October 3, 2009
September 29, 2009
September 12, 2009
May 20, 2009
Article Marketing Directory Submission
I’ve been busy having a go at making videos with Article Video Robot and this article marketing guide is the result of my third attempt. There are a few errors and I feel that it would have been better split up into 2 or 3 parts, but apart from that I think that my videos are getting better. If you want to learn more click on the link to read my Article Video Robot review.
January 2, 2009
January 2009 Update
It’s been a long time since I updated this blog, due to being very busy with my growing amount of websites, blogs and life. A lot has happened so I’ll briefly list the important things.
Family
My 78 year old mother became ill just before Christmas and fell in her home. She couldn’t get up from the floor and was lying there overnight until my brother called round and saw her through the window. The police and ambulance were called and once they got into the house my mother was given treatment for a viral infection and seemed to be picking up.
I stayed with her Christmas eve and day and another brother stayed with her on Boxing day but she worsened and was rushed into hospital. They said that she had a gall bladder infection and Septicaemia. She is getting better now thank goodness but it is worrying.
My daughter moved home, a lovely house but unfortunately for me it’s further for me to travel to see her and my grandchildren. However, they have an extra bedroom with my name on so I can go and stay sometimes.
Business
BB Articles has gone from strength to strength, but I am finding dealing with the article directory very time consuming. It would be lovely just to be able to let articles be approved automatically, but the quality of some of the submitted articles is very poor and then there is plagiarism.
I set up a travel article directory at the beginning of last year with a different software called Memberspeed. I wasn’t happy with the software and have recently changed the site to the Article Friendly script. Much better and easier to use.
My favourite software and I think my best investment is XSitePro 2. I have built a few sites using XSitePro and find it quick and easy to use. The websites that I have built with it so far are:
UK Travel Guide, The Creative Writer, Money From Writing, Mega Music Site, Articles Abroad (the front page) and Ebook World
Three of the designs are my own and 3 from the templates provided with the software. I’ve been integrating DLGuard software for selling digital downloads with Ebook World and am pleased with the outcome with lots still to do. I wouldn’t have been able to do that when I built this blog so I’ve learned a fair bit in that time.
Blogs
I’ve messed a bit with blogs in recent months and currently run 3 on my own domains which are Yorkshire Pudding Recipe, Hot Resell Rights and Mega Music Talent. As with this blog they have been a bit neglected but several months down the line the statistics make interesting reading.
Top for traffic is Mega Music Talent, but that has had more regular work done and more promotion. Top for keyword ranking, position in search engines and percentage of available traffic is Yorkshire Pudding Recipe. Bottom for everything except making money is Hot Resell Rights. With little traffic it does better than any of my sites and blogs for Google Adsense earnings, something I will have to work with this year.
Work
My day job never ceases to be interesting. We had a major refit just before Christmas – the worst time of the year for a refit but head office knows best. It was hard work but everything looks nice and clean and we are now on top of things. It was very busy over Christmas and we found like usual that somebody at head office had deleted lines that are popular with our customers and added lines that don’t sell. Very frustrating when you have to keep telling customers that we don’t sell something any more.
Happy New Year!!
October 31, 2007
Lusting For Money
A review of The Testament a novel written by John Grisham
Eighty-year-old Troy Phelan jumps out of his wheelchair, practically runs across the room out onto the terrace and dives from the top floor of his 14 storey building to his death. The sick, sad, lonely self made multi billionaire knew that he wanted to die, knew that his family wouldn’t mourn him much and wanted to cause them as much grief as he could by setting the scene for the last act of his life.
A short time before his death Troy who was one of the richest men in the USA was examined by 3 notable psychiatrists and pronounced sound in mind. Then he signed a 90 page professionally prepared will sharing his billions out equally amongst his 6 children from 3 broken marriages. All of who were in the room with their individual lawyers at the time of the examination and signing. His families, their lawyers and the psychiatrists then left the room totally satisfied with the filmed proceedings.
Camera still running, and with just 3 others remaining (Josh Stafford, a partner in the law firm and Troy’s gofer Snead) Troy shredded that will and produced and signed an handwritten 1 page will revoking all others and leaving his billions to illegitimate daughter Rachael Lane. Only Troy knew of her existence and nobody including him had more than a vague idea where she was.
