authority (PA) zeroes in on individual page performance in search results. So, you might have a website with a modest DA, but specific pages boasting impressive PA. How Can I Influence My DA? Influencing your DA directly can be a bit elusive due to its complexity, as it takes multiple factors into account, mirroring Google's ranking algorithm. However, there are smart moves you can make to nudge it in the right direction:
Improving your domain authority won't happen overnight, but by consistently implementing these tactics, you can make steady progress. In conclusion, your domain authority ranking tells you where you stand among your competitors in the online arena. Regularly tracking it and using tools like Moz Link Explorer will keep you well-informed. To boost your score, focus on gaining high-quality backlinks from reputable sources. Need help navigating the complexities of SEO or boosting your DA and PA? Look no further--Hire Us! We'll make sure your website is the talk of the town, or rather, the top of the SERPs. LAST UPDATED BY LYN LOMASI 7/29/2023
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by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer
I worked in retail for about 10 years. Five of that I’ve spent as an assistant manager. Managing retail employees brings with it its own challenges and rewards, and it takes a specific skill set to be successful as a retail manager. Here are the five most important skills of a retail manager: 1. Listen The most important skill a retail manager can bring to the table is the ability to listen. Retail employees come from a variety of backgrounds; poor, middle class, educated, uneducated. As a manager, you have to be able to listen to all of their stories, ideas, issues, and complaints without being judgmental. You have to be able to offer advice and consolation. You have to be able to detox them from their home lives and focus them on the tasks at hand. 2. Communicate The second most important skill a retail manager can bring to the table is communication. With communication comes motivation. You have to be able to speak positively and clearly, provide guidance and instruction. These things are paramount to getting the job done. An employee many not understand why a specific shelf needs reset. It is the manager’s job to explain why the shelf is being reset, how it will be reset, and what the end goals are. 3. Be Visible and Approachable A retail manager must also be visible and approachable. This means being out on the sales floor. If an associate has a question or concern, they need to be able to find the manager without searching the entire store. Most of the questions a retail manager receives are time sensitive. 4. Be Knowledgeable A retail manager must also be knowledgeable. They have to know their job, but they must also know every other job in the store and be able to explain it, train it, and troubleshoot it. At my last position, we often had problems with the photo software and printer. Assessing the situation quickly was paramount. We always had a long line of customers waiting to see their photos. A paper jam had to be fixed within a matter of minutes. A missing photo had to be found within the same timeframe. Since I was the manager, it was my job to fix it as quickly as possible. 5. Be Helpful Finally, a retail manager must be willing to help with any task. My own personal motto has always been “I will not ask an employee to do anything that I would not be willing to do myself.” This includes taking out the trash, cleaning bathrooms, resetting and stocking shelves, and running cash registers during times of high customer volume. It speaks volumes to both employees and customers when a manager is willing to do even the most remedial of tasks. 
Author Bio:
Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia. She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design. She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know. She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing. Other books by Stacey
by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer
There are numerous ways to start and run a business. Some ways cost more than others. For my own business, I had no budget and no money. This meant that I had to be very creative when it came to start up costs. No Outside Office While I would love my own office in an office building, typical rates for a small office in my area are $18 a square foot. That's $5400 dollars a month for office space not including furniture or equipment. Instead of renting an office, I looked at my living room, rearranged the furniture, took the dining room table out to the storage closet, and made due with the space I had in my home. No Employees I am my only employee at the moment. That doesn't mean I won't need an employee in the future, but until I have more income than I need and more work than I can handle, I don't need an employee. The lack of an employee saves me $290 dollars a month at minimum wage, not counting the employment taxes I would spend if I hired an employee. Office Furniture When I decided to start my business, I had one computer desk and my computer took up the entire desk. I went out and bought another small computer desk for $40 dollars so that I would have a place to spread out and organize my papers. Backup Computer Six months into my business, I realized that I need a new computer, but instead of buying a new computer at a retail store, I enlisted the help of my father who can build computers. Instead of spending $600 on a new computer, he built me one for $200 which is a savings of $400. Existing Website Prior to starting my business, I had a website, domain name, and hosting account that wasn't doing anything productive. In fact, I had barely set the pages up. Upon starting my business, I took the existing website and changed it to meet my business needs. In the first six months of my new business, I spent exactly $240 dollars. Since I earned more than that, my business was profitable already. It's entirely due to the fact that I decided on a home office with my existing furniture and no employees other than myself. By doing those things, I have saved myself thousands of dollars in start up costs. 
Author Bio:
Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia. She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design. She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know. She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing. Other books by Stacey
by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer
Being self-employed has its rewards. I can sleep as late as I want. I can go to the gym when and how often I want, and I can take care of family obligations on the fly. Doing those things means a lot to me, but since I am self-employed, I have to be careful with my budget. This means that I have to plan ahead for equipment failures, and the most important piece of equipment in my office is my computer. Unfortunately, I only have one desktop computer. If it breaks, I can’t earn any money. Plan ahead for equipment failures Once I ordered a refurbished computer from Staples. It was exactly what I needed for a backup computer; full sized case, expansion slots, 1gigabyte of ram, 250 gigs of hard drive space, and a Pentium 4 processor. I ordered it Monday night. It arrived Friday which was perfect. I had scheduled my main computer to go to my brother for the weekend for a total refurb. I pull the refurbished computer out of the box. I plugged it in, connected the keyboard, mouse, and my extra monitor. I turned it on. The fan started spinning immediately. I noticed right away that it sounded like a 737. If I had a TV, I would not have been able to hear it over the sound of the fan. Strike one against the refurbished computer. I waited for the computer to boot and tell me something, but the monitor reflected nothing and went to sleep. I turned off the monitor and turned it back on. No signal. I put the XP disk in the computer drive and rebooted. I waited. The refurbished computer never booted, and due to the noise of the fan, I couldn’t tell if the hard drive was working at all. I doubted it was since it had been clanking around in the case during shipment. I had to take the computer back to Staples. It didn’t work. Had I needed that computer right then, I would have been running to Walmart to buy their cheapest desktop which runs around $298.00. The price difference between the refurb and the cheapest computer at Walmart is over $100 dollars. That’s $100 wasted. Find someone who can fix it If my computer were to break, I could take it to my brother and he can fix it. However, it might take him a week to diagnose the problem, fix the computer, and get it back to me. I can’t wait a week for a new computer, but it’s nice to know that my brother can fix it, and he’d do it for the cost of parts and lunch. Find someone who can build it Since I didn’t need the backup computer right then, I called my dad who can build computers. We’re estimating the costs at $250 - $300 dollars. It’s still a significant savings considering my dad can build me a computer with more power than the cheapest computer at Walmart for about the same price. Since my main computer is still functioning, I’m not in a rush to get the second computer. I can wait for my dad to build me a custom computer. By planning ahead and buying an extra computer now, I am saving myself time and money. I won’t lose money due to loss of income, and I won’t be forced to buy the first computer I come across if my main computer breaks. In short, I’m saving money by thinking ahead. I know my main computer is three years old. I have noticed that it takes longer and longer to reboot it. Eventually, it’s going to break. Sudden breakages are time consuming and result in the loss of productivity. Plus, if you’re in a bind, you’ll be tempted to pay more for the item you need. I’m taking the initiative and planning for future breakages buy buying an extra computer now. 
