Office Furniture

I recently completed a Health & Safety at Work course, and one of the first things we will need to do is to do workstation assessments with each employee. This assesment will take into account, the available light, the equipment used and the office furniture at each work station.
Posture can be critical where the wrong furniture or equipment is being used. For instance, I learned that an emplyee must not be alowed to work on a standard laptop computer if a significant portion of the day is spent doing computer-related tasks. It so happens that I use a PC most of the day, and normally have two laptops on my desk. I have now bought a separate keyboard and a laptop 'Elevator' which allows me to use the laptop at the correct height. I just need to get myself a new desk and then perhaps I should encourage my colleagues to get the proper equipment after all the course was not just meant to enhance my own working environment...

Hair Supplements

This Christmas, you can add another idea to the growing list of potions and creams for the lady in your life. Not only is there a dazzling array of anti-aging creams, shampoos and smellies, you can now buy your hair supplements separately instead of bundled with a shampoo.

We are all familiar with the adverts for hair products which not only offer cleansing but also vitamins, strengtheneing etc... well, now you can use your favourite shampoo and add the good stuff regardless of whether your chosen product has all the vitamins that your hair needs.

Free Icons for your posts or website

One of the things that can make your website or blog stand apart from the crowd in terms of professional apearance is the images that you use. Visual impact is important for a website almost as important as the content itself.

One of my current favourite free resources is the 'DryIcons' website where you can download free sets of icons for use on your sites. The standard of artwork is very high, and they have a vast catalogue of free icons. All they ask for in return is a name-check and link on the pages that you use the icons on. A sitewide link covers you for all eventualities and is a small price to pay for such a fantastic free resource.

They have icons for all occasions, and they come in sets which allows you to give a uniform appearance to your site by having a common theme throughout the images. I have used quite a few if these images on this blog and certainly plan to use them for future projects.

On Line Learning

I think we all recognise that all the modern innovations and technology introduced in the last couple of decades do not give us more leisure time. In fact innovations have raised expectations to the level where so much more is possible in the working day, that we spend even more time working to meet those expectations.
Speed of communication and transfer of data has increased exponentially over recent years to the level where there is little need to travel to work or even travel to learn.
Bringing together the ability to learn remotely, and the need for learning brought about by the technology itself, are remote learning courses that offer the same standard as the universities.

Despite the inbox full of spam offering bogus online qualifications, there ARE reputable institutions that are harnessing the power of the internet to bring a genuine online degree within reach of those that, for one reason or another, are not able to travel to a college or university. The courses are the same standard as those offered to a physical body of students, the method of communication is different, but the learning itself still requires hard graft!
Having said that, those who engage in this type of learning are usually self-motivated and therefore are likely to 'enjoy' the learning experience. Also being in an environment of your own choice is conducive to the learning experience.
Motivation for learning varies from person to person, there are those who simply enjoy learning to add to their own knowledge, others may be pursuing an online teaching degree or some other work or career-related qualification.
We can conclude that certainly since I was at school, both the methods and the motivations for learning have changed considerably. Traditionally remote learning was popular enough via correspondence courses, and bringing remote learning into the online world has actually made it less remote with the added ability to 'chat' with fellow students and teachers.
Western Governers University has a leading online education program which is both affordable and accredited - the two most important characteristics for online qualifications.
The university was created out of the desire of 19 Western State Governers to pool resources in 1995 and build their own academic institution, and in this respect is totally unique. The institution was set up with distance learning in mind and began accepting students in 1999. The university is a non-profit organisation serving 12,000 students.

The Year draws to an end...

I can't believe that we are close to December already, just a few weeks left to Christmas and time to sign off 2009. This has been a year of challenges in the paid to blog world, and one that has asked some questions and demanded some answers.
I have always felt that money making on the internet is never static, you can't keep to the same old formula because the goal-posts keep moving. Whatever worked yesterday is not guaranteed to work today. This is why the 'get rich quick' schemes cannot work, quite simply if it's arbitrage or something similar (and it usually is...) Google are too much on top of it to let it happen. In fact, most of the get-rich-quick schemes are mostly about selling the get-rich-quick scheme on regardless of whether it works or not. (I'm not saying that arbitrage doesn't work, but no-one can guarantee you a high return from Google Adsense).
However, if you are prepared to put some work in and look for the openings, there are small amounts and sometimes reasonable amounts that can be made. If you are pursuing paid-to-blog, then you must have a fair number of blogs to play with and a fair amount of time on your hands to complete posts. If you are prepared to push the boat out a little more, then are plenty of different directions you can go in. I know of people who have moved on to create their own 'paid-to' sites, those who are relying on revenue from Adsense and keywords, and those who are more or less full-time writing - having moved on from blog-posts to ebooks and larger writing projects.
The problem with the schemes for sale is that you are ineveitably ploughing someone else's furrow, the internet for me is all about trying to make your own way, it is the entreprenuers play-ground - just make sure that is is not you that is being played with!

