Writing as a Business

If you are looking at making writing a means of providing a personal income it may be important to understand how to develop your passion for writing into a successful small business.

The first step is one you've already taken. Discover what you are passionate about. If you are reading this article you are probably most interested in the written word.

It is important to note that a successful writing career is a process of baby steps and is rarely attained in a 'overnight success' kind of way.

One of the things publishers are looking for in a writer is a proven track record. These publishers want to be certain that you can perform the tasks they require and that you will have them on or before an imposed deadline.

Therein lies the Catch 22. In order to prove to a publisher that you are capable of handling the assignment you actually need to have something published - in order to have something published you need to prove you can write.

One of the first steps to a successful freelance writing career is to provide your work to strategic publications at no cost.

You may think this is antithetical to your ultimate goal, but when you provide your work with nothing more than a byline to local publications or smaller publications that deal with your specialty these publications become references for you and they add substantially to your portfolio. This is often the trade off when providing your work for free.

When this step is fully implemented you can begin to produce speculative writing for various publications in the paying market. You can then provide tear sheets of articles that have already been published and it is at that point they have a means of assessing your ability and have some assurance that you can deliver what you are promising.

You should also keep your eyes open for writing classes or online writing challenges that provide a means of fine tuning your craft.

Two simple ways to improve your craft is to read a variety of article styles and work at improving your vocabulary.

By reading a variety of writing that is well done you have a better sense for what works in an article, and by improving your vocabulary you have the ability to write thoughts in a wider variety of ways.

Above all - persevere.

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects.

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How to Grow Courgettes!

Growing Courgettes

Courgettes are a firm fleshy vegetable, which has grown in popularity over the years. It is in the gaud section of the cucumber family, which includes marrows, squashes and pumpkins. Courgettes are an easy crop to grow; children are fascinated with their flowers and excited by the crops rapid growth. Plants like these kindle interest in gardening at an early age which gives hope for the future, for once the passion for growing plants and good quality home grown foods has been kindled, it generally continues throughout a person's life.

Courgettes are best eaten soon after harvesting them when they are fresh and at the peak of their flavour. In cooking, courgettes can be boiled, steamed, baked, fried, grilled and roasted. They have a delicate flavour so can be cooked with herbs to add variety.

Soil Preparation

Courgettes prefer heavier soils; they do best in positions where there is shelter from cold winds and they must have a sunny site. When preparing the ground, add plenty of manure and compost where the plants are to grow. Begin by digging a trench 4 in. (101mm) deep put in the manure then dig another putting the soil from this into the first trench. This will form a ridge; the courgettes can be planted into the ridges, 3 ft. (90cm) apart.

Sowing Under Cover

Sow the seed mid March through to late May putting two seeds into the pot in. (12mm) deep, at a temperature of 65 to 70 deg F. (18 to 21 deg C.) the weaker one can be removed if they both germinate. Harden off the young plants by putting the first sowing into cold frames at the end of May. Plant them out after about two or three weeks along the ridges when the chance of frost has passed.

Sowing Direct

Sowing direst into the ground where they are to grow sowing two seeds per station, this can be done in mid May until early June at about 3 ft. (90cm) apart. When the seeds have germinated they can be thinned out removing the less vigorous seedling.

Planting

Water the pots well before planting out. Avoid holding the plants by their stems as they are easily bruised causing them irreparable damage. If the weather is cool cover each plant with a cloche for the first week to give them a little warmth and protection. One of the best methods I find is to use a half of a clear plastic 5 litre mineral bottle. Cut into half, the bottle makes two excellent cloches. The top half, whilst giving protection also allows air and moisture through the neck of the bottle onto the plants. To prevent flying insects entering through the neck, I secure a small piece of fleece with an elastic band.

General care

Courgettes require plenty of water so that they are able to grow and fully develop, soak the roots thoroughly and regularly. For extra protection against the surface roots from drying out, grass clippings can be used as mulch. They are generally trouble free if the summer is a good one, however slugs can sometimes be a problem; to be on the safe side, position a few slug traps around the base of the plants. Cold conditions could restrict the activity of pollinating insects and so the fruits may fail to set. Should this happen it may be necessary to assist with pollination by removing a male flower and gently brush it against the female flowers, which can be distinguished from those of the male, by the slight swelling behind the flower.

Harvesting

In a good summer, courgettes can often be cut in August; keep cutting them when they are about 4 to 6 in. (101mm-15cm) long, do not be tempted to leave them longer because the flavour will not be quite as good. The plants will continue cropping until well into September. Use a sharp knife to cut the fruits from the plants, twisting or pulling will often damage the stem and possibly the whole plant.