Author Bio:
Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia. She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design. She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know. She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing. Other books by Stacey
by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer
Profitability is a big issue when it comes to small businesses. On average, it takes five years for a small business to turn a profit. That’s a long time to run in the red. It’s also a long time to go without a paycheck. When I started my small business, I needed it to be profitable from the very beginning. What I didn’t need was for it to pay all my bills immediately. It simply needed to not cost me anything or at least not cost me more than anything else I buy. Home Office Most small businesses start in home offices or in the garage. It’s space that’s already being paid for through rent or a mortgage. Cars can be parked outside. The space inside the home can be rearranged to accommodate a home office. In contrast, an outside office can cost as much or more than a rent or mortgage payment. Using a home office is an immediate savings of $500 or more. Since I don’t have an extra bedroom, my living room is set up as an office. My other option was setting up my bedroom as an office and my living room as a bedroom. Since I don’t want clients or guests walking through my bedroom to get to my office, I didn’t set it up that way. Business Website There are still free websites out there. However, all of them include ads in some form whether they are on the right side of the page or delivered as popups. Those ads can be annoying to potential customers, but as a small business, free is free. I used an existing personal web account and changed the page and website link to reflect my business instead of my personal hobbies. Since I was already paying for the website, I incurred no extra costs. Business Cards And Flyers I print my own business cards and flyers. A pack of business cards from Walmart or Office Depot cost between $5 and $14. A pack of brochure paper costs about the same. In contrast, paying a business to print them can cost upwards of $150 and typically require a minimum amount to be purchased. I print mine at home so that I can control how many blank sheets I buy and how many I print off at a time. Advertising Since I had no money for advertising, I use word of mouth and social networking to find clients. Facebook, Twitter, and Craigslist are awesome for finding clients who need my services and skills. Not to mention, they are all free. Another way to advertise is through business cards and flyers. Business cards and flyers can be hung anywhere there’s a corkboard. Apartment complexes usually have them near the mailboxes. Certain restaurants such as Jimmy Johns and various coffee houses have them on the walls. All you have to do is visit the establishments and tack your card or flyer to the wall. I do recommend bringing push pins as there are always more pages stuck to the corkboard than available push pins. A second way to get your business cards and flyers out is to visit neighborhoods. Anything put in a mailbox has to have a stamp, but flyers and cards can be put in the newspaper boxes or hung on the doors of homes. It takes more time to hang the flyers than it does to mail them, but at .50 cents a stamp, it’s worth it to make the drive into a neighborhood and hang flyers for a couple hours. I spend about four hours a week canvassing neighborhoods for new business, and I almost always receive four or five calls for my efforts. 
Author Bio:
Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia. She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design. She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know. She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing. Other books by Stacey
by Stacey Carroll, Contributing Writer
Finding affordable phone service for a small office can be a daunting task. The first choice is to decide how many phone lines your office will need. If the need is less than 10 lines, chances are you can order your phone service over the internet. If it’s more than 10, you’ll have to call the phone company. I recommend calling the phone company either way. Sometimes, they have better deals over the phone than on-line. Determine the phone service provider. There are two main phone service providers: AT&T and Verizon. For land lines, only one provider will be available for an area. For internet phone lines, several providers may be available. I recommend calling several area phone companies and making a list of the available providers and services offered. From there, determine which providers you’d like to do business with and narrow the list. Which type of phone system does your office need? There are two main types of phone systems VoIP (Voice over the Internet Protocol) and POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). POTS systems tend to be more reliable than VoIP systems or internet phone lines. The typical features of a POTS system include call waiting, voicemail, three way calling, 911, and speed dial. POTS lines can also be used to send and receive faxes. A VoIP system uses the internet to make calls. They require a broadband internet service, computer, adapter or special type of phone, and may not be available in the event of a power outage. The types pf phone calls that can be made may also be limited by the service provider. Some only allow you to call other VoIP phones and computers or make local calls. Others allow calls to unlimited places and phone numbers. It is always best to check with the VoIP provider to determine who you can call. To Bundle or Not to Bundle. Depending on your office requirements and the cost, it might be cheaper to bundle the phone service with internet. When I called AT&T to determine prices for a 12 line office, the woman answering my questions stated that for just local and long distance the price would be $50 per line. If I bundled the lines with the internet, the price would be $40 per line. The cheapest internet package was $40. Since I needed 12 lines, it was cheaper for me to purchase the bundled package for a savings of $80 dollars per month. Finding a small business phone provider can be a time consuming task. When I looked for providers, it took me four hours to determine which phone companies provided service to my area, another two hours to narrow my list, and 20 minutes on the phone with a customer service rep determining which plan would be right for my business. In the end I chose 12 phone lines with a bundled internet service for $520 dollars a month. 
Author Bio:
Stacey Carroll is the author of the thriller series - Avia. She also authors the paranormal erotica series - The Blooddoll Factory. Stacey grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. she went to college at Indiana State University (ISU) and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace in the professional pilot program. She has flown Cessna 152s, Cessna 172s, the Pipe Seneca and the King Air. She also graduated with a minor in computer science that specialized in web design. She has always been interested in reading and writing, and the first book she was ever read was the Grimms Brother's Fairy tales. From the ages of 6 to 11, she read the Nancy Drew series. By the age of 11, she had graduated to Stephen King novels. A few of her favorites include Carrie, Tommyknockers, The Dark Tower Series up to book 3 (That's where it stopped in the late 80s/ early 90s), Pet Semetary, The Shining, Night Shift, The Stand, It, Cujo, Christine, The Eyes of the Dragon and Thinner (Richard Bachman). In her teen years, she moved on to Anne Rice and got through about four of those books before they degraded. If you've ever read Anne Rice, you know book 5 isn't readable. Stacey has read a couple Harry Potter books as she was introduced to them in the early 2000s, and she's never read or watched anything Twilight or 50 Shades. Sorry. I'm a vampire purist, and nothing needs to be said about the latter. You already know. She is currently an author and freelance writer. She received an honorable mention in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine in 2008 for a short story entitled The Field. In 2014, she was published in 13 Stories by Us by MacKenzie Publishing. Other books by Stacey 
I recently had an interesting conversation with Brad F. Pollins about the subject matter of his book, “Awakening Your Organization.” In his book, he talks about how to “awaken” the healthcare field with a commitment to excellence. Learn what Brad recommends, based on the subject matter of his book, as well as his experience in the healthcare field both as a professional and a patient.
Q: In what ways do you feel healthcare organizations need awakening?
