4 Ways To Make Sex More Spontaneous

by Dan & Jennifer

Making sex more spontaneous is something that a lot of couples try to focus on when working on their sex lives. Spontaneity can bring a lot to people’s sex lives. This can bring passion and more intimacy to a couple with very little effort. It’s easy to fall into the trap of having the same old boring sex on the same day every week, especially if you’re in a long-term relationship. So in an effort to break this monotony, couples are engaging in more spontaneous and “in the moment” styles of sexual activity.

If you would like to take your sex life out of this rut, there are a few ways to make sex more spontaneous.

1. Toss The Schedule

So many couples rely on a schedule for sex that it completely downgrades their sex lives. This schedule might not be set in stone or written down, but if you know that you always have sex on Saturday morning at 8am it’s probably time to toss the schedule.

A scheduled time to have sex will not only hinder the excitement, it can lead to less intimacy. A relationship is a partnership and having this set day to have sex can make it seem more like a chore than a meeting of the minds. Make a conscious decision to never follow a timetable in your sex life.

2. Always Have Condoms

While this rule might only appear to be geared toward men, it can also be applied to women. One of the biggest reasons that couples can’t have spontaneous sex is because of protection issues. It is a great idea to always carry condoms with you, but if you’re specifically trying to make your sex life more spontaneous, this is a must.

Having the proper protection with you at all times will prevent pregnancy and the spread of STDs. This can also give you a “ready anytime” attitude with your partner. This suggestion also extends to women. There are going to be times when your husband or boyfriend does not have condoms on him.

Surprise him by whipping your own stash when the moment strikes. There are a lot of women that consider using birth control for this very subject. Birth control can be a great way to add peace of mind and spontaneity to your relationship, but always check with your doctor beforehand. Different women have different side effects with the birth control they use so you want to bring any issues up with your physician.

3. Discover Each Other’s Fantasies

When you know what turns on your partner, you can easily avoid the pitfalls of mundane sex. Make it a point to share your fantasies with each other so you can spice up your love lives with some spontaneity. You can start to feel those butterflies at any moment and an opportunity might present itself in the blink of an eye.

Say your boyfriend has a roleplaying fantasy and you just happen to be dressed up as a sexy businesswoman. This is an excellent opportunity to take control of his desires and make your sex life a little less ordinary. When you share each other’s fantasies he will also be able to take you up on a spurt of the moment romp. This can also work for women.

Say that your girlfriend has a fantasy of being taken by a mechanic. You’re working on your car one day and boom, she is instantly turned on. Communicate with each other your sex life will thrive.

4. Have Date Nights During The Week

Date nights are usually relegated to Friday or Saturday nights. Why not shake things up a bit and turn date night upside down by utilizing it during the week? Tuesday, Wednesday or even Monday night can give you a little something extra to look forward to when you have a spontaneous date night. Men are expected to make the plans for the date and oversee all of the details.

If you want to have a more spontaneous romance, the woman can take control. Surprise your husband or boyfriend with a date night in the middle of the week. Plan everything yourself and simply tell him that you’re taking him out. This is a great way to break up the week and add to the spontaneity.

A great date night is to meet each other in a bar and pretend that you have first met. Have your boyfriend try to pick you up for some extra spontaneity.

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Top 10 Tips to Improve your Memory

Virtually every day we are required to remember a name, a face, a number, or some other piece of information. For many people it is a struggle. It no longer needs to be so – here is a list of ten great tips to improving your memory.

1. Patterns

An excellent way to remember a large number or phrase, is to look for patterns. Here is a simple example:

3810151722242931363843

The number appears to be random until you realize that it is following a pattern: add 5, then add 2, repeat. Once you know the pattern, you only need to remember the first number in the sequence. This can be a useful way to create a numeric password that changes regularly. Another way to use this system is to remember the numbers in the form of a numerical keyboard. You can use your spatial awareness to remember the number rather than just blind memorizing.

2. Associations

This is an excellent method for memorizing numbers. In this system, you associate portions of the number with a word that has some relation to it. For example:

74736052007365

Split the number up and make an association for each sequence. Doing so can give us a list like this: Jumbo Jet (747), XBox (360), Deck of Cards (52), James Bond (007), Days in the year (365). This method can again be used for passwords that are easy to remember. To help you remember your images, try to imagine a scene that incorporates all of the items. For example, you may see a calendar with a photograph of James Bond playing poker on his XBox on a private 747. Sounds weird, but it works.

3. Alphabetize

We are all very familiar with the system of alphabetization – we see it every day in phone books, online directories, and a variety of other places. If you have a list of words to remember, put them into alphabetical order. If you wanted to learn a very long list – such as the States of the USA, start with one state per letter. Once you have that memorized, go back and add another state for each letter. Repeat until the whole list is stored in your mind. You would be surprised how much more effective this is than just trying to remember the whole list in one go.

