or “How have I gotten to live this long?”

As a child of the sixties I’m beating my path through middle life. It’s pretty good and I feel I’m in my prime in every sense of the word.

Women don’t scare me no matter how good looking or intelligent, the kids will always scare me because I worry about them, I have a very beautiful home and have no credit anywhere with 3 cars on the drive including my beloved 1972 MGB GT (with the chrome not the rubber and alloy spoke wheels).

Life gets even better as I’m packing the sprogs off to my ex and preparing for an assault on the golf course, having rediscovered my golf clubs at the back of the garage. I am fully intent on celebrating the 43rd anniversary of the result of my parents New Year’s Eve ‘62 nocturnal adventures. My beautiful neighbour may be slowly melting as she’s agreed to come and knock some balls around the golf course too. Do not expect anything witty or inciteful next week as I will be recovering from the abuse of the forthcoming weekend.

So before I vanish into the arms of Bacchus or God willing, the delectable Jo, here’s a word or two on why life definitely began at 40 for me.

At 38 I’d sold my business and after 6 months of scratching my bum decided I needed to do something. Plans were made, shops and property inspected, deals agreed but not entered into and a lot of travelling for pleasure made me realise that Moscow is a dump (if God was to perform colon cleansing on the world, this is where he would stick the tube), Cyprus really is great, but there is no place like home.

In a nutshell I was buggering about.

Working for a friend of mine running sales and marketing just did not make me want to hop out of bed in the morning and I was bored!

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock….and Hey Presto I’m 40 !

Bloody hell was I adrift and no amount of money in the bank was sufficient compensation for that feeling of having no purpose in life. Pleasure had become boring. Work was a chore. Life was a mess.

I’d been tinkering with an idea to train to become a maths teacher for quite some time. I’m an OU student with a fair number of credits towards the degree and I’d always been torn between being a capitalist swine and accumulating dosh against being socially responsible and giving back to society. Teaching experience was brilliant, especially at my oldest daughter’s primary school where as the only man on the premises I was an object of some curiosity. I decided against becoming a teacher because it is far too much like damnably hard work; I tried it and I know, so no wisecracks about all the holidays teachers have.

That spell did do something for me though. I started writing.

I wanted to keep a record of my experiences partially because I was advised to do so by the teacher training people, but also because I met so many really wonderful kids in the brief time I was involved and I wanted a record for myself. My daughter saw this and we started working together on some of her own school work while I disappeared off at a complete tangent and started writing stories for the children with themselves playing roles in the stories. They were a hit with the kids that got them and personally I felt pretty good doing it.

Now being a scion of the Thatcher years my brain started ticking over the possibility that actually writing was something I could do and get paid for it. What better career path to take than to be able to choose where I work, who I work for, what the subject material will be and trust me, there’s nothing better than saying you’re a writer to stir interest in the opposite sex at the dinner parties or wine bars.

Writing is growing on me rather like a wart. So far, I’ve produced pretty ugly nasty nonsense geared towards selling “stuff” but it has paid and it is getting more interesting. Over two years of key bashing, I’m becoming rather happy with my lot except there are the occasional stirrings that I could be delivering something better than “Use this Zit Cream!”. I know I’ve posted before that I am not an artist nor have any bent in that direction but it appears to me that scribbling is addictive. I have probably created over a million words of content in these two years (you work it out :10,000 words a day for 2 years) yet you don’t know my name!

So, it’s happy birthday to me and perhaps while I’m engaged in “thinking time” this weekend, I’ll come up with a cracking idea to write about and make a million or maybe not. I don’t care, I’m happy because I have my life and all the stuff I mentioned earlier, but writing has also given me that sense of purpose back and I’m very grateful.

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Writing gives a two dimensional structure a three dimensional look. It creates visuals in the mind of your readers. It gives some form to a non-existent structure. Once put down in print, you have actually captured and contained it. Your idea has been made presentable. The more you do it, the more you are able to do it and it thus becomes easier for you to churn out writings and express yourself through words. Use words that you have learned in your mind to express your ideas. You really don’t have to wait until you learn the perfect words. The words that you have right now are enough; one can always refine everything later.