A: In many ways, I believe those of us who work in healthcare are rushing, frustrated, fatigued or complacent based on a number of environmental factors. When we are rushing, frustrated, fatigued or complacent we cannot be truly present. This has resulted in many healthcare workers being principally task focused/task-centric which blinds them to what it truly means to be patient focused and centric. I have worked with and for so many different industries and what sets healthcare apart from other industries is we are dealing human beings who are experiencing pain, anxiety, stress, uncertainty, and even tragedy. This requires healthcare workers to be incredibly emotionally intelligent, empathetic, compassionate and clinically exceptional. Q: Who can get the most out of reading this book? A: Every healthcare employee including providers and leaders. Especially leaders because they foster the culture that influences behavior which determines the results achieved. I believe there are incredibly talented and committed healthcare workers who are constrained by ill conceived processes and outdated policies and procedures designed to govern behavior. Q: Do you feel that lessons from this book could help awaken organizations in other industries, as well? A: I do. The Awakening Organization Model is transferable to any industry or business. Every business should be setting clear and consistent direction, building a strategy supportive culture, staffing the enterprise with high performing employees and multiplying the efforts through continuous process improvement. I believe the performance of people is the physics of organizational performance because the behavior of people (actions and decisions) determines the results the company will experience. Q: If readers can take away just one or two things from reading your book, what do you expect them to learn? A: First, performance of an organization is not based on any single element - it's not just leadership, it's not just culture, it's not just people, it's not just strategy and it's not just processes - it is the synchronization of all of these components. Second, culture is critically important and most organizations only pay it lip service. There is a reason that enlightened people say “culture eats strategy for breakfast, lunch and dinner” - because most of the time it does. This is because culture either engages or disengages people, it energizes or de-energizes people and it connects or disconnects people. A healthy and fit culture engages and energizes the people to behave in strategy supportive ways. The connection between strategy and culture becomes clearer in this context – for successful strategy execution people have to behave in a strategy supportive manner, which has to be reflected in the core values of the organization and everything has to reinforce this imperative. Culture can either be designed, or it happens by default. A culture by default is what naturally emerges whereas a culture by design is a deliberate reconstruction of the elements that purposefully develop the desired culture needed to execute the strategy. Q: Where can interested parties purchase your book, “Awakening Your Organization”? A: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and BookVenture 
The more your content is seen, the better the performance of your ads, services, and products, which leads to more revenue. But how do you get your content out there? What’s the best way to get more pages to receive the best traffic for ad revenue? In the years I’ve spent as a web writer, website owner, blogger, and all-around content creation specialist, I learned quite a bit about getting quality traffic, leading me to receive millions of pageviews on my content. Like me, you too have the power to increase your blog traffic with several different methods that can be applied right away.
Optimize your content for search. Framing one very specific topic in each article helps attract both readers and search engines. Stick to the point throughout your page, article, or blog post and also within your title and descriptive overview. Use words people would use to find information like yours via search engines. Easy SEO Techniques for Online Article Writers and Using Google Autocomplete to Find Longtail Keywords will also help. Correctly using these and other whitehat SEO tips can help increase your article’s relevance to search engines, which can have a significant impact on on your page views. Using SEO techniques improperly (such as with blackhat SEO) might work at first, but will lead to a very negative impact. Use social media to spread the word. Word of mouth is a strong force, especially on the Internet. People look to social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, for valuable information. Many are very likely to read what their friends and family members recommend and will show that same content to their friends and family. This circle of sharing that happens on various social media sites can help increase an article’s performance in a significant way. In addition to sharing content on your Facebook profile, all writers and website owners should consider starting a Facebook fan page to build their brand. Creating a Twitter account around a specific niche can also be a helpful tool for increasing readership, thus increasing page views. Social media tools, such as HootSuite can help writers and website owners manage those profiles and give you an idea of how effective your efforts are. Backlinks from quality websites and blogs get you noticed. When your content is linked by multiple valued sources, that looks good to search engines. It also gets your link in front of more people. Make sure not to overdo the linking when linking back to yourself, however. That can have the opposite effect. The best backlinks are those that happen organically, meaning another person has noticed your work and linked back. You may not be able to control whether someone links back to you or not. But writing quality content that people are interested in can increase those chances. Guest posting on relevant sites with a link back to relevant work is an acceptable form of backlinks as well. Never pay for backlinks, as this can have a very negative impact if discovered by search engines. Start a niche blog or website. If you are an expert in a topic, make it known by blogging regularly or keeping an up-to-date website. Link back to your existing content when relevant. Not only does this draw more attention to your content. But it helps you build your brand, which is also good for gaining and keeping readership. Regularly updated blogs and websites draw attention of search engines and readers alike. When you link your content by publishing in multiple (relevant) places regularly, that increases the chance of those articles performing better. Be careful not to place too many links in each post or to do overdo the linking, however. It should always be relevant and natural. Include a related section where possible. Regular readers may be familiar with this section in some of my articles. At the end, I sometimes include a section labeled “More from Lyn”. Once I started doing this, my page views increased significantly. This section gives more value to the readers while increasing the chance of greater performance of the linked content. Be sure not to include more than three to five links, however. They also must truly be related to the content. Unless a venue doesn’t allow it (or you have already placed enough links throughout the content), it is always best to include this section. 
Sometimes ads can be annoying. So, you may be enticed to install an ad remover app or program. Before installing ad blocker or ad remover programs, consider all these reasons not to. Doing so can actually be harmful in many ways.
Ads Keep Your Information Coming In order to be able to display that information you’re reading, website owners often rely on payments from those ads. Without impressions (aka you viewing the ads), this can’t happen. If not enough ads are getting impressions (and clicks and sales), that means the website owner no longer can afford to display said content and you lose that reading venue. It costs money to maintain a website (hosting, domain, time and effort, possibly employees and freelance creators, and so on). Therefore, when website owners don’t earn enough via ads, they sometimes have to downsize or close that venue. Many Content Creators Get Paid Solely From Ad Views and Interaction Similar to the website owner, many writers, videographers, and photographers get paid based on the ad revenue made from their content. If the ads have little to no impressions (due to the ad blocker or ad remover), that person makes little to no money on the content and can no longer afford to display it or create more. Therefore, you may no longer see content from this person and they make no money from the hard work they did getting the information out there for you to see. Can you imagine going to work every day, say 5-8 hours per day, and then getting no paycheck as a result of that work? This is what would happen to a content creator if everyone blocked the ads. Sure, not everyone does. However, each blocked ad does ad up and count toward a loss for the people who worked so hard to create that content you love. Just like you deserve to enjoy it, they also deserve to be paid for the work put into it. Blocking Ads May Encourage Publishers to Charge For Their Info The display of ads is often the only way publishers and writers can afford to freely display their content to the public. Without funds from ad revenue, many publishers look to other options, such as paywalls, eBooks, subscriptions, and other paid access choices. In order to keep information free for all to access, sometimes those seemingly annoying ads just have to be there without the intrusion of ad blocking and ad removal programs. I think most people would agree that seeing an annoying ad here and there is a much better option than having to pay for each item they want to view online. What do you think? Let us know in the comment section.  Image © Hurca!; Flickr.com Does your Write W.A.V.E. Media (WWM) content need some extra love? Do you keep checking your fans and followers on social media in hopes that more people will appear? If they haven't yet, you're probably going about things the wrong way - or you just got started and haven't given people time to find you yet. There are many different ways to get more fans and followers. The methods I find the best might surprise you.