4. Categorize

In a way, alphabetizing is categorizing, but with this method you can go a lot further. If you have a big list of things to remember, you can find similarities and group them. For example a shopping list:

Apples, Shampoo, Cheese, Milk, Sugar, Bananas, Soap, Coconut, Flour

Now, reorder them into categories and we have this:

Fruit: Apples, Bananas
Dried Goods: Coconut, Sugar, Flour
Dairy: Milk, Cheese
Bathroom: Shampoo, Soap

Another great way to remember your categories (especially in the case of a shopping list) is to remember your categories in the order that they are found in the supermarket. For example, if your first aisle is Fruit, remember the fruit first and think of the fruit aisle while you are doing so.

5. Chunking

Chunking is such a useful method of remembering things that we all use it every day. The best example is telephone numbers. When we are told a phone number we have to remember we chunk it up – usually into area code – 3 digits – four digits. This is not out of conformity – it is because it is the most effective way to remember such random numbers. This is also an excellent way to remember long sequences like pi to n digits. Taking just four extra digits a day you can easily remember pi to many decimal places. Great for a party trick.

6. Images

This is the most effective way to remember a person’s name. If you meet John Key, imagine his face with a big key right in the center of his face. If you meet someone called Patty Grant, you can try to remember a meat patty wrapped in wads of cash. I will leave it up to your own imagination if you meet Bob Johnson. Another way to do this is to find an association between this person and someone else you know – imagine them shaking hands or standing next to each other.

7. Visualize

This is a very ancient technique of memorization called Loci. In this method you imagine a location (something easy like your home) and you place the objects you need to remember in to a different part of the room. The famous Cicero had this to say:

“One must employ a large number of places which must be well-lighted, clearly set out in order, at moderate intervals apart, and images which are active, which are sharply defined, unusual, and which have the power of speedily encountering and penetrating the mind.”

For example, if you need to remember a list of vegetables, put each vegetable in a different place in the room. When you need to recall the list, move in your mind through each location in the room and see what you put there. If you find this one especially helpful, you can expand on it by adding additional floors to your location.

8. Story Method

This one can be very fun. Make up a story and include all of the things you need to remember in it. The story can be totally ridiculous. Let’s say you need to remember to buy a bucket, a dozen apples, a hairbrush, and some kitty litter, you might make a story like this:

After Jane emptied the kitty litter from Felix’s dirtbox in to the red bucket, she gave him a good brushing with his new hairbrush while she ate an apple for lunch.

It is not the most thrilling or original story, but it can be very effective in helping you to remember your list.

9. Mnemonics

A mnemonic is a word or short phrase that you can use to remember something because it is like a key to the rest of the information. For example, if you learned music as a child, you probably remember the phrase: “every good boy deserves fruit” – each word stands for a note on the musical staff – EGBDF. No doubt you were also taught a mnemonic to remember the colors of the rainbow as well.

Another slight variation is to use a phrase: desert and dessert: the sweet one has two sugars. We also use this to remember daylight savings time: Spring forward, fall back.

10. Senses

If you have to remember a word, try remembering it with your other senses. For example, if you have to remember to buy soap, try to conjure up an image of soap and whilst doing so, imagine what it smells like. You can also use your other senses in the same way: to remember to buy an alarm clock, remember the sound it makes when it goes off in the morning.

All of the items on this list can be used on their own, or in conjunction with the others to help you improve your memory. The more you practice these tips, the better you will become.

Source: 5 Minute Memory Workout

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Signs You’re Slowing Down Your Own Traffic

By: Taylor Davies

 

Are you unknowingly driving yourself into to a blogging traffic jam?

Without even thinking about it, you could be self-sabotaging your content by not considering some critical elements that can make all the difference. Let’s cover a few of the basics that will help take you from bumper-to-bumper on the 405 to flying to your destination in a private helicopter – above it all. (Sorry about the extended metaphor, but you know what I mean!)

To optimize your site’s traffic potential, ask yourself these 4 questions:

How’s your load time?

Listen, the Internet is impatient. If your site takes too long to load, you’re going to lose readers and potential new followers. Your load time has a lot to do with your server, and here are some quick fixes to consider:

• Image size: Instead of adjusting (scaling) the size of an image in your post, use a photo-editing tool to actually change the size. Larger files, even if they appear smaller, take longer to load.
• Posts-per-page: How many posts show up on your homepage, and each subsequent page? If you have too many, that may up your site’s load time.

Do you use page breaks?

This has to do with load time as well as upping your pageview potential. If you’re a personal style, lifestyle or DIY blogger, you probably use a lot of images, and you may use a lot per post. If you do, consider using page breaks (your readers who land on your homepage will have to click-through to access the full post). This will cut down on load time for your whole site, and encourage your pageview growth.

*Proceed with caution on this one. Not all readers are game for the click-through, so you’ll want to have a trial period to see if this tactic suits.

When are your posts going live?

Timing is everything, as they say. Posting at the wrong time can be almost as detrimental to your blog as not posting at all. You want to be contributing when your audience is ready to listen. At IFB we have a pretty formulaic approach, but yours doesn’t have to be so rigid.