You should allow your writing to be free flowing. You should not stop yourself from putting whatever you are thinking into writing. Just write down whatever thoughts come into your mind about the subject. Make notes. Jot down all your ideas and phrases as they occur to you, and as an open minded writer, you should always keep a pad where you can write down notes where ever you go. It’s much easier to build upon existing material than it is to create it from nothing. Editing can always be done and refined later. You will generally find that you have an abundance of things to write about when you plan things this way.

One has to nourish the feeling of self worth if one wants to write a good article. If one was not in need of authentication as a writer, one could charmingly doodle, happily creating lots of potential articles. There is a need for self validation, then only talent and acquired knowledge will flow naturally. One must resist the temptation to make “a piece” out of it. Just keep doodling. If one detaches, the piece will seem to write for itself. One must also feel free to throw things away as it is not good to become too attached to your writing.

It sometimes may happen that you may not have anything to write about for a few days and then all of a sudden you can have three to five article ideas that pop up in a single day. You can put them all together first and then for the next few days, all you simply need to do is to edit and rework those articles into completion. Your intention determines the number of articles that you can do. When you set an intention to create six articles per week, you will generally find that with each passing day you receive information that will help you to create those articles. Anything can be done with intention.

Never consider any of your writing to be rubbish because you are not satisfied with it. Wait for a while and you never know it may look better with a little bit of editing. Remember that all knowledge is contained within. Just give yourself sometime, think about what you want to write and you will be enlightened with ideas you never thought you could write.

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A business of your own can be extremely rewarding. There is a certain satisfaction of knowing that all of your long hours and hard work will only be benefiting “you” and not nameless, faceless executives. But, is your business benefiting you the way you want it to?
There are millions like you who own a home-based business, and everybody wants to make a future out of it, but there are some questions that one has to answer to actually pin-point where you stand.

1. When you set out your business what was your vision and where do you stand today?
2. Was it to find freedom from the shackles of your boss?
3. Were you thinking that this sort of business has the potential for income beyond any limit?
4. Was it simply to spend more time at home?

Whatever you wanted to do, have you managed to accomplish the points you set yourself? And, what is really important is that whether you are enjoying what you are doing, and whether it is something in which you stand out?
If you do not have the answers to the above question, you should contemplate and think about a few things before you begin afresh. You could try and find answers to these questions and I am sure you will know what you are doing and what you want to do.

1. Do you know the priorities for your business?
2. Do you enjoy the undertakings that you do?
3. How does your business make profit?

You will find that if you could take time out of some of the other duties, the ones you find most boring, the time saved will allow you to concentrate of your business, thereby generating profit and a love for your work.
Until a few years ago, it was economically difficult to assign an additional workforce for your home-based business. Even now, small businesses find it difficult to work with a lot of people especially if they are not economically strong. But, with the internet, new avenues have opened up and it is no longer necessary to work to engage staff. Most of today’s business can be outsourced, which allows home based business owners the leverage to give more time to obligations that a home made business has to work with, i.e. support staff. They could be the accountant who settles financial matters or a website designer who would maintain and handle your website. A virtual assistant can look after the administrative duties while other programmers can look after the security of the website and the business generated from the website each day.
It is very important that we assess what you love about your business and how tasks can earn you the most profit. Focussing on these few will be the key for a successful outcome. Outsourcing should be as little or as much as you think is right. Though it might ultimately help your businesses reach its optimum potential. You should not be hindered with the fact that you do not have the resources to hire staff. In this technological age, the right help can make your business the dream you visualized when you began.

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Today internet writing is a reality. Even a few years ago, internet writers, especially bloggers were not deemed as writers who could make a difference, but today, with the explosion of information that the internet has created, online writing has finally come of age. Bloggers today can make a living out of writing and blogging. Although this concept is still very new to the people in many countries, I believe that everything takes a while to start off, and after a certain point in time when people see that it is effective, it becomes popular.

