www.inkthinkerblog.com — Well, I didn’t make a lot of progress on yesterday’s to-do list. The non-urgent items, such as going to the post office, totally didn’t happen, and I’m okay with it. But I did manage to get a lot done! So I’m focusing on the victories. ;]

Here’s what I’ve gotten done so far today:

• Walk the dogs for 30 minutes (we’re working up to a full walk as Murphy gets the hang of things)
• Post to Inkthinker (this is the second one! read the first)
• Post to the LK Article Challenge Blog (today’s first post at Inkthinker did double duty as a tip on the other blog)
• Post to Lively Women (okay, I cheated on this one because I pre-posted for today yesterday)
• Post to meow/bark/blog (I’d like this to be daily during the week and maybe once every weekend)
• Write one full resume (Can you tell I’ve been doing a lot of resumes lately? Good money, people!)

Here’s what I have on my to-do list: [continue reading…]

www.inkthinkerblog.com — This week has been a big one for me as I’ve been catching up for being out of the loop so long with a nasty bug. And amazingly, I find that I’m getting it all done! Here are some of the techniques I’ve been using that I hope will be helpful for you, too.

1. Get up early. I know it seems obvious, but the earlier you get up, the longer you have to get stuff done during the day. And I don’t mean that you need to beat the roosters to work. Just set your alarm and get yo’ butt out of bed. Make hay while the sun shines and all that. I get up every day between 7 and 8 depending on what I had going on the night before.
2. Create a routine for yourself. After my alarm goes off, I let the dogs jump on me for a few minutes before I put them in the yard so I can get dressed. Then, I meet them by the gate and we go for a 30 minute walk during which I think about what I need to get done during the day and make a tentative game plan. I make them breakfast when we get back, and while they eat, I go through my e-mail and get started.
3. Make a to-do list. If you’ve been reading the last couple of days, you’ll notice that I’ve posted a to-do list and then recapped what I accomplished and what I’m carrying over. (And I’ll do it again once I finish this post.) Writing down what I need to get done helps me compartmentalize so I’m not stressing over forgetting something and I can just systematically work my way through the list. [continue reading…]

www.inkthinkerblog.com — I had an awesomely productive day yesterday, and it’s about time! I’m glad to be getting back into the swing of things. The only items that carried over from yesterday’s list of things to do are cleaning out my inbox and uploading my pictures to Flickr, both of which are pretty big jobs that I was expecting to have to spread over a couple of days. Oh, and setting up a client meeting for next week, which I had to push back because I’m scheduling interviews for an article that was delayed and is now being fast-tracked to stay on schedule. Phew!

Here’s what I’ve gotten done so far today:

• Post a tip to the LK Article Challenge Blog
• Post to meow/bark/blog (two posts in one shot! Woo!)
• Write a resume (I have two due today and I’m halfway through! Woo!)
• Performed edits for a completed resume
• Follow up with sources for fast tracked article to schedule interviews (We’re gonna pull it off in time! Woo!)
• Walk the dogs

And here’s what I still need to accomplish: [continue reading…]

By Hope Wilbanks

www.inkthinkerblog.com — If you have some knowledge of Internet marketing, then you already know about this sweet little tip. If you don’t though, you’re going to love this!

This is a really simple, but quick way to gather a huge cache of ideas really fast when you’re stuck for ideas.

1. First, go to a free keyword research tool. Wordtracker offers a great free one; just Google “Wordtracker free keyword tool” and you should find it pretty easily.

2. Type in 1-2 words. This will be a word within a topic you’re interested in. For example, if you write about or are interested in candy canes, type the phrase “candy canes” in the box (withOUT the quotation marks).

3. Click on “Hit Me.” Now you’ll have a list of search results. These are things that real people are searching for every day. But you’ll be using this list to generate some good article topics. Taking our example from above, let’s see how we can take that list and create some article topics to write about. [continue reading…]