A good place to start – is you. Think about your reading behavior – when do you take time to browse the Internet? On your morning commute? During your lunch break? When you get home from a long day? Generally, posting content in the morning (9 a.m. and 12 p.m. are key times) and supporting with social media promotion into the afternoon and evening is important. (Think about what you’re doing in the office at 5:30 pm or at home at 8 p.m.)

What kind of headlines are you using?

Traffic and SEO are blogging bed mates, we know this. In this very saturated market of fashion blogging, everything from your blog name to your headlines, alt tags and headings matter when it comes to getting noticed. Search engines crawl and rank your content for relevant search terms and keywords – so take advantage.

What headlines will work? There’s no magic right answer here. However, Google has so many clues for content that people are looking for right now. Look at your analytics and see what search terms are leading people to your site – and draw content ideas from there. Use those words in your post titles.

Blog traffic (and how to get it) is obviously not as simple as checking off a few boxes when it comes to load time and SEO. We know that along with being optimized, your content also has to be good! These are like “icing on the cake” tips to help your amazing content get the best possible exposure and reach with the right audience.

Source : heartifb.com

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Money Maker with Aluminium recycling

Aluminum in particular is highly sought after as a scrap metal. Because it is both lightweight and strong, it’s used everywhere from drinks cans to aero planes. Extracting aluminum from its ore, bauxite, is relatively expensive, but salvaging it from scrap uses just five per cent of the energy needed to make new aluminum.

Like plastic bottles, a large percentage of recycled aluminum comes from beverage containers. The process is similar to plastics too. Once collected, they’re separated from the other metals by an eddy current separator that splits the non-ferrous aluminum with a powerful magnet. The aluminum is shredded into pieces of uniform size, mechanically cleaned then pressed into blocks to minimize oxidation.

The blocks are loaded into a furnace and heated to around 750 degrees Celsius (1,380 degrees Fahrenheit), at which point it becomes molten. The melted-down aluminum produces a surface scum known in the industry as dross, which is removed, before high-purity aluminum is added to bring the molten aluminum up to the required grade. The furnace is then rolled onto its side and the liquid aluminum poured out. The end product is either atomized aluminum powder or ingots. Because aluminum isn’t transmuted by this process, it’s just as good as the new stuff and can be recycled indefinitely.

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A Blogger’s Dilemma: Featuring Brands or Products You Don’t Like But Your Readers Do

By: Julia DiNardo

In my experience as a blogger, I have tried my very best to keep an open mind, taking time to peruse and review a wide variety of brands and their offerings that might not necessarily strike an initial cord with me. There are, however, a handful of brands and products that for me, are non-negotiable in this department. On a personal level, I don’t wear real fur or exotic animal skins, and although I somehow have ended up with a few vintage hand-me-downs and faux items that replicate the look, I never quite feel comfortable wearing them and will avoid doing so.

We all have particular trends, brands, silhouettes, and even colors that for some reason or another, just don’t work for us.   Since my blog is a reflection of me, I find it difficult to mention or promote items that may fall into these categories of ‘dislike.’

However, I do acknowledge that this is merely my point of view that not everyone shares, and I have found that my readers do want to know about these things. I’ve tried to put the personal aside, and find a common ground that I feel comfortable with, which normally involves keeping the posts more matter-of-fact while trimming down the opinion in the text so that in no way does it come off as flat, biased, or trying to sway readers into conforming to my beliefs.

I’ve found that part of the key to becoming a good writer is to find a way to write about any subject, regardless of if it interests you, while managing to find a way to thoroughly engage the reader.

This can certain be murky water to wade through when it comes to blogs, since many of us do operate around incorporating a palpable amount of the personal into our sites.  To gain some perspective, I consulted with a few fellow bloggers regarding how they walk the line between items and brands that they aren’t particularly found of, but seem to be of interest to their audience.

Dianna Baros of The Budget Babe says:

“I think there are enough brands and products out there that you should never truly have to compromise your values as a blogger. For me sometimes there’s a conflict of taste- I may not love a particular trend but if I think my readers will, then I will totally cover it. Besides, if I only wrote about trends I wear personally, my blog would get boring, fast!”

Kat Griffin of Corporette says:

“Every so often my readers LOVE something that, for whatever reason, doesn’t work for me.  Case in point:  Nordstrom has this pencil skirt by Halogen that my readers absolutely love.  I finally tried it myself and, honestly, it’s not my favorite — just doesn’t work with my body shape.  But the fact that so many readers have been so vocal about their love for this skirt is really noteworthy, and still makes it a solid recommendation, so I continue to tell my readers when the skirt is on sale, and to mention it elsewhere.  You have to respect that sometimes the collective wisdom of the group is better/stronger than your own.”

How have you dealt with posting about items or a brand that haven’t exactly been your cup of tea?

By Julia DiNardo, of Fashion Pulse Daily

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Get Your Readers To Supply Your Next Post Idea

By: Taylor Davies

I address the power of our readers rather frequently on IFB, don’t I? They’re like the yin to our yang of blogging – the call and response, the reason our blogs are not just private online journals.

