What Makes a Good Article Title (Quorafied)

Before I say that simplicity is best, the truth is, it depends on the article, the target audience, and where you will be publishing the article.

Back in the day, when I once judged writing for various contests, the title was how you captured my attention. You could drag me down with the wrong title or you can draw me in.

Are you informing, persuading, entertaining, or educating with your article?

Using true crime as an example-your title would be marketed to a specific audience who already (more-than-likely) knows the ending. In this case, there is no surprise, so your title must catch a reader’s eye who is already looking for something similar to what you wrote and the only differentiation would be some great hook like:

Who Killed Grandma? (who on earth kills Granny?)

Machete Mother Strikes Again (a woman who is made to give life taketh away)

My Brother, the Serial Killer (insider information)

However, if I am writing a technical/how-to article, the title let’s the prospective reader know what the article is about because the only other way they’ll know is by reading the article… a must-have lure.

How to Dismantle a Time-Bomb

Healing a Sick iPhone in Less than 10 Minutes

Six Reasons to Grill Your Burger in the Kitchen

If the article is purely for entertainment, this is completely subjective as half the readers will like what you name it and the other half will skip it completely. You’ll have to go with gut instinct, but maybe including a hint of what’s to come along with what type of writing it is (if the publication doesn’t make it obvious) is best.

A Night Darkly Fallen from one Comedian to Another

What She Didn’t Tell Me

Clouds in my Coffee and Other Dreams

All in all, your audience comes first, but you have to get it in front of them before they can even reject it off the title alone. 

A title grabs your attention, sets the tone, explains what's to come, and possibly even answers the phone when you can't get to it. Okay, so it's not everything, but it's most things.

Tidbits: Cold Calls, Calendars, Money

~at least a half an hour before bed, go over your calendar and schedule for tomorrow; when things come up unexpectedly tomorrow, you'll be more prepared to deal appropriately with them

~some of us need to SEE items marked off on our calendars and that's nearly impossible with electronic calendars; use colors for to-do items: I use orange  for the original to-do, change orange to black with each completion, and just looking at my calendar thirty seconds when the day is near end gives me immediate positive feedback 

~for those of you who write blogs from home for money--no matter one or twenty--your year should end with 365 posts or more

~cold calls are tough, but when you make those calls your first priority, you'll find you'll have more positive energy the rest of the day which will up your production

~joining groups for marketing purposes is fine and does work, but ONLY if you make being a genuine member first... earning money follows naturally, SECOND

~even if you are working on five projects at once and will pull it all out first thing the next day, there's scientific proof that ending the day with a clean desk equals starting the next day with a clean desk and yes, this is good for you and your work; think: a clean desk=good mind=more productivity=bigger income

Supplement Your Income: ChaCha!

Earn Money~Work From Home~Choose Your Hours

~Do you need to supplement your income?
~Do you want to work from home (or your choice of location)?
~Do you want to work around your everyday life?
~Do you want to choose your own hours?
~Do you enjoy helping others?
~Do you like trivia and knowledge?
~Are you a self-motivator?

If you answered "YES" to any of these questions, consider working on my ChaCha Team as an independent contractor.

But first - ChaCha, if you haven't heard by now, located in Carmel, Indiana, is basically "like a smart friend" you can call or text for answers to all your questions at anytime and for free.  ChaCha was founded in 2006 by Brad Bostic and Scott A. Jones, who launched the mobile service early 2008, with a huge promotion at the Sundance Film Festival.

The founders claim the ChaCha name came from the Chinese word, Cha, which means "search," the Cha Cha, the dance, a "fast-paced ballroom dance, and our Guides can be thought of as dance partners who will lead you to the best answers quickly and smoothly," and because... it's just plain silly.