In a letter to Josh he ordered the contents of the will not to be disclosed until January 9th, one month after his death. In that final testament all he left his 6 legitimate heirs was payment of any debts incurred before the reading and that would be only on condition that none of them contested the will. Immediately after signing the will he jumped to his death leaving behind a great deal of controversy and uncertainty.
His slick lawyer Josh Stafford was faced with the problem of finding Rachel Lane. All he had to go on was that she was a trained doctor and a World Tribes missionary in Brazil working for a religious outfit who had been sworn to secrecy about her. As far as his 6 children were concerned they were his heirs and had no idea that the final will had cut them out. Their problem was in getting enough credit to buy the expensive things that they desired and would be able to afford once they inherited the money.
At this stage I pondered on the fairness of a man that can play games with his children and detest them so much that he can disregard the security of their futures yet leave a massive fortune to a daughter that he had only met once and 20 years earlier. We learn that he had little interest in them as children and that each had received a trust fund of $5,000,000 on reaching 21, excepting for his weird 14 year old son Ramble whose money was waiting in trust for him. The 5 who had received their trust funds had gone through most or all of the money and some were in debt. Troy had worked hard for his money and was certain that his incompetent children and their partners would fritter the fortune away. I can understand that point of view but heck what’s the point of having money if you live austerely as Troy did and don’t enjoy it.
Josh decides rather strangely to send 48 year old food litigation lawyer Nate O’Riley to Brazil to look for Rachael. At the time of Troy’s death alcoholic Nate is drying out in a rehab centre for the umpteenth time and hardly the most suitable choice for the task and the temptations on the way. With 2 failed marriages and children that don’t like him, Nate’s excess baggage includes self-pity and to a certain extent the self-delusion of an alcoholic who has often stumbled at the hurdles of reform.
Nate travels to the Brazilian jungle while the Phelan heirs and their many legal advisors wrangle greedily over the inheritance. The book swings back and forth between both aspects of the story but my favourite parts were the descriptions of Nate sailing down an alligator infested river in a storm and the settlement of hostile semi-naked Ipica Indians and their surroundings.
I won’t say any more about the plot except that the will was read 2 weeks instead of a month after Troy’s death as he specified. I found that rather odd and there was no real reason given for not carrying out Troy’s last wishes, certainly not enough to affect the plot.
I haven’t read anything by John Grisham before and only picked this book in the library because of reading enthusiastic opinions about some of his other books. I wasn’t disappointed in my choice and found the storyline interesting enough to want to read to the end and find out what happens although it didn’t totally absorb me to a point where I couldn’t put the book down. I found some of the plot implausible but it seemed to strengthen rather than weaken this piece of fiction.
The main character Nate was well described and it was quite easy to build up empathy with him, but in parts I wanted to give him a big nudge with an extreme part of my anatomy. Part of the implausibility of the book was the speed in which Nate managed to travel to a remote part of Brazil called the Panatel, have some adventures and find Rachel with little information to go on.
When Rachel finally comes into the story I found it hard to find any empathy with her. She’s a good woman, dedicates her life to her religion and caring for natives in a remote part of the world with little access to what we call civilisation. Suffers unimaginable hardships every day stoically. A tough lady yet disappointingly little of her personality is exposed.
My favourite character was Jevy, Nate’s guide and translator in Brazil. Jevy had lived in the USA for a while and one day wanted to go back there. He came across as a caring, loyal, humorous and intuitive young man and was used in the story to keep Nate’s feet on the ground. I would liked to have seen the character expanded upon and explored more.
The Testament drew to a satisfying conclusion, leaving me with lots of things to think about. We all have to die sometime but wouldn’t it be awful dying knowing that the uncaring vultures waiting to pounce on what we leave behind are our children and the ones that we would most want to mourn us. It made me think about the lives of children with rich parents who spend time making more money instead of loving, raising, guiding and enjoying their children.
I learned something about the perils of the jungle and the way primitive tribes still live even now. I thought about the value of missionaries who apart from bible bashing offer invaluable medical care and knowledge making a not always welcome good and real difference to the existence of people from remote areas.
Greed was the motivation of many of the characters in the book, including some of the lawyers. You learn that those who uphold the law are not always honest when millions are at stake and hope that the storyline isn’t too true to life. Once the scenes with the lawyers came in I expected to find the book boring. I didn’t, I found myself curious to know how the Phelan heirs would react and just how low they and their lawyers would stoop. The switches to the jungle adventure were perfectly timed to stop me from ever feeling bored.