No matter how big or small your following is, readers that are both loyal and engaged are a rare and special thing. They get you, they love what you’re doing, and they want to talk to you about it, too. Some of these rare birds will come and stay all on their own, but you can also foster their presence by inviting them to contribute, asking them questions and letting them know they matter. The best part? Listening to their input can be a wealth of inspiration for your blog.

Here are 5 ways you can tap your readers for new content ideas:

1. Inspire comments by asking specific, opinion-based questions at the end of your post.

One thing’s for sure: no matter who we are, we all love to talk about ourselves. When you give your readers an opportunity to share a personal story or opinion, you’ll open up the conversation for tons of inspiration and valuable cues as to what they’ll want to see next.

2. Set up a poll or survey.

As they say, just ask for what you want. Direct questions that only require the click of a mouse to answer make it incredibly easy to gain insight from your audience. If you’re on WordPress, there are plugins that make adding a poll to a post really easy, with Blogger or others, you’ll probably have to search for a widget and drop the HTML code into your post.

When setting up a poll or a survey, first figure out what it is you want to know. Do you need to ask a series of questions to get a feeling about a larger idea, or do you want to present a few answers to a single question and see with which they agree? Perhaps you want to know what kind of posts your readers like best, what days they visit your site, or what trends they are most looking forward to in 2013.

3. Use social media for crowd-sourced clues.

Depending on where your most vocal followers gather consider posing questions and starting conversations on Facebook and Twitter. Often bloggers use Twitter to more freely chime in about any number of topics, while Facebook may get you insights from your actual friends, family and acquaintances.

The key to getting useful responses and input from more than just a couple of people is to stay engaged yourself. Keep up with the conversation, maybe use a #hashtag, but at least be diligent about responding to those who answer you. Being attentive inspires loyalty and confidence.

4. Present your email in a post with an invitation to get in touch.

This may be the simplest and easiest way to ask your readers for their thoughts, but it also involves the least amount of effort and may inspire the least response. However, it’s always good to let your readers know that they have a way to get in touch, and a personal line of communication to you. While they might take the time to seek out your info on your “Contact” page, putting it front and center as a reminder is always helpful and encouraging.

5. Start a “reader request” series.

This is a way to develop a really personal relationship with your readers, and reward those who truly love your content and trust your advice. Create a post or a page that announces that you want to start addressing reader style, beauty, etc. questions individually on the site. Often times you’ll find that what’s vexing one reader may be similarly bothering hundreds! You might want to provide sample questions to get their gears turning, or nudge a good friend to help you out and kick things off with an inspiring scenario or conundrum.

Beyond getting a post idea or two, calling on your readers for their advice or input is an important step in building a relationship with them, gaining their respect and trust and maybe even exploring an avenue of blogging or fashion that you hadn’t considered before. They come to you because they like what you’re doing and relate to your perspective, which means it’s probably similar to your own.

How do you communicate with your readers? Do they influence your blog content?

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Tips to Commit the Perfect Crime

Every year in virtually every country, crimes go unsolved – and sometimes undetected. When someone commits a crime of this type it is called a perfect crime. This is a list of ten tips to perpetrating the perfect crime. I am sure it doesn’t need to be said, this is not meant as a reference for criminals, but rather as an entertaining look at crime and detection.

1. DNA

DNA is the surest way to prove you committed a crime. It is absolute imperative that you do not leave ANY DNA behind you and that is very difficult. The best solution to this is to commit your crime in a place that is likely to have a lot of DNA from strangers. For example, a park, a mall, anywhere that a lot of people tend to gather. Finding your DNA will be like finding a needle in a haystack.

2. Relationship

The large number of crimes committed are committed by someone close to the victim. The police know this well and they know who to question. Your best bet here is to pick someone as random as the victim. This is especially true if murder is your crime of choice. Don’t be tempted to commit your crime against someone you only know in passing – it must be a total stranger.

3. Proximity

This ties in to point 2 – commit the crime in another town. You don’t want to travel so far that you can be connected because you took a trip – just far enough that you are outside of the main area of interest to the police. You also don’t want to be on the road for hours before the crime as you may become tired, or after the crime as you may still be on the streets when the big investigation begins.

4. Type of Crime

Chose your crime carefully. For example, you are almost certain to get caught if you try to rob a bank. Chose a crime that can be committed in the early hours of the morning or that can be done very discretely during the daytime.

5. Evidence

Most criminals are caught because they tried to hide the crime – what they should have been doing is trying to hide any connection they have to the crime. It doesn’t matter if the police know the crime happened. If your crime involves a gun or weapon of some kind, use it and drop it. Leave it at the scene. If you follow point 7 this will not be a problem. If you kill someone, leave the body there. Do not touch the body at all. Do not move the body and do not try to hide the body. And just in case you haven’t understood that last part – that includes using a vat of acid. If you have stolen something, you need to get rid of it as quickly as possible and if it is money, don’t start spending up large – you will draw attention to yourself.

6. Timing

Timing is everything. The best time to commit a crime is in the very early hours of the day when most people are asleep. If you do follow this instruction, remember that you need to look like you are not out of place on the street. That means no full face coverings. The selected time is important when you come to purchase your tools.

