My Blogging Business Philosophy: Not Treating Readers Like My Personal Piggy Bank

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Running a small business as a solopreneur means having to choose your revenue streams. Sometimes that relies on direct customers, such as for freelance writing services or selling books. At other times, specifically with professional blogging, people might focus on directly monetizing readers. But my blogging business philosophy is different: don’t treat readers like my personal piggy bank. There’s long … Read more

Forgiving Imperfection as a Solopreneur

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Working as a solopreneur poses numerous challenges. But one I’ve struggled with most over the years is learning to forgive, forget, and move past imperfection. When working for someone else, unrealistic goals often fall on a manager. And they either handle it well, learning from mistakes to better handle planning the next go-around. Or they handle it badly, placing blame … Read more

Lessons From Long Blogging Breaks

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It’s a new year, and that often means big changes in my business. A big change for 2021 is revamping my entire blogging system and schedule in an attempt to rebuild my little “blog empire.” But this comes after a long blogging break. From 2017-2018 I went through a pretty tumultuous time. It left me emotionally beaten down and feeling … Read more

New Year Necessities: Goals, Giving Up, & Unplanned Changes

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Bear with me on this long, somewhat rambling, personal year-end update. Most years I post my big year-end resolution lists with goals and plans for the new year. This mostly involves the writing side of my business, so I would share those lists on my freelance writing site. This year I didn’t share that list. Actually, this time I’m entering … Read more

Achieve More via Social Media and SEO With This Content Tip

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Over the years (largely at the original incarnation of NakedPR) I’ve talked a lot about what’s wrong in the social media and SEO world — from the circle jerk phenomenon of “tribes” to the way bad SEO and social media marketing can make you look like a spammer, scammer, or incompetent dolt. But instead of covering what you shouldn’t do … Read more

Derogatory Customer Feedback Online: Should Your Company Delete It?

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I received a question from a reader, related to the freedom customers have in leaving public feedback about a company. They wanted to know how a business owner should treat derogatory comments when they or their team have the ability to delete them. Their question would apply to any website or social media profile where you have censorship ability. Here … Read more

7 Signs Your Press Release Sucks

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Before moving into a full-time writing career (with some consulting on the side), I ran a small PR firm. So I’m no stranger to using press releases. They’re still one of the most popular services I offer clients. In addition to being hired to write releases, I’m often asked to give feedback on releases business owners tried to write for … Read more