Just be you. My number one rule in gaining fans and followers is to just be yourself. This should radiate in the comments you leave, in the content you publish, in your forum posts, and on social sites outside of WWM. There is no model form that everyone should fit into. Readers like to see the real person behind the writing. Don't seek fans. Huh? Yes, that's right. If you want to gain the trust of your readers and writer friends, don't look at them as fans. Certainly don't seek out people, hoping they will like your Facebook page or subscribe. So, why is my fan base so large if I don't seek out fans? I consider my readers and fellow writers to be my friends. Some are closer than others of course. But, I do not go around saying "Please be my fan" or "Please subscribe to my work". Instead, I make friends and it doesn't bother me if they choose not to read my work. Not everyone is interested in the same things. Fans and followers don't necessarily equate to high page views. Most large amounts of page views do not come from having fans and followers. They actually come via the search engines. So, why create those connections, then? Well, just for the sake of having like-minded friends and even for networking purposes. This is not to say their views don't count for anything. They absolutely do. Every view counts. But please don't look at your friends as page view insurance. Treat them as you would any other friend. There are real people behind those computer screens - not just numbers to add to your fan tally. Don't expect people to subscribe or fan you just because you follow them. Sometimes people will fan you back or follow your work if you do the same with theirs. But don't get hurt feelings if they don't - and as mentioned above, don't ask. They simply just may not enjoy your topics or they may just be too busy to read more often. If someone has good content, I am going to read it whether they read mine or not. I never want anyone to feel pressured to read my work just because I read something of theirs. Of course, I appreciate every view I get. But, the most valuable and rewarding fans and subscribers are those that truly are interested in what you have to say. Promote. Now, this may seem to contradict not seeking fans. In fact, it doesn't. It's alright to promote your work. Just do it where appropriate. For instance, don't spam message all your Facebook friends asking for reciprocal subscribing or liking of pages. It would be much more effective (and polite) to post a parenting article link on your profile, fan page, or even on a parenting site where that's allowed. There are ways to find a targeted audience that will be more interested and less irritated with you. Social sites are a great way to get the word out about your work. Just be sure to post other things and not just links to your work. Friends may be interested in your work. But, if that’s all you ever post, it may be considered spam. Go about your daily routine. Just doing everything you normally do on WWM will eventually lead to fans over time. Comment on articles you enjoy. Subscribe to the topics and writers you enjoy. Find their blogs outside the WWM sites, as well. Visit the forums and participate in whatever interests you. People will naturally be curious about you and possibly check out your work, too. If they like what they see, they may even subscribe. By following the advice above, you will soon find yourself gaining more than just fans. You'll be gaining valuable friendships - something much more important than a tally number.  Shutdown Message by Bubblews.com; Screenshot by Lyn Lomasi First Helium, then Squidoo, then Yahoo Contributor Network (YCN), and now Bubblews.com -- these extremely popular online venues for writers have all shut down, some with warning, others not so much. With so many writing platforms closing their doors in the past few years, what are online freelance writers to do? What should they write and where can web writers post content now? Is there anything left? Fortunately for writers, there are still many options available, even though it may seem there aren’t.
The Recent Closure of Bubblews, Among Others Just the other day, writers went to Bubblews.com, only to see this message: “Greetings, After being up and running for almost 3 years now we regrettably need to inform you that we will be shutting Bubblews.com down. The climate for display advertising has drastically changed and made it impossible for us to sustain the business model and operations. We want to thank everyone that was a part of this journey. We wish you all the very best. –Bubblews” Prior to that, it was YCN, Squidoo, and Helium. At least those sites gave warning beforehand and there was some time for writers to gather up their content and decide what to do with it. Allegedly, this wasn’t the case at Bubblews. It seems to have just closed without preparing writers or giving them the chance to save anything. Though, with all the problems surrounding Bubblews (such as not paying many writers), even without seeing a warning, most aren’t surprised in the least. Where Can Writers Post Content for Pay Now? Some writers have been scrambling trying to figure out what to do. Not to worry, though. All is really not lost. There are, in fact, many other venues still in the mix. Write W.A.V.E. Media has a good list of gigs that is updated regularly. In fact, writers can also submit guest posts or apply to be a blogger. Both options allow earning via ad revenue, among other benefits. Your non-exclusive content (that which you previously published at other venues and still hold rights to) is welcome. There are benefits to guest posting, as well as starting your own blog. Many successful writers choose to do both, as the audiences will vary and it gets your name and links in multiple places. Some sites, like Write W.A.V.E. Media, allow links to your other work, which is great for promotion and backlinks. These sites can get your name out there and even recommend you to additional clientele. Because some of these sites accept non-exclusive content, this helps you continue earning more from the work you’ve already done. If you don’t already have a writing website, you should try starting one. This can be an excellent way to gain new clients just from search. It also gives you a way to share your writer’s resume with those who are interested and a hub to link back to from guest posts. It helps you look much more professional when you have your own dot com. You can also sell reprints from your own site, link to sale pages for them from guest posts, and even sell them on sites like constant-content.com. These are far from the only options out there. Writers just need to be a little more persistent in searching for and finding what works for them. If you have any questions about writing, finding and keeping clients, creating a website, web traffic, or web community management, you can always Ask Lyn Lomasi.  We need you to write for us. But why should you? What makes us different from any other company out there? For your convenience, we have listed some of the benefits cited from writing for us.
More control over your earnings We leave ad placement within your content solely up to each writer (not inclusive of any ads we may already have on any given venue). This means that you get to choose which ads are placed with your content and you manage the account surrounding those ads. We do this to ensure that Our Writers get their ad view counts from someone other than us, in an effort to keep trust. More control over your content Any content published on our venues remains your perpetual property. We simply ask you for display rights to place it on any of our sites. Those who go through the Blogger Application process and get approved have access to their designated categories and can post, edit, and delete their own content as they please. Extra exposure just for being you When we notice a writer who’s doing an awesome job at providing quality content on the topics that interest them, we give them even more exposure. That means more promotion and more recommendations simply for being you! This is a great opportunity for those promoting causes and ideal near and dear to them, such as animal rescue, LGBTQ rights, homelessness awareness, and many more. The subject is up to you. The exposure is up to us. We network you Our Writers are featured across our network of sites, as well as in various social venues. We feature them on our facebook and twitter pages, in emails to prospective clients, and in many other ways. We even allow links to your other content, within reason according to our Submission Guidelines. Our main goal is to spread the word about quality writers and help them find work they deserve. We teach you We don't just post your content and profile and ignore you. We offer our blog as a learning tool. But we also will answer questions from writers directly -- things that help you succeed in what you do. This not only ensures Our Writers always produce the best content for us. More importantly, it helps them become better writers overall. Again, our main goal is to tell the world about you and help you get contracts and gigs you deserve. We want you to have other clients Say what? Yes, that is correct. Our goal is not to be your only venue of choice. In order to truly know the ins and outs of the writing game, we believe that all web writers should submit to multiple clients and venues. This provides you with a range of experiences that adds to your overall quality as a web writer. In fact, we prefer that you do not use us as a sole source for your writing needs for this purpose. Diversification equates to knowledge and experience. Ultimately, it is up to each individual which venue or venues will suit their personal needs. We hope this guide has helped in your decision.  Image © freeblogphotos; Flickr.com Are you unsure exactly what direction you should take with us as a writer? Not quite understanding how things operate? This simple guide should navigate you through the beginning steps. If you have questions beyond that, please use our Contact Us form or join the Facebook group, WWM Blogging & Beyond.