7. Tools

First off, you need good thick gloves. The thin ones are not good enough as they can split and it is possible to leave fingerprints if they are sufficiently thin. Do not use anything you own and do not buy brands you normally buy unless they are very generic brands. This means you need to go shopping. Shop out of town and shop in large department stores where you are less likely to be remembered. Remember: very common brands only. You must pay in cash and you must destroy any receipts, or shopping bags. After the crime is committed, destroy everything you bought as quickly as you can and don’t do it in an obvious way, like having a bonfire in your back yard when you have never done so before. Wait at least one month from buying your goods to committing your crime.

8. Alibi

It is wise to have an alibi – though not essential if you have followed all the other rules. It doesn’t hurt however. One way you can do this is to plan an out of town trip and book your hotel and rental car with your credit card. Sign up for a convention and attend. Try to use a hotel with no cameras. In the early hours travel to the place of your crime, commit it, and return. Enjoy the remainder of your holiday (on your credit card) and return home the next day.

9. The Getaway

If you are committing the crime in the early hours, the best mode of transport is by bike. This will enable you to get off the roads if you need and to travel quickly. You do not want to be seen on the street walking (remember, the Zodiac nearly got caught this way) and you don’t want to be the only car on the street at 2am! Take regular cycle clothes and wear them. In the case of murder, if you have dumped the murder weapon you should not need to worry about evidence if you do get picked up. Wear an iPod and maybe a fresh packet of cigarettes – you can always say you were out getting smokes as you couldn’t sleep.

10. Aftermath

First of all, do not watch the television and avoid the papers. The police can use these as tools to try to psych you out. Avoid these things for at least a month. Do not celebrate in any way – continue about your every day life. Do not brag about your crime to anyone (that includes posting here in the comments!)

One final tip: if you do get arrested, this does not mean you have failed to commit the perfect crime. If this happens, do not speak. The police need evidence to convict you – if you have done the job right, there won’t be any. Don’t help the police with testimony. Remember, the court needs to find you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Oh – and if you do get convicted, you might want to read this article on the tips to surviving prison.

In case you are wondering how I know all this… re-read point 10! Okay, I am kidding. Really.

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The Best Practical Tips For Part-Time Bloggers

By: Taylor Davies

it’s not a necessity to be a full-time blogger to be successful. For many of us, our blogs are supplemental elements of our professional endeavors. As such, we can’t devote as much time to our blogs as we do to our jobs, schooling, parenting – whatever the case may be.

With limited time (we want to have social and romantic lives too, after all), it’s so key to make the most of what we have, working smarter, not harder.

Start by thinking ahead.

As someone who’s a part-time personal style blogger, the most helpful thing I can do for myself and my site is think ahead. I struggle to think beyond the immediate week ahead, but Sunday evenings are my prime bloggin’ time to get the next six days lined up. Even if I realistically cannot get a whole week of blogging done in a few hours, I can make a big dent, and then figure out when I’ll have time to get back at it. I look at my work load, my social plans and then factor in a little slack and go from there. Hopefully, you can still look at blogging as an enjoyable way to spend your time when you aren’t at work, and can look forward to the times you have scheduled to “work” on your site.

Create and schedule in blocks.

Block out time in your week that’s just for blogging – whenever works for you. Maybe it’s 3 a.m. on Wednesday and maybe it’s 9 p.m. on Sunday — just make sure you’re scheduling and accounting for it. Give yourself proper time to develop your content and figure out when it will go out. And maybe it’s just me, but getting a lot done at once and then sitting back as it all flows into place is a really rewarding feeling. (Like a to-do list with all the boxes checked!)

Also, sometimes when I’m particularly excited about a post I’ll want to get it out there right away, which isn’t always the best strategy. Schedule your most dynamic and bound-to-be-a-hit content on the days you get the most traffic. (Strategize to maximize, as I like to say.)

Be selective with your social media.

This is an awesome tip I’m drawing directly from this article on ProBlogger. When the time you have to spend on your site (and it’s promotional channels) is limited, making the most is critical. Make sure the channels you’re putting the most effort into are the same as your peers (be where the people are!). The both good and bad thing about social media like Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook is that they can suck you in.

Try looking at it this way when the time comes to get something done:

Do not, I repeat do not use this time to browse your friends’ activity on Facebook. Post photos and links to your page, share relevant content, and get outta there! (Save the “creeping” for your personal time.)

Same goes for Twitter. Share relevant and timely content, participate in peer-driven conversations and give shout-outs, but try to avoid that never-ending scroll through your followings feelings about last night’s episode of Girls.

Shoot for multiple posts at one time.

For fashion and lifestyle bloggers, photography (and subsequent photo editing) is one of the most time-consuming elements of our “work.” Do yourself a favor and (nudge, nudge) plan ahead to shoot for multiple posts at one time. Get your gear, prep your sets, choose your looks and bribe your photographer (or yourself) to help you out for a few extra hours.

This way, you’ve got oodles of content ready to be edited and scheduled ahead of time, and you’re not scrambling for good daylight hours to shoot during a hectic work week or finals time.

