Is this your first time to visit Writing the Cyber Highway? Be sure to subscribe to my Feed or by e-mail. In the next couple of posts, I’ll be sharing photos and details about my visit to an old-fashioned festival where I dressed up as a pioneer woman (bonnet and all!) and also had the amazing opportunity to meet an Editor and an Editor-In-Chief. Eeek! (It’s coming, I promise!)

The Contest Has Ended

What an awesome contest! Thanks so much for all the wonderful entries. I truly wish I had enough copies of Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing to send each and every one of you a copy–but I don’t.

I know you’re all super excited to find out who won, so I’ll get right to it. I used Random.org to randomly select the winners. Speaking of which…

And the Winners Are

Winner #1 is comment #26, which is Rebecca Laffar-Smith!

Here’s what Rebecca said in her comment:

26.  Rebecca Laffar-Smith Says:

June 4th, 2009 at 1:45 am

“Grammar! It’s a frightful word to be honest. I’ve fudged my way through the ins and outs but don’t really know the ‘rules’. Thankfully, very few people do know all the rules so it’s not so hard to get by in day to day writing but when we’re submitting to the harsh eye of an editor every grammar goof is a glaring admittance of ignorance. Have you tried learning from style guides? I am brain dead in ten seconds. It would be nice to have a resource that makes learning Grammar light, easy, and fun.”

Winner #2 is comment #1, which is Lori from Green Gigs!

Here’s what Lori said in her comment:

1. Lori Says:

June 3rd, 2009 at 10:23 pm edit

“Two words: science major – that is why I could use this book! I love the passive voice, “quick” and “light-hearted” are my type of tips!”

Lucky ladies, contact me with your mailing addresses and I’ll get Mignon Fogarty’s fun words of wisdom in the mail to you!

Thank you to everyone who entered, and especially to Richard Rhorer and Mignon Fogarty for making this contest possible!!

Warning: This post isn’t my normal inspiring, motivating, uplifting kind of post–it’s pretty depressing in fact so if you’d rather not feel sad, you might want to skip along the cyber highway and wait to read my next post….

Wow. Time flies by so fast….

Where I’ve Been

I haven’t forgotten about the contest I told you about– honestly. Circumstances beyond my control have kept my focus away from blogging lately. I mentioned in my last post that I’ve recently lost two cousins (only in their thirties). Well, since that posting, I’ve lost a third cousin (only 28). Major shocker. I grew up with two of these cousins and was around them all the time, so they were more than just a “cousin” or “relative”, they were extremely special to me.

I went to school with the cousin who was 32. He just didn’t wake up one morning. It was his heart. The 36-year-old cousin lost his life in a car accident, and the 28-year-old cousin who just passed away also lost her life in a car accident. She was like a little sister to me. She was so special and we were so much alike. I’ve been devastated and have been at a total loss for blog posts. I haven’t even been writing/blogging for editors/clients since she passed away. I’ve taken some time to try to absorb all of this. I mean, one death is one thing, but two? That was hard enough. And then a third one? And for her to be such a beautiful, special soul? That’s when I realized I had to step away from the page and just let it sit there blank. The Muse–and my creative inspiration–has taken a flying leap and deserted me. But that’s okay for now. I am relishing the quiet moments. I need them. I crave them. I am using these quiet moments to find strength, hope, and healing. I’m using them to find renewal and to fill back up on the energy I need so I can move forward. This has all been so exhausting, it’s unreal. The bad news, the services, seeing my family members and even my cousins’ friends hurting so badly, missing their loved ones so much…. And realizing I’ll never see my cousins again–not on holidays, not on family visits, and there’ll be no more opportunities to send a birthday card….

Life, Death, and What Comes After

I won’t pretend to be a genius and concoct fancy images of the after life for you to figure out. Those of you who have followed me from the beginning of this blog and who have become close to me along the cyber highway and my freelance journey know that I am a Christian. No, I don’t say it in every blog post or on every social media site. I don’t try to force my beliefs on others and I have found that even those of you who don’t believe in God at all respect me (and my walk with God) because of that. Am I ashamed? No. And those of you who know me, know that too. Some people (okay, a lot of people) disagree with me on that. They think I should shout from the rooftops that I’m a Christian. I firmly believe what my Grandmother always taught me: actions speak louder than words. I can say I’m something until I lose my voice, but if I show what I am by my actions, then you’ll know without a doubt. Simple, eh?

So, anyway… I do believe there is life after death but the life after death I’m referring to here is on this side of the world. I’m talking about those of us who are left here to pick up the pieces and to wonder why: Why did they have to die so young? Why couldn’t they have lived and why couldn’t have God taken someone else? Someone who did horrible things and who was a horrible person who hurt people? But He didn’t. He took my cousins. All of them had children. Now their children are minus a parent.

What to Do?

Sometimes there just aren’t any answers. Sometimes we have to leave it at that. We don’t know everything….

So, what do we do? What can we do? We can wake up each morning as the sun kisses our face or the rain pelts the window or the dark clouds hover over our homes and be truly thankful in our hearts that we are alive and can gobble up all the goodness that day will bring! Don’t think there’ll be any goodness in a new day? Then be the person who brings goodness to the world!