Personal Heating

You may think that the electric blanket is a thing of the past, but in fact it has evolved into a plethera of new heated devices such as heated clothing, pet blankets and footwarmers. An electric warming device is the perfect gift for the female in your life as we all know that their thermostats are a little off-kilter...

If your devotions are towards a furry friend, then there are a whole host of heated devices for every shape and size of dog, cat or rabbit. Nobody needs to be left out in the cold this Winter...

Smokes for Christmas

The general trend over the last ten years or so has been against smoking in general, and cigarettes in particular are in decline. However, cigar-smoking is generaly seen in a completely different light. The cigar-smoker smokes for pleasure rather than habit, and is unlikely to inhale the smoke and tar. The majority of cigar smokers are occassional participants unlike cigarette smokers, and an occasion like Christmas and the New Year always brings with it, it's fair share of Swisher Sweets or Royal Coronas.

Started my present buying already...

I have a plan this year which will ensure my present list is whittled down as quickly as possible this. I reckon I will be buying about one-third of my gifts online (eBay), one-third will be some well-priced items from the local super-store and the final third will be made up of cash and gift vouchers - sorted!
I have bought the first few gifts today, will do my online shopping in the next couple of weeks and have booked a week off work prior to Christmas during which I will get all the vouchers.
I hate the last minute rush to get the last few gifts and am determined to be ahead of the game this Christmas...

Car Accessories

It amazes me how the world of car accessories has evolved since I started driving some twenty-odd years ago. At that time, a pair of fog-lights and some go-faster stripes were about as distinctive as you could make your vehicle without indulging in full-blown customisation.
Nowadays, there are a whole array of sophisticated ways in which you can personalise your own vehicle. From headlights such as the ones pictured here to special chips that can optimise the performance of your vehicle's engine without making any physical adjustments. If there is a boy-racer in your life, consider car accessories for their Santa-sack next month.

Not much blogging going on

This month has seen a bit of a slow-down in blog-activity for me, but I have recently had a bit of a flurry of activity in my other online pursuits. This reinforces to me the need to have several 'strings' to your bow if you are serious about making money on the interenet. It seems as if activity in some areas can go through very barren patches. Even though visitor figures remain steady, direct enquiries, affiliate sales and contextual ad clicks can vary for no apparent reason.
One of the strings I have is a service that converts cassettes into CD's, and it seems like there is always a little more activity before Christmas, and then in the new year, it often goes deathly-quiet.
Affiliate sales aften appear on flurries too, I will sometimes get a batch of high-yeilding commissions, and then nothing at all for months on end. Annoyingly, after I got paid for my latest affiliate sales commission, my bank lost my cheque... Fortunately shareasale.com, my affiliate partner will re-issue the cheque (after 90 days), and I got the bank to compensate me for the loss...

Coffee for Christmas

A few Christmases ago I won a lot of coffee beans in a raffle - so much so, that I still have most of them at home... I only have a cafetiere at the moment, and am really hoping that Santa will bring me a nice coffee machine this year, if only to clear the back-log of coffee beans in our kitchen cupboards.
There is a lot of choice when it comes to buying espresso machines and prices for the really snazzy ones can go into thousands of dollars. I will be more than happy with a reasonably priced one (assuming Santa or one of his helpers actually reads this blog..)

Locked in!

One of the recurring themes of this blog is my successes (and more often failures) with DIY projects in my home. Well, this week I noticed that one of the doors I had previously refurbished had a handle that was playing up. It had always needed to turn anti-clockwise to open, and suddenly it wanted to be turned clockwise...
If this happens to you, CHANGE THE MECHANISM!!
After a couple of weeks of this, I shut the door behind me today to discover that it would not open again... particularly 'inconvenient' as I was actually IN the bathroom. No amount of manipulating could persuade the door to open - I calmly went through all the options, but eventually I resorted to kicking in the antique door (see the broken panels in the picture) as there was no-one else in the house and I was going to be late picking up my daughter.
I got a cut hand and cut ankle for my troubles, but I learned a valuable lesson about taking particular notice of door handles that don't behave themselves. The next time I come across this, I will be immediately removing the door-lock.

Cleanse that Colon...

I must say, I have resisted the trend towards Colonic Irrigation and Detoxification with a passion - I really am not a fan of messing about with my body as long as it appears to be functioning reasonably well. However, I realise that I am old-fashioned and stuck-in-my-ways and some people actually thrive on this type of stuff.
I am about as keen as I am on Aromatherapy and Homeopathic medicine, which as you might have guessed is... Not very... Of course, if you are not keen on having a tube stuck where the sun don't shine, you can still apparently in the words of the Carlsberg Ad, have probably best colon cleanse in the world... by cleansing your own colon with medication. I would be hesitating to actually buy this as a gift... If you think buying someone soap might indicate that their hygiene isn't what it should be, what are you 'saying' if you buy them colon cleanser??