Step One: Read, read, read!! -- Before submitting any content or applying, be sure to read all about us and how we work. The Submission Guidelines should be your very first stop to make sure you can write in the free-form styles we are looking for and follow rules. After that, take a look at Our Sites to view content and get an idea of what type of work we accept. We promise you we are very open-minded, but we do of course need to have some grammar and style rules, like any reputable publication should. Step Two: Decide your goals -- Which of our options best fits your needs? Do you want to write for us on occasion or just once? The Guest Submissions page is probably what you are looking for. We love to hear from a variety of people and this is a good way to get your message heard on one or more occasional issues. Are you looking for a contracted gig? Please check out Gigs With Us and Other Gigs. Perhaps you are looking for a flexible blogging platform with an established audience. Check out our Blogger Application to determine if that may be your answer. We all have unique needs and once you determine what you are looking for, that helps us both decide where to go. Step Three: Wait and Learn -- At this point, you should know what you would like to do and you will likely be waiting to hear back from us. We generally don't take that long. But we have some experience with that waiting game writers experience. We know it's tough -- even when it's a short time. While you're waiting, brush up on the Submission Guidelines, follow our Blog, browse Our Sites, or chat it up with fellow writers on the Write W.A.V.E. Media Facebook page. We have found as writers that the best way to conquer the waiting game is to read, learn, write, edit, rinse, and repeat. Good luck! We look forward to working with you! 
Image courtesy of wikimedia.com
by Dennis Townsend, Contributing Writer
First of all, I’d like to thank everyone for their concerns and well wishes in regards to my latest health scare, and I assure you that while an acute myocardial infraction is nothing to sneeze at, I was fortunate that I live very close to a fire station with great paramedics. And I was also blessed to have one of our city’s premier cardiologist on duty when I arrived at the hospital. But they all tell me that it was my fast thinking in realizing that I was having a heart attack and calling 911. Always remember that all that glitters is not gold, and all chest pains are not “gas”. As my cardiologist was quick to tell me “time waits for no one”, so pay close attention to your health. Well, I feel pretty good, but lifestyle changes are in order and fortunately there was no damage to my heart muscle. With that said, I have come to the conclusion that writers put their health in jeopardy by sitting for long periods of time as medical studies have proven. And that combined with stressing out over lack of ideas, or spending a lot of time with no time outs cultivating ideas that requires a lot of research is a recipe for disaster. But as writers, research is “par for the course"most of the time when you're not sitting in your "think tank." If you are one who makes a living as a writer, then stress is your middle name. There’s always a deadline to meet, or a certain quota to achieve, but the most stressful thing you have to contend with is wondering if your article or post will be interesting and cut the mustard with your readers, and if it does, can you continue to hold your followers attention? "Content"… that is the backbone of any writer, and to be placed under the gun constantly is no picnic because you have a tendency to not eat or sleep or go outside for a breath of fresh air in the name of content.Your brain starts turning to mush, and your backside starts to feel like you just took a 500 mile trip in an Army Jeep nonstop. Somehow a writer must establish some boundaries and and maintain some sort of discipline. I write as a hobby, and I enjoy it, and even though I don’t depend on my writings to make a living I still must remember to push myself away from the keyboard a little more often. In this day and age, the keyboard is mightier than the sword. And believe it or not, writing becomes a lot more enjoyable if you take some time for a “keyboard time-out” during the day. Ideas require a fresh mind and body and as I have said before, carry a small notepad with you for those “light bulb” moments. There has been a lot of debates and studies about health problems associated with people who sit all day at their jobs and it all comes down to blood circulation. While I never stress out worrying about making a deadline, lack of exercise and sporadic eating habits put my body in the same dangerous category as a stressed out deadline writer. Lesson learned. The last few months have taught me that first and foremost, listen to your body and take time out to smell the roses. That advise is not only meant for those of us who hammer the keyboard day in, and day out, but it’s also for anyone else who finds themselves pulling their hair out by the roots. Your doctor can prescribe many things for your health, but ultimately, it’s up to you to write your own prescription to relax and enjoy life. From now on, I will.
DLTPONCHO33
by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff 
Image by Judith E. Bell via Flickr.com
Part of managing an online community includes keeping it as spam-free as possible. In order to do this, you’ll need to be clear and consistent with members. This doesn’t mean you have to be mean. In fact, as a community manager, you should have team spirit. Following these simple actions can help you keep control of spam in your community, while still being a team leader and friend.
Set Guidelines If members are unaware of what they should and shouldn’t do it’s easy for things to get out of hand. Set clear guidelines that people can understand and access easily. This will help members to understand what they should and shouldn’t be doing. Some people may break the rules anyway. However, most people will follow the rules if they are visible and made clear. Have Security Measures in Place Do you know what you’re going to do if someone gets out of control in your community? Have you set up an easy plan for banning people or contacting authorities (if necessary)? While these actions should be as minimal as possible (on an as needed basis), you do need to have a security plan in place. Your community should have security plans for banning, spam control, hacking, and more. These can all occur separately or together. Therefore, you should be prepared as such. Remove Violations as Quickly as Possible When a member violates a rule, act as quickly as possible. This keeps things clear, safe, and secure for all members. It also lets violators know you won’t tolerate their spammy behavior. The longer spam is left up, the more it can bother legitimate members and encourage the behavior from other possible violators. Let people know you are serious about avoiding spam in your community. When violations are removed, it is wise to let community members know the reasons why it was removed and point to the violating rule, where possible. Stick to the Rules When Punishing Spammers Follow the same rules for all members and for all types of spam. This way, most people will feel they are being treated fairly. Sometimes people can feel actions are unfair. But if you treat all actions as streamlined as possible, it can help avoid these feelings. It’s important to let people know you are serious about violations. But you still want your members to feel like they are part of a team and they need to know that you appreciate and respect them all. You simply have to follow the rules to keep the community safe and desirable for everyone. by Dale Shadbegian, 118Group.com  Image by adactio via Flickr.com Many websites are lacking a feature that they desperately need in today’s environment. if you don’t know what responsive design is, chances are your website doesn't have it. The problem is that websites without it will be seen by less people. There are several questions people often ask about responsive design. Here are some of the most common, along with reasons why your website needs responsive design.
What is Responsive Website Design? Responsive website design is exactly what it sounds like. It’s when a website responds appropriately to the device it’s being accessed from. A website properly coded to do this will display at the appropriate screen resolution or size, whether it’s pulled up on a tablet, desktop, smart phone, laptop, or other internet-capable device. For example, if you were to pull up a website on your smart phone, it should show you the same things you see on your laptop, but at an appropriate size and resolution for the phone. Can’t I Just Program the Screen Sizes In? While this was a good solution in the past, it’s no longer this simple. There are so many varying screen sizes now. This makes it more sensible to have someone who knows what they’re doing program a responsive script into your website. Some people may have larger and wider screens for desktop computers. Some may have both small and large screens on smart phones and these can vary greatly in size and shape. This makes it hard to program in every possible resolution. Why Should I Bother Redesigning My Website? In order to cater to the largest possible audience, it makes more business sense to have a website that will show for as many people as possible. Responsive design helps ensure that screen resolution issues will be minimal to none. By taking the time to have your site redesigned now, you’ll be possibly setting yourself up to earn more in the future. Without this capability, your website may not earn as much it has the potential to. What Can Responsive Design Do For My Website? When your readers can properly see images, videos, text, and other interactive content without running into issues, they are more likely to return. However, users who have trouble accessing a website properly upon the first load are less likely to try accessing it again. Responsive design can help ensure that the majority of your users can view the content in the best way possible for their given devices. How Can I Make My Site More Responsive? While some may be capable of doing this on their own, if you don’t have experience, it is best to leave it to a professional web designer. Someone more experienced in the field will be able to properly design and program the script that fits your specific website. The benefits of responsive design far outweigh the risks of not having a site that is accessible to a large audience. Contact 118group.com today for a quote on responsive design services. Freelance Writers Share Their Best Adviceby Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff 
When getting started in writing, it can be very useful to consult the pros. But perhaps you haven't met any yet and are just looking for some quick hints before networking with other writers. Maybe you just want some extra hints or a reminders to keep you going. I recently asked a group of my writing peers to share the best writing advice or tips they ever received. What are some of the best tips you've heard?