Although classed as a thriller it wasn’t thrilling, just a well told story with adventure, a hint of romance, a delve into the lives of spoilt filthy rich, an insight into the mind of a reforming alcoholic and the amount of money that lawyers can make out of other peoples deaths. Not the best book that I’ve ever read but still eminently readable and recommended for long winter evenings curled up in front of the fire. I shall certainly read more of John Grishams work in the future.
The writer of this review Patricia Jones owns her own article directory http://.BB-Articles.com
and several other websites, which include http://bb-space.co.uk
and http://ebook-world.co.uk
Big Girls Are Sexy Too
A review of Good In Bed a novel written by Jennifer Weiner
Cannie Shapiro is overweight and her size makes her feel uncomfortable and self-conscious. When she goes to the beach she covers the rolls with a sarong. Sounds familiar, we are conditioned to think that thin is beautiful and fat should be hidden.
At the beginning of the book we hear that 28 year old Cannie is a journalist, writes a column about the famous for the Philadelphia Examiner. She had ended her 3 year relationship with writer Bruce Gruberman 3 months earlier by saying that she wanted a break. She is fine with that until she picks up a copy of Moxie, a popular women’s magazine. There she reads an article by new columnist Bruce called Loving A Larger Woman.
The first sentence of the article says: ‘I’ll never forget the day I found out my girlfriend weighed more than I did’. He goes on to let the readers know that he never thought of himself as a chubby chaser. Cruel you think until you read further and see that he understands that her hefty 5’ 10” well covered body makes her feel bad when really to him big is beautiful. He ends the article by saying:
‘Loving a larger woman is an act of courage in this world, and maybe it’s even an act of futility. Because, in loving C., I knew I was loving someone who didn’t believe that she herself was worthy of anyone’s love. And now that it’s over, I don’t know where to direct my anger and sorrow. At a world that made her feel the way she did about her body – no, herself – and whether she was desirable. At C., for not being strong enough to overcome what the world told her. Or at myself, for not loving C. enough to make her believe in herself’.
I included those sentences from the book because they struck a chord with me. Some people can live happily with being overweight but for many every extra pound means miserable self-consciousness and guilt trips – straight to the kitchen cupboard usually! The bigger you get the less desirable you feel and you start to believe that is the way that others perceive you. I wondered if any of my partners had thought loving me an act of courage at the times in my life that I’ve been overweight.
Cannie is very hurt that Bruce could discuss her size with the huge readership of the magazine. She knows that people who know her will read the article and realise that it’s about her. Cannie cries her heart out, gets drunk and cries a lot more. She rings Bruce in anger but then ends up missing him and wishing that she hadn’t ended the relationship.
Her mother Ann calls round to Cannie’s flat to offer her comfort and advice. Not welcome because she has a problem with her mother. Ann came out of the closet in her mid fifties and is living with Tanya who Cannie resents too much to give her a chance to get to know her properly. Cannie’s father a plastic surgeon who was very critical of her, walked out on the family when she was twelve. He disappeared from her life leaving her with much insecurity about herself.
Her only consolation is her little dog Nifkin, named after a naughty part of the male anatomy. Nifkin had never really got on with Bruce – dogs know you know. Before the article Cannie and Nifkin were drifting along quite happily, but suddenly her life was in turmoil and her insecurities came to a fore. She tries to get her life back on track by deciding that she wants to get back with Bruce, pesters him with phone calls which he always ends and becomes increasingly distant. She blames her size on a lot of her misfortunes and decides to join a fat clinic where some humour is introduced.
Good In Bed is described as ‘wildly funny and surprisingly tender’ on the front cover. I have to disagree with it being wildly funny. I found the book amusing in parts but never found myself laughing out loud. I grinned when I read about Cannie going to a New York hotel to interview film star Maxi. The interview was cancelled by an over zealous agent who was afraid that Cannie would ask awkward questions that would expose the real Maxi to her fans. She got her interview after a touching meeting in the ladies toilets and a drunken girlie night out where the over protected film star was allowed to be herself for once and not act like the image built up for her.