Addiction

Addiction seems to be a symptom of our 'over-successful' society in many ways... A few decades ago, addiction was seen as belonging to the down-and-outs of society. More recently addiction has been seen as a symptom of success. Although since the sixties, the world of Rock & Roll has been synomynous with addiction, this has now widened to include all of the entertainment industry and even the world of business and high-finance, trickling down to the high street and suburbia.
Far from carrying a stigma, a period spent in drug rehab is considered almost obligitary as part of the trappings of success.

Quiet November

November is quiet...I was thinking to myself, of course I am only referring to opportunities for paid posts and suchlike - there is no way that you could call November with the whizz-bangs of fireworks, and occasional torrential rain 'quiet' in the literal sense.
I am spending more time on my SEO projects at the moment and am happy to report pleasing progress in terms of SERPS achieved, and regular traffic figures for my latest project which I am hoping to turn into a regular earner...
Funnily enough, one of my other projects (turning cassettes into CD's) is turning up a few new clients lately, so that is all helping to add to the supplementary income - which I have promised myself I will be properly reporting at least by the end of this year. (currently I only report blog earnings on Munny4Hunny - I am revising my reporting procedure so that it will be easier to combine it with all the internet earnings that I declare for tax purposes).
I am honestly thinking of spending more time on SEO stuff than blogging although I will always retain a blog if only to keep the world informed of my latest schemes.
I currently have four active blogs and three websites to run, apart from the work that I do in the world of 'real work'. The reason I am leaning towards SEO and the resulting income from affiliates and adverts, is the more passive nature of the model - blogging necessitates a certain level of regular updating which, if you are not full-time, is difficult to fit in with other committments.

Are you ready?

November is all about burning... burning fires and fireworks for bonfire night, lighting fires to heat the house in the cold November weather and weight-loss for those that need to burn fat in preparation for the Christmas feasts ahead.

To be fair, most people indulge over the festive period and then begin the weight-loss program in the New year, but those forward-thinkers (those that had all their presents wrapped up in October) might be thinking about how they can be in good shape ready for Christmas.

I am not much of a forward planner, but equally, I don't like to leave things to the last moment either. I have a week booked off work 10 days before Christmas which should give me enough time to get all that I need done in plenty of time...

Online shopping

Whether you are looking for a new purse, a weight loss product or a car... modern man is turning to the search engine before the catalogue or the showroom. Basically, if you do not have an online prescence, you are not maximising your client-base.

Having said that, it is worth noting that not all online sellers are honest and reliable. Especially when deciding to purchase pills or medicines online, caution should be exercised to ensure that products are safe and properly reglated.

Online purchases are set to rise in response to the recession, and in turn this will lead to a major decline in the high-street shopping experience. Already the choice in major shopping centres is restricted to the high-end retailers who are the only ones that can afford to have a physical presence on the high street or shopping mall.

Catching up with web 2.0

Do you remember the fuss about web 2.0? Was it just internet snobbery distinguishing between sites that were up to 'the mark' and those that weren't??

To an extent, I am sure that was true, ie. if you didn't have the right stuff on your site, then you were branded old hat. Now that the fuss has died down, what was it all about, and will there ever be a Web 3.0?
Of course the danger of coining the phrase Web 2.0 which had vague and varying definitions, was that someone would come up with 3.0 and 4.0 which would be equally unhelpful. In essence Web 2.0 was more about interactivity than any other single issue, and the introduction of social sites such as Myspace and Facebook have proved the point about interactivity being where the future of the web should be focused.
However, this does not mean that sites that do not have 'whizzy' embedded applications and scripts are not just as valid for gathering information and advertising services. Those sites that were relatively one-dimensional were made to feel that they did not belong to the internet, and that was where the snobbery came in.
The internet is nothing if not 'democratic' in the truest sense of the word, and there is room for all types of websites within the framework of the worldwide web. Despite the hype, Google does not care if your graphics are flat or if there are no moving images on your homepage, in fact SEO and perceived Web 2.0 aesthetic requirements could be actually diametrically opposed to each other in many cases. SEO is still basically about content and links - if you don't get those right, you may as well stay off the web altogether.

October Earnings

October has been a good month for earnings, I have had some new avenues to explore and had some bonus posts to do for PU2B which helped to take me well over the $100 mark for the month.
Much of this may be 'one-off' earnings, but hopefully the revenue stream will continue. In the meantime, my 'under wraps' SEO project continues to take up a little of my time, and is now starting to look certain to cover at least hosting charges if not return a small profit at the end of 12 months. I am happy that this project is hitting targets in terms of SERP gained (I am usually in the top three results for my keyword), and am managing to gather a steady stream of traffic. Not only that, but my visitors tend to stay on the site and visit several pages indicating that they are discovering useful information. In essence most of the site is completed, I just have one more area to develop, then next year I plan to buy an 'unlimited' hosting package so that I can repeat the project for similar keywords.
The site in question is monetised through Adsense and eBay affiliates in the main, but I probably won't be able to talk publicly about the actual keywords I am targeting until the rest of the project is in place.
I am looking at how I can streamline my operations a bit and thinking about getting rid of some domains in order to free up some commitments (blogging can be quite a time-consuming commitment) and realise some cash for other projects.