If individuals concentrate on what they intend to do with their lives and the difference they can make if they think a little differently, then they have a certain urge to work harder. Blogging is this volatile domain that is getting ready to erupt. Although the eruption has started, until and unless more people see the difference it can have on the lives of bloggers, they will not give it a try. Today, people who are into blogging can see a future in writing, and there are cases where people have already started to make a living out of blogging and online writing. As I would put it, “blogs don’t just know or imagine the future, they make it happen”.

Blogs act as a tool that allows strangers to discuss your work and the availability of it without any encumbrance. They traverse through our society’s normal conventions and make people realize that there are different ways to let your work reach the masses.
When one browses through the internet you think what one is doing is looking for information, but there’s a lot more to it as well. People look for similarities, similarity in stories, thought and expression. People do not like to think alone, and they would be overjoyed if they found someone with ideas that they have been nurturing. These give bloggers an interesting area to work on. If your blog posts reflect the interests of key people in your marketplace, they will probably want to check your background, qualifications and your availability!

Today, networking, both social and corporate, is the key thought process. Everybody wants to be part of a social network and usually blogs become the home of people who love to network. Networking would be to describe the fascinating effect of individuals using their interest, cognition and exuberance to quicken their career passages.
The whole industry, I believe, has since grown up around the word ‘Networking’ and that blogs are where they choose to stay. If you need a result, then you need to blog.

Blogs not only lay down the platform for you to socially interact with a number of people, but make money out of it as well. Blogs give you the power and authority to publish your work similar to a website. It gives you the accessibility to work as a website, thereby attracting more readers and viewers. So keep blogging – you never know where it will take you – remember, the network’s the limit!

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Grammatical errors can  show you up to be disinterested in your writing. They can detract your credibility and make your work look immature. In cases of blog writing or creating web copy, the case is pretty much the same. People will not read your blog, or subscribe/link to your blog if you make silly mistakes when you write. I believe that copywriting and blogging should be conversational and engaging, and breaking some in the formal convention of spelling and grammar can often be a good thing. Though, I also believe that you have to know the rules in order to break them. Here are some errors that you’ll never convince anyone that you wrote intentionally in the name of style, and even then, there will be people who will doubt your credibility.
So, let us look at some common errors that could diminish the credibility of your writing.

• Improper Use of the Apostrophe – It is used generally in two cases. One for contractions (don’t for ‘do not’), and secondly for showing that something belongs to someone (Bobby’s pen would mean this pen belongs to Bobby). If you are ever in doubt, leave the apostrophe out. It generally causes more confusion if you introduce an apostrophe where it does not belong than it does to omit one.

• i.e. vs. e.g. - These two Latin abbreviations are very useful to modern writing only if you use them correctly. The Latin phrase id est. means “that is,” so i.e. is a way of saying “in other words.” It’s designed to make something clearer by providing a definition or saying it in a more common approach. Whereas, the Latin phrase exempli gratia means “for example”, so e.g. is used before giving specific examples that support your assertion.

• Loose vs. Lose – One of the more common errors of bloggers and copy writers is to distinguish between loose and lose. It’s so common that one feel’s that ‘lose’ at times can be a proper substitute for ‘loose’, but in reality they are two different words which have two different meanings. Here’s something that will keep you guessing ( If your watch is too loose, you might lose your watch).

• It’s vs. Its - This is another common mistake. It’s also easily avoided by thinking through what you’re trying to say. “It’s” is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.” “Its” is a possessive pronoun, as in “this item has lost its value.” Remember this, and it will pay you dividends later. Read your sentence out loud using “it is” instead. If that sounds strange, “its” is likely the correct choice.

• There vs. Their - “There” is used in many ways, including as a reference to a place (“let’s go there”) or as a pronoun (“there is no hope”). “Their” is a plural possessive pronoun, as in “their shoes” or “their bottles.” Are you talking about more than one person and something that they possess? If so, “their” will get you there!

• These little points, when kept in mind while writing will help you avoid common writing errors, and make you a better writer. There it is. So, don’t lose your focus!

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