Tag Archives: offline

Part 4 – 5 Reasons Why You Should Start Blogging 5 part series

 

4. Want to Improve Yourself?

Once you actually start, you will realise that blogging has the ability to improve your language and communication skills (especially if you are blogging in a language that is not your mother tongue). This happens automatically as you start reading and researching your post topics.

The more you write the more you'll find yourself checking for grammatical and spelling errors and trying to get the message across more effectively. You also learn how to entertain and perhaps even coax readers through your writing.

Sidebar: To help with this you can try Grammarly. Grammarly is free and it helps ensure everything you type is easy to read, effective, and mistake-free. Grammarly also has browser extensions for Chrome, Safari and Firefox. 

Blogging also gets you connected to a range of new people from various countries, with different cultures and backgrounds. Who knows, you may even form relationships if you communicate with them through the comments section. 

It is really quite exciting watching more and more people subscribe to your blog, post comments, ask questions and just start interacting with you and other members. As you get good responses to your posts it will positively impact your self-esteem which will consequently improve your life.

Stay tuned for Part 5!

 

Melody Christie

Where life takes me..

Click here to start blogging & connecting with amazing people from all over the world!

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Part 3 – 5 Reasons Why You Should Start Blogging 5 part series

Want to earn some money?

There are many ways people earn from blogging and you could too. Whilst it may take time to build a following and start earning a regular income from blogging, it is possible. Here are a few ways you can start.

1) Affiliate Programs

There are countless affiliates programs online and many of them provide you with marketing collateral like banners, images and unique referral links. If you write a post that is related to that affiliate program, you can easily add your affiliate links within the article itself. 

Alternatively, you can also add a banner at the beginning or end of your blog (similar to what I done here for Markethive).

You can also check out the Blog Posts section on my "Hacking Travel" Group to see how I've incorporated Amazon product links there and how you can do something similar.

2) Banner Advertising

Once your blog has a regular flow of visitors and you have the stats to show this, you can sell advertising space and invite companies with complementing products or services to buy a spot.

For instance, if your blog is about parenting you could invite companies that sell educational games or other children related items to buy an ad spot. 

If your blog is about places to visit in Colorado, for example, you can make a deal with your favourite local bakery and invite them to buy an ad spot or tell them you will advertise their bakery for free if they can give your readers a free croissant or coffee every Tuesday, or something like that. 

3) CPC / PPC / CPM Ads

Cost per click (also called pay per click) ads are usually banners that can be placed within your blog content or in the sidebar. Each time a reader clicks on the ad, you are paid for that click. Your reader does not actually have to buy anything from the advertiser. They only need to click the ad.

CPM Ads (“cost per 1,000 impressions,”) on the other hand are ads that pay you a fixed amount of money based on how many people view your ad. This is great if you have a high traffic blog.

One of the most popular networks that provide this type of advertising is Google AdSense. Many bloggers employ this method because they do not need to contact any advertisers as Google takes care of all that. 

You only need to place the banner on your site and Google will determine what ads are relevant to your content. When your viewers click on the ads, you will get paid by Google. That's it.

Of course, Google is not the only company to offer this type of advertising. There are other companies such as Infolinks.com and Media.net, that you can check out.

It is worth mentioning that you will not earn a large amount right of the bat, but as you continue blogging, creating a brand for yourself and establishing yourself as an expert, you will start to see the money come in.

4) Paid to Blog

Finally, there is a platform that actually pays you to blog. It's called Markethive. I personally prefer this method because my earnings are not solely dependant on anyone clicking my affiliate links or banners or ads. In addition, it allows me to earn with my very first blog post. Very few platforms in this world give you that opportunity. Plus they pay you in cryptocurrency!

Of course, my hope is that my readers find the content I provide helpful and useful and so they follow through to purchase whatever they need to through my links but knowing that I'm earning just for blogging, is nothing short of awesome! Want to start earning for every blog post? Click here.

Stay tuned for Part 4!

 

Melody Christie

Where life takes me..

Click here to start your free Markethive account in 1 minute flat!

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

Part 2 – 5 Reasons Why You Should Start Blogging 5 part series

Photo by Dakota Corbin on Unsplash

 

2. Do you want to help others?

Think about it, how many times have you desperately Googled for something and then found the answer you were looking for in a blog post?

In the same way, if you choose to blog on a topic you have some experience with, you could very well provide the answers to questions many people are searching for.

For instance, if you're an Entrepreneur, you could offer advice to others who are considering becoming one, talk about the things to look out for when choosing a business, potential pitfalls, the need to commit and spend at least a little time each day working on their project and such.

Or if you are a foodie (yes, it's a thing now), you could tell people where all the best restaurants, cafes and eateries are, the best time to visit to avoid standing around waiting for a table, etc.

Think of it as helping people. Put yourself in their shoes and consider;
– what they are searching for
– what they need help with
– what you already know
– what you are good at
– how you can help them

It's heartwarming going through the reader's comments knowing your post has helped someone.. even if it's a seemingly small thing like how to re-open a browser tab they've closed prematurely 🙂 (<– this was not a blog post but it was one of my early shares and the response was just great)

If you would like to test your blogging skills, Markethive is a free platform that provides you with everything you need to do just that. Plus it comes with a community of supportive Entrepreneurs who are happy to guide you along the way… and the icing on the cake? You get paid for every post you make! What else could you ask for?