"Do your homework before jumping in. If you write an article without knowing what a company expects, you set yourself up for failure and will be discouraged. There are an infinite amount of resources of available, take time to read them so you know what the company wants." - Amy Brantley in Bryson City, North Carolina "Don't write for only one site or client. That way, if the site or client stops requiring your services, you have other sources of revenue." - Sandra Petersen in Two harbors, Minnesota "Write about things you are passionate about. Your readers will be able to tell, if it is something you really believe in." - Brett Day in Moore, Oklahoma "The best writing advice I received when I first started writing, was to make my articles reusable, as most of my work will never go out of style, I can promote at will, to maximize page views." - Cheri Majors in Covina, CA "Rewrite! Edit! Refine! Restructure! Delete! Spend as much time editing as you do writing. Editing, to me, is a ruthless process of removing anything that gets in the way of saying what I want to say." - Tsu Dho Nimh in Phoenix, Arizona "'Write what you know.' It sounds corny, but as a Montessori educator, it has helped me find a niche in an area where there hasn't yet been a lot published." Andrea Coventry in Rochester, NY "The best advice I received and initially scoffed at was "write what you know." Time and again, the work bears this out. Writing on topics that you have an intimate knowledge of shows in ways no amount of research can make up for and the rewards or pay supports this." - Theresa Leschmann in Southern Illinois "The best advice I received when I began writing was not to take criticism personally. Now I take it with a grain of salt and see what I can learn from it. It's made me a better writer even though I'm still improving my skills." - Laurie Childree in Dothan, Alabama "Learn what SEO techniques are, and how to use them in writing articles. This especially applies to article titles; I used to write 'Game Review: Title' until I learned SEO methods." - Lori May in Wheat Ridge, Colorado "I never knew I could write until my college friends asked why I didn't. Feedback, positive or negative is always helpful. I'm a good writer but I'm a great re-writer." - Jeff Rogers in Honolulu, Hawaii "Break the rules. When I started knowing what you shouldn't do in terms of approaching editors and the like, I had a tougher time. In the beginning, I could not be deterred. If you have no clips, work for free in areas you want to be an expert in. Donate your words to causes that mean something to you. Then, know your worth and be able to walk away from a job." - Kim Remesch in Baltimore, Maryland *I originally published a version of this via Yahoo Contributor Network by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff  Image (c) Lyn Lomasi; All Rights Reserved There are many different online sites to write for, many of which I love utilizing. However, freelance writers also have the amazing opportunity of acquiring private clients. There are so many different ways to do this. I will share some of my most successful methods.
Get Your Name Out There Start a blog. Submit articles to various websites. Websites that give you a profile page can work very well for this. You basically want to establish one or more areas where there are many examples of your work to showcase. The more the better, but this can still be beneficial to beginners as well. Be sure that wherever you do this, there is a way for potential clients to contact you. You don’t want to put out your email address all over the web, unless you like spam emails. However, there are ways to set up contact forms that you can link to or post as a widget on any blog or website with a little html. Don’t worry newbies, it’s just a little copy/paste stuff – you don’t have to know what it means to use it. Visit EmailMeForm for an example of what I’m talking about. Start a Website Start up your own website. It doesn’t really cost that much to start a website. There are many websites that will host yours for free and domain names are pretty cheap and easy to obtain. If you know how to write code (html, Java, CSS…), you can start from scratch and completely build the site layouts and everything yourself. Or, if you either have no clue what I just said or are lazy, there are sites out there that have ready-made templates and you just plug stuff into it where you want it. Anyway, I noticed that once I started my own website, it was easier to implement other methods of finding clients. Either they come to my site through a search for me or for a freelance writer. Also, there are other ways to use the site to my advantage as a freelance writer, which I will mention below. Post On Freelance and Job Boards Throw your name out there on freelance and job boards. Show your writing skills in what you post. If you have a website, your ad or resume does tend to look more professional. If your website also displays or links to samples of your work, you have an even better chance of being contacted. Post On Craigslist Craigslist also is a great place to post a resume if you’re looking for private writing gigs. Just like with the job board thing, having a website to reference makes your resume or posting look more professional. When clients can actually see what you are doing for a living via a website, they can have more faith in your abilities and that’s what you want. Print Up and Distribute Business Cards If you want freelance writing to be your career, treat it like one. Print up some business cards and keep them with you at all times. You never know when you’ll have that opportune moment to pass one out. Also, you never know who will need a professional writer. Give extra copies to close friends and family that don’t mind helping out. They can pass them on to others who might be able to use your services. Network with businesses that may need the type of writing that you do. At the right moment, let them know what you do and present them with your business card. Business cards show professionalism and a business card that displays a website is even better. Do a Web Search Search for phrases such as "online writing gigs", "submission guidelines," "get paid to write," and "article submissions." I spend a ton of time doing this and you'd be surprised at how many results there are. I love coming up with new phrases to look for and seeing what I can find. After that point, it's all about contacting whoever has posted the info you find. There is nothing worse than calculating your taxes, owing a lot of money and looking at your bank accounts and credit cards and realizing you do not have the funds to pay. It's worse if you have a low wage job or work for yourself. I fall into the latter category. I work for myself and paying income taxes falls solely on me. This results in my owing taxes to the federal government every year.