Love your family and friends as if there were no tomorrow. Remember: tomorrow may never come for some of us. We aren’t guaranteed to wake up when we go to sleep, or to make it to our destination alive when we hop in our car–or someone else’s–and drive away.

Don’t take the people you love for granted. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today: let them know how much you appreciate them, tell them you love them instead of just assuming they already know it, buy them a beautiful (or even silly) card “just because”, make time for your loved ones–even if you don’t think you can.

There are definitely potholes in the roads of life. Nevermind them. Stop to smell the roses and enjoy the journey as best you can. Cherish every moment that you breathe. Live so that you won’t have regrets. Forgive and forget–even if it hurts. Love yourself enough to love those around you. Don’t wait until it’s too late and you can’t…

I leave you with this thought: life is a book.

Be sure to subscribe to Writing the Cyber Highway’s Feed or by e-mail! In the next couple of posts, I’ll be sharing photos and details about my visit to an old-fashioned festival where I dressed up as a pioneer woman (bonnet and all!) and also had the amazing opportunity to meet an Editor-In-Chief and an Editor. Eeek! I’ll also be posting that contest I’ve been telling you about, so keep up with me on the cyber highway!

Photo Credit: wowacom

Copyright 2007-2008 WritingtheCyberHighway.com

Posted Thursday, December 4, 2008

By

Michele L. Tune

Ever heard of eHow?

Maybe you’ve searched for something and landed on an eHow article. Read that sentence again. Don’t want to? Ok, I’ll write it again. Stay with me. This is significant. Read: Maybe you’ve searched for something and landed on an eHow article. Can you even fathom how powerful that sentence really is? Why is it powerful? Because if you’re the author of that article someone ends up reading after searching online for an answer, and they happen to click an ad related to your topic, you earn money!

I know, this sounds too good to be true.

I’m always skeptical of things like this myself and that’s why I waited so long before I joined eHow. (Everyone wants to get paid upfront, right?) And even once I joined (May, 2008), it was months before I even considered really submitting articles and participating in the site. (I’m kicking myself right now!)

Don’t like reading eBooks?

Me either. I’m not a fan of eBooks. I spend enough time online and staring at the computer screen writing and blogging. The last thing I want to do when I have time to read is stare at the computer screen even more. I’m over that now. Why? Because I just finished reading How to Earn Passive Income at eHow.com: Residual Income for Web Content Writers – eBook by WriterGig. (Again, I’m kicking myself because I didn’t take action and buy this eBook sooner!)

Okay, okay… so what am I loving about this book? Why do I think it’s worth $25? Why do I think you should buy it immediately?

Here’s a few reasons and things you’ll learn:

• tips and tricks for increasing your revenue from the first time you publish an article
• resources that will hugely benefit you and your articles
• how to write the best titles for ranking your articles higher in the search engines
• which topics to stay away from
• about key words, where to test them, and more

You’ll also get to see real screen shots of the author’s earnings!!

Extra Tip:

I highly recommend purchasing this book BEFORE you sign on with eHow. You’ll learn things that will boost your sales and help you tremendously from that very first article. What WriterGig shares about creating your eHow account is crucial. I SO WISH I had read her eBook BEFORE I created my account! Take this opportunity to get a step ahead of other eHow writers…

I was really surprised that the eBook is so short (24 pages) but it is packed with tons of information. It’s definitely worth the $25 – and more! Think about it. You’re benefiting from the author’s experiences, wisdom, and tried-and-tested methods of what works best and what doesn’t. Don’t you pay a doctor well for their expertise? Remember how much lawyers and doctors and therapists charge for their hard-earned wisdom and advice?

Does the thought of residuals make you cringe?

Keep reading. Have you ever sold an article for $10? That payment may be upfront, but if you sold all rights to it, you’ll never earn another dime. With eHow’s residual income system, countless writers are earning thousands per article! I’m an honest gal. I’ll tell you not to expect $1,000 your first month. If that happens, fantabulous! But I won’t give you false expectations. My reputation is worth more to me than a few bucks of affiliate commissions and I’d never want you to waste your hard-earned money on something (like this eBook) that I wasn’t 100% positive would be an asset to your freelance life and bank account.

Yes, I have already started applying what I learned from this eBook to my own (20+) eHow articles and am seeing my residuals increase daily!

BONUS:

When you order, you’ll receive a FREE eBook: The Affiliate Masters Course (152 pages)!

What are you waiting for? Snatch up your copy and get started earning with eHow now!

How to Earn Passive Income at eHow.com: Residual Income for Web Content Writers – eBook by WriterGig

Total:$25

Click here to view more details

(Yes, this is an affiliate link. If you buy the eBook, I’ll earn a commission. But I’ve been a guinea pig so you know you’ll be purchasing a quality product. ‘Tis the Season!)

Be sure to subscribe so you won’t miss out on eHow updates about my own articles, as well as tried-and-true tips from this awesome freelance life!

Best wishes on your eHow articles. (Be sure to add me as a friend once you sign up.) Here’s to eHowing the Cyber Highway!