Are you a part-time blogger? How do you make the most of your schedule?

*This post was inspired by a great piece on part-time blogging success from ProBlogger.

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Stop Thinking Like a Freelancer. Start Thinking Like a Creative Entrepreneur.

One problem with approaching your work purely in terms of “getting more clients,” is that it means you will always have to get more clients. If you don’t work, you don’t have billable hours, so you don’t get paid. Time off will always feel like money down the drain. If you’re not careful, you’ll find yourself on a treadmill, unable to get off. Spend too long on the treadmill and you’ll risk burning yourself out.

The solution is to stop thinking like a “freelancer” and start thinking and acting like a creative entrepreneur. This does not mean you need to get VC funding and take on an army of staff. The opportunities created by the internet mean you can carry on as a one-person outfit or micro-business. What it means is that instead of just working for hire, you start creating business assets whose value will increase over time.

If that sounds a bit daunting, consider these four types of asset, that are within the reach of any solo operator:

1. A Brand – create and project a professional and consistent image.

Designer and developer Nick Cernis could operate under his own name, but instead he blogs as Modern Nerd and sells his iPhone apps under the name Spiffing Apps. His websites’ design and copywriting are consistent, memorable, and unmistakable. And because Spiffing Apps is separate from Nick Cernis, he has the option of selling the business in future, allowing the next owner to inherit the goodwill and reputation associated with the name.

2. Online Properties – build digital real estate that grows in value over time.

David Airey is an independent graphic designer. Since 2006, he has been writing a graphic design blog at DavidAirey.com, and at LogoDesignLove.com. He ploughs thousands of hours a year into his blogs. Hours he could have spent working for clients or hustling for new business. But now he doesn’t have to hustle for business any more. Clients come to his Edinburgh studio from as far afield as Japan and Canada. His blogs have also secured him a book deal with respected imprint Peachpit Press.

3. Permission Assets – build lists of contacts who want to know about your ideas, products, and services.

According to Seth Godin, permission marketing is “the privilege (not the right) of sending anticipated, personal, and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.” A permission asset could be an email list, a blog subscription list, a Facebook group, or a following on Twitter. Every day, Hugh MacLeod sends a cartoon to the folks who subscribe to his email newsletter. They are free to print it themselves or buy a high-quality, limited-edition print from the artist. Enough of them do the latter to make it a very rewarding enterprise for Hugh.

4. Products – turn your knowledge and skills into physical or digital items for sale.

If you can deliver a professional service for clients, you can certainly create your own product range. Doing this successfully means you develop streams of income that increase over time – and it frees you from the treadmill of hourly or daily rates. Photographer and writer Susannah Conway makes a living from her innovative Unravelling e-courses combining photography, community, and personal development. Matthew Inman has freed himself from web design hell by creating the phenomenally popular Oatmeal website as a showcase for his comic strips, which he sells as posters, prints, and in a forthcoming book.

It’s not easy to find time to create these assets – in the short term, it’s easier to justify work on client projects that will put food on the table next month. But for the sake of your long-term health, wealth, and creative fulfilment, you owe it to yourself to make the investment. And it doesn’t have to be a black-and-white choice – think of the Google engineers who spend 20% of their time on personal projects, or David Airey writing his blogs while maintaining a steady flow of client work.

For more insights on running a client-based business, visit 99u.com.

Mark McGuinness is a coach for creative entrepreneurs based at LateralAction.com and the author of Resilience: Facing Down Rejection and Criticism on the Road to Success.

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5 Tough Branding Questions You Need to Answer

Let’s set the conversation straight about branding. Branding isn’t something you do once. It has little (if anything) to do with logos, hex colors and fonts, and has everything to do with people. Your audience is the reason your brand gets to exist from this day to the next.

As a brand strategist, I often encounter business owners who think the opposite—and that’s why they’re stuck.

So how do you know if you have a branding problem? Branding problems are frequently just identity crises in disguise. Here are five tough questions you should ask to crush those identity crises before they have a chance to rear their heads.

1. Why does our brand exist? If the answer is “for the money,” quit (and quit it now). Brands designed to both last the test of time and grow know that making money is the result of a combination of factors, not a guiding principle for a brand’s reason to exist. Ask yourself and your colleagues why you’re doing what you do. No matter the age of your brand, it’s a powerful reminder, and the answer can take you from derailed to on track in moments.

2. Who isn’t our client or customer? If the answer is “everyone,” you’re delusional. The most wildly successful brands in the marketplace know precisely who’s never going to walk through their doors. That’s because they’ve built their brands to keep those people away—or at least, keep them disinterested. Start with a reverse inventory of your audience—the folks you could care less about. Oddly enough, this makes a whole lot more room for the folks you want standing in line for what you have to offer.

3. Where do we stand? There’s only one thing that happens in the middle of the road (and you’re not a cast member on the Beverly Hillbillies). Get out of road kill ville and take a stand. Brands without clear opinions aren’t human, and people do business with people. Don’t believe me? I offer you the number 2.2 percent—that’s how much Chick-fil-A’s sales increased year-over-year following the announcement of its same-sex marriage stance. Some would call the move a PR debacle (to say the least). Others? A powerful branding move that brought people with similar values closer and showed those who differed the door.