And so, there are different independent contractor ChaCha guide jobs (I'm a generalist and a specialist), and at the moment, it does seem as though the new Vetter position is the one that's most available.  Either way, you'll earn between about .02 - .20 per question.  It's up to you how many you answer, whether you answer during a bonus perioud where money is added to what you earn, whether you are in the midst of a contest where you can win additional money, how quickly you work, how often you work, how much time you put in. It's up to you.


Ironically, people save aluminum cans often more for the money than for the environment or recycling, and that's sometimes not even an entire penny per can––but they do it.  So, I know that this puts ChaCha's money making opportunity into perspective.  You are simply supplementing your income, learning, and having a bit of fun (yes, you really do, because some of the questions are absolutely hilarious!).


I probably really have confused you here and put you in a position where you have to just go try it to understand.  Basically, you'll fill out an application with the bare minimum, including where you put me as your referring guide (Teraisa@gmail.com - they CANNOT change that later) so we can be on the same team and I can help you. Altogether, this takes about a half hour or less, which includes some of your training.  It's easy to understand, they explain well.


And to jump the gun, assuming you are accepted as an independent contractor, ChaCha is INCREDIBLE with their help. There are tip sheets, videos, practice quizzes, and an entire forum dedicated to helping you be most successful. The only way you can fail is to not show up. 


Whether your goal is to answer just one question a day, work for eight hours, work only weekends, earn $3000 by the holidays, you can do it because you are in charge.


Read the flyer below, then click on it to go to the ChaCha application form. In order for you to be a part of my team, and we deliver quality work,  type in Teraisa@gmail.com where the application asks for "ChaCha Guide Referral Email Address"  Again, you cannot change this later and I will not be of much help to you.  Don't worry, there's still help, it's just not me.

Good luck, let me know how it goes and if you join using my good reputation (so far!), send me a note or comment here so I can do something special for you.

ChaCha Facts

Working, working, working.

Nothing spurs you on to work hard more than the need for money. Right? Yet, working for yourself is a bit different than picking up an hour or two here and there: the gratification is often not instantaneous. Even a 9-5 job that pays per hour each two weeks is often more reliable. But we did choose to work from home, right? Why did we do this?


Answering "WHY" is important. If you need money fast, working for yourself is not always the best option. If you need money and have time to obtain it, it's a perfect option and can possibly earn you the needed money and keep you from a future need of money (because you'll already have it via your business). If you simply want to work from home, for whatever the reason (I personally did not have kids so others can raise them), then, duh, working for yourself is more than ideal.


Here's my personal deal - we are military and were told my hubby is deploying to a scary place. We made plans, we made decisions, and we put all my businesses on hold (writing, victim's advocation, ChaCha researching, and AtHome America consulting) until he left.  Except, nearly $8,000 later, they changed his assignment (many times in the course of two months) and left us hanging.  We don't WANT hubby to leave, especially to be in such a dangerous position, but we would have NEVER EVER made the decisions we made, in particular the financial decisions, nor had me stop my work if we had known there was even a 15% chance he'd be deployed as planned. If we thought there was any possibility in having his orders changed, we'd have waited and made decisions accordingly.


Now, we need money.  Now.  We have not only lost our entire savings and reserve, but we have four unexpected high payments to make before the end of the month; last month, with company, an 18th birthday, graduation, and seeing our son off to college, we were already at the end of our rope.


Putting this into perspective, I know it'll pass and we are not going to die from the lack of money.  This fact alone pushes the stress level way down.  Still, writing is lucrative in general, though the time and money ratio is extremely off balance in a negative way... I simply don't know when the money will come in, as each publisher is different.  So that's out for quick monetary relief.


Since being a victims' advocate costs us money, we cannot even consider pushing it harder.


AtHome America is the practical and obvious money maker.  But... no one is booking at the moment in Hawaii. Dang it.  The best I can do is beg a few mainlanders to host online parties in exchange for bonus free homewares, which will take at least two weeks to host the party and close it, but if I do, I can have an immediate 20% cash back reward (AtHome Specialists earn more than 20%, but for immediate money, that's the highest amount, the rest is delivered via direct deposit).  