Filing And Owing I file my taxes on time every year regardless of my ability to pay. The penalties for not filing are worse than not paying, and the IRS recommends that taxpayers file a tax return whether they have the funds to pay or not. Failure to file a return can result in the IRS filling out a substitute tax return for you. The substitute return will not include every deduction and credit. Typically, they only include the earned income and the single exemption that every taxpayer can claim. This results in owing more taxes than you actually owe. Because of this scenario, I make sure to file my taxes by the April deadline every year. Inability To Pay Tax bills are often several hundred or several thousand dollars. I never have that much money in any of my bank accounts. Thankfully, the IRS offers several ways to pay, including payment plans and tax bill settlements. Payment Plans The IRS offers affordable payment plans for as low as $25 a month. In order to set up a payment plan, I had to call the IRS and request one. During the conversation, the woman asked me how much I could pay a month. I said $25 since I already knew the lowest amount they would accept. The catch to the IRS payment plans is that the entire balance must be paid by the tax filing deadline of the next year. If I still owe money to the IRS and I owe more money after filing, my payment plan could be deemed void, which would require calling the IRS again. IRS Tax Settlement An IRS tax settlement is called an "Offer in Compromise" and works similar to a traditional debt settlement agreement. The individual or business must complete and submit one of two lengthy forms; either IRS Form 433-A or Form 433-B and pay a $150 application fee. Along with the application fee, taxpayers must also submit a money order or a cashier's check for 20 percent of their offer. If approved, the remaining amount must be paid in five or fewer payments to the IRS. Individuals that qualify for low income do not have to submit any money with the application. However, when I looked over the paperwork, I realized I needed to include all of my bank statements, investment accounts and assets as well as business expenses and liabilities. This option would have required me to hire a tax professional to fill out all the forms and ensure the calculations were correct. Since my bill wasn't thousands of dollars, I decided against this route. My Payment Plan I worked out an agreement with the IRS to pay them $25 a month until my tax debt is paid off. My total tax bill amounted to just over $600. Unfortunately, $25 a month will not pay off my tax bill by April 15, 2013. This means that before April 15th, I need to call the IRS and pay the remainder of my tax bill. If I fail to pay off my 2012 tax debt before April 15th, I risk losing my payment plan and having to renegotiate with the IRS. Not Communicating If I had chosen not to communicate my financial hardship with the IRS, the IRS could have placed tax levies against my home. They could have frozen all of my bank accounts, issued wage garnishments against my income and taken my car and any other personal property they deemed valuable enough to sell to cover my tax debt.  Free government grants do exist, but the government does not refer to them as such. They simply call them grants because, after all, that is what they are. Gurus, companies, and others out to make a quick dollar will try to reel you in and get you to buy their information on free grants. Do not give in to them. This information is already free and readily available to the public by The United States Government. You should never have to pay to receive this information. Why would someone want to pay for something that is free? Better yet, why should they have to? The United States Government already has topic-specific websites in place full of this information, as well as 1-800 numbers to call if you choose to gain the information that way instead. Not only have the sellers of this "top-secret information" lied to the public by claiming that you must buy their programs, books, or other products to receive this information, but they have also led innocent people to believe that most of these grants are available to an individual person. While there are specific grants that are available to individuals, most grants are reserved for small businesses and non-profit organizations. An individual person is not likely to get a grant to pay off a mortgage. Statements like this are simply made by these companies to get you to purchase their products. They tell you that unless you purchase what they are offering, you cannot find out about these grants. Well, in a sense they are correct, but not in the way you are led to think. That statement is correct because once you purchase their product, you will find out what they say about it. However, you will likely be disappointed when you contact the government agencies they mention. The reason for the upset is simple. The government will tell you that what you are asking for does not exist. While the government does give farming, housing, business, college, education, and house building grants, these grants are given to non-profit organizations that help people. They are not given to individuals. While individual grants do exist, the types of grants more commonly given to individuals is different than our expectations based upon what we are seeing and hearing in these ads. An individual grant falls more along the lines of food stamp programs, section 8 vouchers, FAFSA, job training (not college; these are small courses designed to help those who have never worked or those who haven't worked in a long time transition into the working world), nursing traineeships, Head Start program, welfare/TANF/AFDC, scholarships, free vaccinations, and other such programs. As you can see, while free government grants do exist, we are oftentimes misled as to what exactly they are. For more information from the United States Government, please refer to the links below:
*I originally published a version of this via Yahoo Contributor Network
by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer  If your company has one or more clients with an outstanding debt, you may be considering hiring a debt recovery agency. Doing so could be beneficial to your company. Before choosing one, there are some things you should know about using a debt recovery agent for your business.
What is Debt Recovery? Debt recovery is the process of collecting monies owed from clients for goods or services. Debt recovery collections are used when a client either refuses to pay monies owed or cannot pay due to financial constraints. What is a Debt Recovery Agency Used For? A debt recovery agency is used by businesses (and sometimes private parties) to recover debts owed by clients. These debts might be for services performed or for goods sold to the client. The debt recovery agency takes over correspondence with delinquent account holders. It is their job to get these clients to pay the debt. Debt recovery agencies provide services such as billing and invoicing, legal services, recovery, collection services and judgment recovery. How to Choose the Right Debt Recovery Agency The first thing to remember in choosing a debt recovery agency to work with your business is to look into multiple agencies. A simple way to find multiple sources is by using a company that provides matching services for business-to-business transactions. By researching the practices, services and prices of multiple companies, you can better ensure that your company has made a good choice and is getting a fair deal. If you simply go with the first debt recovery agency you see, you might not be getting a fair price or full potential in services, but you won't know if you haven't looked into other debt recovery collection companies. Ask questions of each debt recovery collections company and observe their debt recovery in action if possible. Are they fair and ethical with clients? Do they or are they willing to practice business in the same manner as your company when handling your clients? Are they following the law in their debt recovery process? Do not be afraid to examine each debt recovery agency. This will help you determine which one is right for your company and its needs. If you go with business-to-business matching services, this process will be much smoother, as companies will be matched to yours, based on specific criteria. *I originally published a version of this via Yahoo Contributor Network by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer  If your business needs to recover client debts, you may be considering hiring a collection agency. Before deciding whether you'll use one or not, you need to know how debt collection agencies work. There are various fees involved in utilizing debt collection agencies, as well as various reasons a business would benefit from using one.
How do Debt Collection Agencies Work? Debt collection agencies are entities hired by businesses to recover debts owed for goods or services. Debt collection agencies often have a proven track record of getting results and are considered experts in debt recovery. Debt collection agencies work exclusively on debt recovery, allowing you to concentrate on the more pleasant aspects of your business. Why Use Debt Collection Agencies? A business may choose to use debt collection agencies for a variety of reasons. One reason is their proven track record of success in debt recovery. Sometimes clients will respond more readily to a debt collector than to the business they are dealing with. When a debt owed has gone to collections, the client knows that it is one step closer to being reported as debt on their credit report, if it hasn't been already. This prompts many to pay immediately. Also, most people want to avoid court, which is where some companies will take them if the debt cannot be settled through collection agencies. What Type of Fee Structure Do Debt Collection Agencies Follow? There are various fee structures depending on the particular debt collection agency used, as well as the dollar amount of the debt. For smaller debts, it would be wise to choose between collection agencies that will charge a flat fee rate. For larger debts, you may want to choose from debt collection agencies that will take a percentage from the debt upon collection or will directly purchase the delinquent account from your business. Choosing Between Debt Collection Agencies When choosing between debt collection agencies, ask a lot of questions to make sure you understand how each of the debt collection agencies work. You want to choose a company that is open to following your company's practice in dealing with clients. Also, you want to choose a company that has a proven track record for success as well as professionalism in dealing with clients. The company must also follow ethical collections practices, which are laid out by the law. This is why it's important to review multiple debt collection agencies before making the final decision. *I originally published this via Yahoo Contributor Network by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer  Business lunch spots are a must in any city. Houston, one of America's largest cities, is certainly no exception. But, in a city so large and full of options, how do you find the best dining spot for your business solution?