Surprisingly tender, yes it is. The story is set over a year and each month a new article appears to hurt Cannie. She reads how Bruce misses her but then gets a blow-by-blow account of how he moves on. I found the book true to life in that I could identify with the emotional turmoil felt at the end of a long-term relationship. You end things for the right reasons and are jogging along quite happily with your life then a few weeks or months down the line something happens or you suddenly miss your ex partner and put yourself through the emotional grinder wondering if you made the right decision. Usually you have but sometimes you have a re-run just to make sure. Will Cannie? I’m not telling.
I enjoyed reading Good In Bed but I found it an interesting read rather than compelling. I was able to put it down easily but always looked forward to reading a bit more the next night. Perfect for me when I am tired and just want to read a little to help me relax before going to sleep. There isn’t tons of sex as the title and front cover might suggest, but that would have spoiled the book for me anyway. Instead of finding it wildly funny I found it an amusing, thoughtful read. It was well written enough for me to be able to visualise Cannie’s world and understand her feelings and turmoil while she comes to terms with everything that is happening around her.
The ending was unexpected but it wasn’t one of those books where you are trying to figure out the outcome from word go. It is a story that takes you through a period of lots of big and unexpected changes in Cannie’s life and you learn how she deals with them. Not always well but it’s nice to read about somebody who isn’t perfect – just like the rest of us.
This is the second book that I’ve read recently with an overweight heroine and what a refreshing change it is to read about characters who aren’t the stereotyped skinny beautiful heroines that you often find in novels. Unfortunately both were classed as humorous – we big girls don’t just do humour but it’s a good job we can laugh.
Good In Bed was Jennifer Weiner’s first novel, published in 2001. Jennifer is a staff writer and columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. It is said that it’s always best to start writing about something you know and Jennifer gives a real feel of what it’s like working as a journalist, adding a great background to a pretty good story. I will certainly look out for her second book ‘Get In Her Shoes’.
The author of this review Patricia Jones owns her own article directory BB-Articles
and several other websites, which include bb-space
and ebook-world
Tuesday & Wednesday Rolled Into One
6.00 am until 2.00 pm shifts 2 days running. Stayed 2 hours extra yesterday because somebody rang in sick. Somebody else rang in sick today but I managed to get some cover and leave on time. Very busy because of Halloween. Ran out of pumpkins because the produce delivery didn’t turn up.
It will be fireworks next week for bonfire night. I hate selling them because I was burnt by a firework when I was a child. I believe that there should only be organised firework displays with safety measures in place and no sales to individuals.
Worked on the business both days when I got home and watched some TV in the evenings. Wedding disasters this week in the soaps, but that is nothing fresh. Arranged a week off in November and a weekend away at my daughters. I’m really looking forward to going over to see her and my grandchildren.
A handful of good articles for my directory today, but declined more than I accepted. Most of the submitters just don’t read the site guidelines. Maybe they are tough but it’s my site and I want quality there not the dross that some submit.
Yesterday I saw that one of my articles had been placed on a blog with the owner being credited with my work, just 2 days after I had published the article. I left a comment underneath the article asking the blog owner to credit me with my own work but haven’t heard anything yet.
October 29, 2007
I Like Mondays
Monday is a day off my real world job and today it started with a lie in with a coffee and a good book. I got up at 10.00 am and spent a large part of the day working on the business.
I always start by logging on to the admin section of my article directory and as usual declined most of the articles that had been submitted. Over 20 that were far too short and a couple of plagiarised pieces. It was a pleasure and a relief to find a couple of good articles. I wrote most of the monthly newsletter for my article directory and had to delete a winge that I had about not being ranked in Google. Why? Because today BB Articles was given a page rank of 2. It felt great and as if all of the hard work that I’ve put in during the last 4 months is starting to pay off.
I spent several hours submitting articles to other directories and doing some work on one of my websites. Launching and administering the article directory has taken up a lot of my time and my other sites have been neglected too much, something I will have to remedy.
During the evening I relaxed and watched the soaps. At least it gets me away from the computer. The storylines were a bit boring and unconvincing. I don’t think it was a good idea bringing spoilt Nicola back in Emmerdale. Ozzy the puppy was the best thing about Coronation St. and the Stacey Max thing in Eastenders is ludicrous.
Maybe I should have spent the time on my business instead. Anyway I’m going to bed with a smile on my face because I got ranked!