That leaves me to my only other option:  ChaCha!


ChaCha pays when you have earned a minimum of $150.  It's also direct deposit; I won't even have to wait for mail or the bank.  I guess you have it.  I'll be working ChaCha as much as possible.


What do YOU do when you need fast cash?  Do you sell things? Do you babysit? Do you pick up the slack on your home business?  I'd love to hear from you, though if I plant the seeds right, I'll be sowing enough green cash to make sure we're never in this predicament again.


By the way, if you'd like to be a part of my ChaCha! team, follow the link, fill out the application and be sure to let them know Teraisa@gmail.com referred you.

Tired?

Are you ever just tired?  Tired of virtually everything?  I am, but I know this is one of the pitfalls of working from home and I have to pass it.

The first thing to do is try to identify the reason behind being tired of it all.

Could I be weary of cold calling and getting nothing positive from it? Maybe I'm tired of working my butt off and seeing no extra money?  What about positive feedback; are you getting any?

Second, we must figure out what motivates us?  What do you need to make you excited again? What excited you so much, you decided to work from home, to be your own boss?  What makes you feel like you can "do anything?"

Lastly, you try to "fix" the reasons, make them obsolete if you can, and you attempt to recreate the excitement.  Even in love, you have to go back to basics, to start over once in a while, lest it become stale.

Your home business, emotionally, is much like love (the kind that leads to and resides in marriage).  Home business (as is marriage) is NOT a feeling.  But feelings do dictate your actions oh-so-many times!

As you are following my personal journey and trials of working from home, I figure I may as well let it all hang out:

Oh. My.  News text alert, BRB.

LATER:
Ironically, as I wrote this earlier, something happened that pretty much changed EVERYTHING. With Osama bin Laden's death, I can't possibly concentrate, as we are a military family (if it's in the news; it's safe to use™ - IIItNIStU™) and are on alert. Work your business while you wait!

Wanna Be On My Team?

In between writing and waiting (for checks), I work a home party business (and online), AtHome America and at ChaCha (as a Specialist and a Generalist - let them know Teraisa@gmail.com sent you). If you're interested in earning a few dollars here and there (more if you're willing to work!), please click on the links and join me.

Happy Easter everyone; God bless you and Us.

Here's My Secret To Using Writing Skills To Earn Extra Money

Writing may be my passion, but it's not my favorite paycheck.  It can be great money, but you never know if or when you'll be paid (unless your name is Ann Rule or Stephan King, for example). I've had one huge magazine holding my article (and money) for YEARS.  I've even tried resubmitting it several times, thinking maybe they just forgot, only to get a call or email back saying thank you, they have an article just like that one in cue.

For us character writers (think: character actors), we have plenty of jobs, but we're not well known and we'll never get the best tables at a restaurant.  If you write for money as little as I do (I tithe 90% of my writing), you need to supplement your income. 

For me, it was natural to turn to a place where I can combine writing with my other love, information. I am an information freak.  There are a couple of options if you want to freelance with ChaCha (I'm hereby referring you-use email Teraisa@gmail.com).

I can work as much or as little as I like; it's up to me how much money I make.  One thing I love about being a generalist/specialist is that you already know you'll earn a dime or so for each question, but there are times all month long where bonuses are given away, depending upon several things, maybe how many questions you answer, and maybe you simply are given a surprise bonus.

You won't get rich answering questions (unless you're the owner), but you'll be keeping your researching skills sharp and honing your writing craft (cutting words down to only what's necessary) and still get paid.  If you're looking for a few extra dollars each month, want to work your own hours, have a computer and Internet (or have access to both), and are willing to try, ChaCha may be the place you've been looking for.  Earn money freelancing while you write that next big novel.  Use me as a referral, be on my team:

http://becomeaguide.chacha.com  - referred by Teraisa@gmail.com