Whatever option you choose, be sure that it fits your business needs. For instance, if you are meeting your boss about an important client, you don't want to choose a fast food restaurant. You would choose something more upscale and formal. Below I have compiled a list and overview of what I consider to be the best business lunch spots in Houston. There are a variety of options, so no matter your lunchtime business need, these suggestions should be able to help you out. Texas Land & Cattle If you're looking for a steakhouse, Texas Land & Cattle could be your choice. There are many menu options at this popular steakhouse. You don't have to be restricted to steak here. You can also find many chicken dishes, as well as specialty salads. The only qualms some have about this restaurant is the lack of choice for vegetarians. It seems the only menu item available for a vegetarian is a salad. While this is a steakhouse, it is still a great spot for either one-on-one lunch meetings or group meetings. Group dining is available here. Texas Land & Cattle is at the average price range for steakhouses. Pappasito's Cantina Pappasito's is the ideal business lunch location for a variety of business needs. Pappasito's is a Tex-Mex restaurant, boasting a variety of flavorful menu options. Not only is this a great sit-down restaurant for one-on-one business lunches, it's also perfect for larger parties. There is even a separate area that can be rented out for private parties or meetings - and a Mariachi band will play for you as well. The prices are fair and the food is exceptional. If Mexican food isn't your thing, the same company chain (Pappa's Restaurants) also has Pappadeux Seafood Kitchen, Pappa's Bros. Steakhouse, Pappa's BBQ, Pappa's Seafood House, Pappa's Greek Kitchen (Yia Yia Mary's), Pappa's Burger and Pappa's Grill. All of these are favorites among Houstonians. These restaurants have various locations around the Houston area. Taco Cabana If you enjoy Tex-Mex, but aren't looking for the restaurant feel, Taco Cabana might be your choice. You can dine-in or get your food to go. Taco Cabana also has a drive-thru if you and your business partners prefer to take your lunch back to the office or elsewhere. If you choose to eat at Taco Cabana, expect to order your food at the counter and choose your own seating area. Once your order number is called, you'll need to go to the counter to pick up your order. There is also a salsa station so that you can add the salsas of your choice to your food tray. Taco Cabana has many locations all over Houston. Olive Garden Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant that is famous for its salad. The lunch menu has items you would expect to see at an Italian restaurant, such as lasagna, filled pastas, soups, salads, pizza and chicken scampi. There are many more delectable foods to choose from, including a wine menu and dessert. This restaurant is great for one-on-one business meetings or average-sized groups. If your party is a fairly large size, you should call ahead to alert the staff. Chili's Chili's is a traditional American-style bar and grill restaurant. Here you can get most traditional American foods, such as hot wings, salads, burgers, nachos and also some specialties exclusive to Chili's. Southwest Eggrolls are a favorite among many Chili's patrons. There is also an alcoholic beverage menu. These items can be ordered from a table or from the bar. If your business meeting is casual, Chili's is an excellent place to go for lunch. You can expect to pay an average of about $9 per entree. However, some are less and some are more. P.F. Chang's P.F. Chang's is a bistro-style Chinese restaurant. Here you can find traditional Chinese food, such as lettuce wraps, peking dumplings, wontons, spring rolls, spare ribs, wonton soup, lo mein and more. At P.F. Chang's, you will find menu options for vegetarians as well as meat eaters. This is a more formal dining experience than the previously-mentioned restaurants, which makes it perfect for important business meetings. You’ll get your meal served to you in courses. Expect to pay above average prices for this meal. *I originally published a version of this via Yahoo Contributor Network by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer  There often comes a point in time when a small business needs to offer a solution for effective communication. This could be communication between employees. It might even be communication between clients, customers or the general public. This is when social media comes into play. A small business may choose to use social media for only one of these groups. Yet another may choose to make social media accessible to all.
What is Social Media? Social media is the combination of technology and social interaction. Generally, social media is that which is accessed through various Internet tools. The purpose of social media is to have interaction between a group of people involved with the company either directly or indirectly. Each company's specific use will differ. Social Media Platforms to Consider Blogging is one social media platform that has become popular for the small business. It allows a company to keep everyone updated on what is going on. Those who read the blog may also leave comments, which create more opportunity for open communication. Another social media platform that a small business might find useful is an online forum where users can post and reply to messages. Networking websites (like Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus) are also great for a small business to join, as they can help existing people affiliated with the business to communicate, as well as draw in new people and ideas. These are only some of the many social media platforms a small business may consider. Getting Started With Social Media The first part of incorporating social media into a small business is deciding whether it will be run from the company's own website or whether various existing websites or platforms would be utilized. If a small business already has a website, it is wise to see which types of social media would be easy to implement into that site's design. This will make it more readily accessible to those who will utilize it. If that option does not work, the decision should then be made as to whether the small business will pay for its social media or utilize free services. For instance, there are various websites that offer free blogging accounts, free forums and other types of social media. There are also websites and services that may charge a fee to the small business for specialized social media services. Choosing the Right Social Media A small business should make its social media decisions based upon the needs of the business, its clients and its customers as well as those of the employees. For instance, let's say a company is looking for simpler communication between its employees when they are not at work. That small business could create a password-protected Internet forum for employees to post and reply to messages at their own convenience. Yet another small business may want to instead create an Internet forum for interaction between its customers or clients to allow them to relate to each other, as well as to get a feel for what they are looking for. Still another small business may not even have a need for an Internet forum, but prefer to operate an interactive news source instead. It is important to wisely choose social media and how it will be used. A poor choice in this area could waste time and money that could have been utilized for a more effective social media plan. *I originally published this via Yahoo Contributor Network by Lyn Lomasi, Staff Writer  As a business owner, you may find yourself in a situation where a client or customer is refusing to pay or ignoring inquiries. It may go something like this:
"Mary, when I spoke to you last week, you said you would pay me Thursday. It is Sunday, and I still see no evidence of a payment." "I'm sorry, Charles. I tried to get a payment in, but I just can't right now. Can I have another extension?" "Mary, I've already given you three extensions. I cannot afford to wait for this payment any longer." If you have been in a scenario like this, you are not alone. Unfortunately, it’s fairly common. Thankfully, a debt collector can help take away some of the stress involved. What is a Debt Collector? A Debt collector often is hired by businesses and sometimes private parties to help collect debts that are owed by patrons of the business. There are many ways that a business can benefit from the services of a debt collector. Some of the benefits are obvious, such as the collection of the debt. However, there are many subtle benefits as well. What Types of Services can Debt Collectors Provide? A debt collector can handle the job of contacting your clients when they are delinquent in their financial obligations to you. Phone calls, bills and other correspondence related to the financial obligations of your delinquent clients can be handled by a debt collector. What are the Benefits of Hiring a Debt Collector? It can be difficult to collect a debt. Clients may give any number of excuses or reasons as to why they have not satisfied their financial obligation to you. If you know your clients well, this can pose a problem. It can be difficult not to sympathize with clients you have established a long term business relationship with. A debt collector will not have the disadvantage of knowing your clients as well as you do. Debt collectors are simply there to collect debts. Debt collection agencies often will keep track of all correspondence with your clients. In some instances this will not be needed, because hearing from a debt collector often is enough incentive for many people to go ahead and make the payment. But in some situations, people either just will not be able to pay or will flat out refuse to pay. In some of those cases, it may go to court. The records that a debt collector will keep can provide evidence in the case of your business. How Do I Choose a Debt Collector? When choosing a debt collector, you should learn about their track record. It's important to look into multiple entities. Choose a debt collector that best suits your business needs. A good debt collector will be willing to handle collection matters legally, as well as in a way that benefits your company and follows its policy. *I originally published a version of this via Yahoo Contributor Network |
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