Click here to start your free Markethive account in 1 minute flat!

Melody Christie

Where life takes me..

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

Part 1 – 5 Reasons Why You Should Start Blogging 5 part series

girl-laptop

Blogging has become an extremely popular thing to do these days. 

What started out as someone having a kind of online diary has morphed into something anyone can use to discuss anything they like – whether it is their daily activities or promoting a business, sharing political opinions, or doing movie reviews, discussing travels, you name it!

In this series, we'll be discussing the reason why you should start a blog and how it could add value to your life or business.

 

1) Got a fantastic hobby?

If you're passionate about something, you probably won't stop blogging about it until someone pries your fingers away from the keyboard. 

Starting a blog can be confusing especially if the internet, WordPress, hosting, SEO, etc. are all new to you. 

You could start a blog very easily by using Markethive though. The entire platform is already set up for you and so all you need to do is actually pick a title and start typing 🙂

Blogging can be quite fulfilling especially when your posts gain popularity and people start to read your posts, send in their questions and comments, etc.

Blogging will also encourage you to get out and learn more and more about the subject you're blogging about thereby giving you a never-ending supply of fresh content for your blog. Plus, you can blog from anywhere!

You will be so pleased with yourself once you have a community of like-minded individuals around you, all contributing towards the success of your blog and hobby.

Stay tuned for the next article!

 

Melody Christie

Where life takes me..

Note: I have to warn you though, with the people being the way they are these days, they won't just skip your blog or keep quiet if they don't like what you're saying. There are those who seem to think it their duty to point out every error or to just be negative in the comments section, so..

DO. NOT. LET. IT. BOTHER. YOU. You just do you 🙂
 

Click here to start your free Markethive account in 1 minute flat!

 

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

Is Online Church Enough?

Online church services are a great resource — make sure they don’t become your only community

Written by GodLife on 04/09/2018
Series: Weekly Devotional
Tags: Church, Church And Community, Fellowship, Online Church
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24-25
Balancing Online and Physical Church 
My husband and I found a great church. This place has excellent, Bible-based teaching, opportunities to serve, with a young, growing membership. The church offers multiple service times and great music. Unfortunately, we ended up moving. “No problem”, we both thought. “We can just go online and watch the services. At least that way we can still get great teaching while we look for a church in our new town.” 

Here’s what we discovered. Finding a church can be hard! Especially when the one you attended before was so great. Some weeks it was easy to say, “let’s just watch online today.” That counts, right? 
No matter where you live, you have to decide what to do about church and community, both online and in-person. The reality today is the online church community has so much to offer and may feel like an easier place to fit in. Many people are a part of multiple communities, online and offline. How do you balance them? Can one substitute for the other? 

The purpose of going to church
Notice I didn’t say “the purpose of church” because ‘church’ is not a physical place. the church is made up of people who follow Jesus. As Christians, we work together as “the church” to share the love of Jesus with others. Acts 2:42 provides some of the reasons for church. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” 

You can do many of the same things online and offline. You can share Jesus’ love, learn about Jesus, and read the Bible. With so many sermons and studies online, it is easy to find just about any material you need to help you grow spiritually. Online church allows you to build community fellowship globally and expand your perspective, while your local church may be limiting your connections to people who are just like you. So why go to a physical church rather than bonding and worshipping only in an online community? Physical touch, serving and gathering are just three reasons.

Physical touch
Britain recently appointed its first ‘minister for loneliness’ acknowledging how isolated many people have become. Part of that isolation is not simply mental loneliness but a lack of connection physically, too. I remember my mom saying several years after my father died that one of the hardest things she faced was not having daily physical contact with anyone – hugging, a touch on the hand, and just close proximity to another person in the room. There were those around Jesus who needed to hear His message in this way because there are people who are best wired to receive communication about love by physical touch. "And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.' And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, 'I will; be clean.' And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." (Matthew 8:2–3)

Going to church is a way to physically connect to followers of Jesus and remind ourselves that we are not just mental or spiritual beings but we exist together and have a common purpose. 

Serving in your community
Sure, you can give money through your phone to help others – even those in your neighborhood. The community church makes it more personal. As the church opens its doors in times of disaster or through helping local families with specific needs, Jesus can shine through your face when you participate in service. James 1:27 tells us: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” 

Gathering
We are here to gather with other believers in Christian fellowship, and a smartphone can never completely replace that. The term “church” in Greek (ekklesia) means a called assembly. In ancient times when a city called its people together for a certain purpose, this was always called an ekklesia. My husband and I once had a “Skype dinner” with some friends who had moved away. We just wanted to see their faces and eat together like we did when they lived near us. While it was fun, it wasn’t the same as being together. 

Balancing your online church practices with your physical ones can be a challenge. Both have so much to offer, it can be tempting to replace one for the other. How you use those resources God provided in a balanced way is a decision you have to make. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.” (Ephesians 5:15)

Pray this week:
Father, show me how to serve you. Lead me to more fully be a part of the church in all areas, through worship, teaching, giving, fellowship and prayer.

Do you struggle with balancing your life online and offline? Do you view your community church differently than online church?

Alan Zibluk Markethive Founding Member