4. How does our ideal audience see us? Here’s the problem: We look in the mirror every day and see the same thing. Chances are, folks aren’t looking in the same mirror as we are. If you haven’t already put an audience feedback mechanism or process in place, the time is now. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a survey, feedback form, online forum like GetSatisfaction or UserVoice, or simply a post on your blog or Facebook fan page wall. The point is, if you don’t ask, you’ll never know. And I’ll bet that you walk away from every question you ask with better information than you had before to help shape your brand and keep it on track toward the brand you want to be.

5. Do we own our brand? I see it happen—often. Companies and brands go through the heart-wrenching process of figuring out exactly what they want to be to best serve their ideal audience … then they let it all die on the vine. Why? Because the company, as a whole, doesn’t own what the brand is and needs to become. Brands aren’t static—they’re dynamic. They grow with your company, your audience, and ever-shifting things like the economy and time. Your company’s perception of your brand has to shift alongside those things. It’s time to take inventory and understand how deep your brand’s blood runs within your own company. People will always be the driving force behind a brand’s longevity, and the first audience you have to build and serve is the one within your own walls. Who’s on board, who isn’t, and what needs to change to make your brand part of the company’s DNA?

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How To Get More Followers on Pinterest

Once upon a time,I post this tips for you guys, my follower still zero at this time! It’s hard to get some people to be your follower if you are newbies just like me, but hey! Pinterest is great, easy to manage and fun! These would be 3 words describing best Pinterest, but another one that comes into my mind whenever I’m thinking about Pinterest is marketing and ways of improving the web authority.Image bookmarking is growing extremely fast and their importance in the social environment becomes essential.

Like Twitter, Pinterest is preparing to start a social revolution based on a followership system that continues on the next level. Having many followers on Pinterest doesn’t just mean that you get authority on the site, but you also get more exposure for your online business and a dedicated active community on your side. That’s why, as a smart online marketer, you want to settle the ground in the early times so that you can enjoy great benefits when everybody is on Pinterest.

Since Pinterest is based on visual objects, it is only obvious to get best results for pins that are appealing.

Free Ways to Get More Pinterest Followers

Is not always the fastest way to bring Pinterest followers, but if you are dedicated and really enjoy spending time browsing Pinterest’s content and don’t have money to spend, then you should approach it!

Twitter Principles

Just like Twitter, Pinterest is a social community based on followship and that’s why you must be very interested in offering users what they really want…followers. So, by following others people will notice you and as a sign of appreciation they will follow you back in no time. Now, I’m not saying you should start following like a freak, but try to find people with similar interest and try to build a bond with them.

• Use Hashtags

Yup…hashtags are quite popular on Pinterest too, and like on Twitter and Google+, these are the ones helping users to easily find your content. So use them, but try to be relevant and don’t overdo it.

• Talk About Popular Pinterest Subjects/Users
  

Popular means that there are lots of people in…which means huge opportunity for you to explore. Get in the buzz by mentioning popular people, events, subjects. Use the “@mention”!

Comment

Being active is vital in every social community because that shows your followers and other members that you are interested in doing great things. Besides that, commenting on others Pins means feedback for others which in most cases means a lot especially if that person doesn’t receive lots of comments.

Picking popular accounts can bring you even more exposure and if your comment is relevant and comes with great arguments, you can even bring a large number of their visitors to your Pinterest.

Organize and Pin

Personally I like to focus on just one niche for my every Pinterest account because it allows me to better focus on what really matters and helps me provide better content for my followers. Of course, this doesn’t mean you need to do the same thing for your account. In fact, you can pick as many subjects as you wish and spread them in as many Boards as you wish, but keep in mind that you need to handle all of them with ease and provide users best experience.

My advice would be to start simple and grow from there. Spend some time on creating or picking a pin that can easily go viral. This will bring you lots of attention and as a result, you will get tons of followers.

Sync Your Pinterest Account With Social Websites

This is a vital step if you want to obtain best results on Twitter, Facebook and also keep a place open for the new Pinterest. You can easily synchronize the Pinterest account with Facebook and Twitter by going to: Your Account -> Settings -> Simply Click on to Link Facebook or Twitter to your account. You can also add Pinterest to your Facebook timeline as long as you don’t decide to post the same story manually.

Once you synchronize Pinterest with Facebook and Twitter, you get access to many possibilities including the friend messaging/following option which allows you to send as many Pinterest invites you wish and also to follow your Facebook friends who are already on the platform. The following process is almost instant and since they are your friends, it’s a huge possibility to follow you back in no time.

No Spam, Be Professional, Be Cool!

Nobody likes spam and definitely nobody likes weird and unappealing. So give your pins viewers reasons to follow you by setting up some ground rules. Schedule a time for posts, they shouldn’t be to often, but at the same time you have to keep your account updated. Personally I believe that 1 to 5 pins/day are ok! By doing this, your user will get used to your posting schedule and visit often.

Paid Ways to Get Pinterest Followers

Trading money for time is always best option, but you should also have the certainty that those money are invested in a smart way and you will receive best results. Bellow I have listed some of the most secure and reliable ways to drive followers to your Pinterest account.

Buy Followers

Easy, fast and in most cases it does not require a large sum of money. In fact, buying followers for Pinterest is quite cheap and I’ve seen some great websites out there providing quite professional services too. Among them you can check:

• PinterestRepins

A serious service created to offer repins and build a serious viral marketing campaign for your business

• PublicMonkey

One of the greatest deals when talking about followers. They are new in the industry but already rocking the place! You can get Pinterest followers in a jiffy, a great number of Facebook fans and some other SEO services too at a great price.

Pay Others to Promote Your Pins

Fiverr, eLance, Freelancer.com or whatever you choose can bring you professional pin promotion which can result in a nice amount of traffic and why not…followers and authority on Pinterest. Just a simple search on Fiverr for “Pinterest” brings up lots of results and all are for just $5.

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5 Easy Ideas for Your Next Blog Post Series

Original content can be hard to think of, especially after a time when it seems like there aren’t enough days to post the plethora of seasonal content available during the holidays. For that reason, we’ve compiled some easy to execute ideas for new content in 2013. Hopefully one or two of these can inspire some fabulous posts for your blog. Be sure to comment below if you have more ideas that other bloggers could be inspired by!

• Resolution Diary

Now that you’ve declared your resolutions for the year, why not make it a point to hold yourself accountable? Set up a regular series for your blog in which you will check in on your resolutions and blog about your progress & setbacks. This is a great way to keep your goals top of mind and it also creates both relatable and interesting for others to read.

• Start a Series Based On a Topic

Stemming of the above resolution diary idea, you could kick off the new year with a blog series. The series could be on anything that you choose – fashion icons, new trends, blogger highlights or Men’s wear (so underdone in the fashion blogging world!). Series posts are great because they help you to plan ahead while varying content type from your typical posts.

• Make Your Own Trends

Have an idea for a trend that you think is fiercely fashionable? Do outfit posts that frequently highlight that trend worn in different ways. You never know – it may just catch on and become the next big thing!

• Style Your Friends

Outfit posts are fun and they’re great for establishing a connection with readers, but it’s nice to vary up your images once in a while. One way to do this is to feature your friends as models. This makes for some cool image opportunities – and will most likely put a smile on your friend’s faces also.

• Make a List Series

Top 10 Trends of winter. 7 Ways to Style a Hair Bow. 3 Looks for Ice Skating. Lists are easy to digest and are a great way to add a twist to your writing. When paired with imagery and sharable content they create posts that are as unique as they are creative.

About the Author:

Emily VanderBeek is a digital advertising professional living & playing in Chicago. She is the blogger behind Isn’t That Charming, a lifestyle blog focused on the fashions, DIY projects & inspirations that charm her socks off.

Source : HeartIFB

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5 Ways To Get Blog Post Ideas From Pinterest

Raise your hand if, when you think of adjectives to describe Pinterest, one of the first words that comes to mind is “distracting.”  Right? You click over on your lunch break – just to have a peek – and suddenly 20 minutes are gone, you’ve binge pinned 15 recipes for quinoa and haven’t even had a bite of your sandwich.

What if I told you that this aesthetically pleasing, oh-so-addicting curation site can be more than a storage unit for pretty things and become a hub of content inspiration? Next time you’re on Pinterest, instead of letting your eyes glaze over at the sight of 1,000 twinkling bokeh lights – let the endless images, links, projects and pictures be the source of your next post.

Get styling ideas for outfit posts.

If you’re just getting into the groove with Pinterest, we have a great starter list of brands, bloggers and publications to follow. As you explore and browse, note the looks and details that you’re drawn to (and re-pin them, obviously!) that you think you could recreate. Mentally run through your closet and cross-reference it with outfits you love and get to styling!

Look for trends.

As you browse your feed, look for themes and frequently re-pinned images. See if trends stand out to you, in colors, content, style, etc. What you see on Pinterest can be an excellent indication of what kinds of content your readers are looking for.

Browse unexpected categories.

While not perfect, the categories you can scroll through at the top of your Pinterest page from a drop-down menu can provide lots of inspiration and post ideas. From popular pins to “women’s fashion” – you may find a photo shoot to recreate, a recipe to try or a new look to collage on your blog.

Use the search bar.

This may sound like an obvious choice, but using the search bar to find something more specific. Try searching for places, trends, people, events or designers that you’re interested in. You may find new images, new places or new content ideas just from your browsing and follow-up clicks.

Follow the rabbit hole.

Sometimes trying to find the original source of an image can lead you down an inspiring, entertaining and eye-opening path that can produce not only new content ideas but new blogs to follow – especially Tumblrs. Let yourself keep clicking and clicking – from image to link to blog roll and beyond.

Have you used Pinterest for blog content ideas before? Share your experience in the comments!

Add Me on Pinterest

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