Varieties to Try:

'Ambassador': Good flavour with a high yield.

'Defender': Has good resistance to cucumber mosaic virus, heavy cropper.

'Gold Rush': Yellow skinned variety.

'Tondo di Nizza': Spherical fruits

Terry Blackburn. Internet Marketing Consultant, living in South Shields in the North-East of England. Author and Producer of blog http://www.lawnsurgeon.blogspot.com. Author of "Your Perfect Lawn," a 90 Page eBook devoted to Lawn Preparation, Lawn Care and Maintenance. Find it at http://www.lawnsurgeon.com

I would be very interested to have your comments on this Article.

Growing Tomatoes in a Hydroponic Garden

Hydroponic tomatoes are easier to grow that most people imagine and, what is more, they taste delicious and are high in nutrients. Whether you are adding them to a sandwich, making a rich tomato and basil sauce, serving them in a crisp salad or simply enjoying the tomatoes on their own or with cheese, hydroponically grown tomatoes have a wonderful flavor. If you want to know how to grow tomatoes in a hydroponic garden, read on for some useful information.

Planting Hydroponic Tomatoes

You need to mark and space holes the same diameter as the pots you are using for your tomato seedlings. It is best to use shade cloth if the climate is warm, for the first few weeks. You need to mix fertilizer and water to a resulting pH of 5.5 to 6.5. Rinse the tomato seedlings to remove any dirt before you plant them. How to grow tomatoes in a hydroponic garden includes good preparation. You can use rockwool slabs, chopped rockwool slabs, cubes or blocks. A mixture of rockwool and fired clay is also a good growing medium. After planting your tomato seedlings in the hydroponic solution, you should check the water every day to make sure your water to nutrient ratio is right.

Temperature for Hydroponic Tomatoes

Tomatoes prefer temperatures of 70 to 80F during the daytime and 10F lower at night. These are the same temperatures that most growing vegetables thrive in. If you exceed these temperatures above or below more than 10F, your tomatoes might turn out nutritionally unbalanced, stunted or dead! That is why, when learning how to grow tomatoes in a hydroponic garden, it is vital to be aware of the correct temperature.

Lighting for Hydroponic Tomatoes

Tomatoes use the blue part of the light spectrum because they are long day plants. This means that a metal halide high intensity discharge lamp is the best thing to use if your plants are growing indoors rather than in the sunlight. They prefer 18 hours of light per day.

Humidity for Hydroponic Tomatoes

Tomatoes enjoy plenty of water but they also have to transpire it out with photosynthesis. This results in moderate humidity levels, which need to be controlled via good ventilation and air circulation. If you don't know how to grow tomatoes in a hydroponic garden and control the humidity, this can affect your tomatoes' nutrient intake. High humidity can result in calcium deficiencies in tomato plants, which can have long-lasting bad effects. Hydroponic tomatoes prefer 70% (80% is OK at night) humidity, if you are able to measure it.

Learning how to grow tomatoes in a hydroponic garden is perhaps a little more complicated than growing them outdoors but if you don't have the correct climate where you live, it might be a necessity. If you do have the right climate but prefer the rich taste of hydroponically grown produce, you might also want to try this. If you adhere to the above guidelines about how to grow tomatoes in a hydroponic garden, your tomatoes should turn out very well.

Tracy Ballisager is a stay at home mum. To read more on gardening tips go to http://www.gardening-tips-idea.com

Find Out Why You Believe in Your Religion

Whenever I ask someone involved in a religious organization, the question, do you really believe in your religion? Most of these people will often answer would be yes and start their religious conversion. Some of these people can become very intrusive if I don't stop them soon, very few of these people listen with an open mind.

I have talked to quite a few men and women about their beliefs over the years and still find it hard to believe that most of them live a life of faith with very little understanding or education about their religion. Now some strong believers might take offense to that statement, while others will listen to what I said and start doing a little more research on their religion.

Most of these religions throughout the world make perfectly good sense to their followers and I understand the reasoning behind some of them, it's all they know, everyone around them believes in the same religion and they get some sort of happiness and joy from it.

It's not hard to imagine a young child, walking around with strong religious beliefs if their parents are strong believers in it also. These children grow up and eventually train their children to follow the same path of their parents. Our children should be able to choose, what they will believe in, by the time they are adults.

This is a natural process of life, your parents learned from their parents and whenever someone asked them a question that they really couldn't answer or were uncomfortable answering, they can always reply with, I'm living a life based on faith or you just have to believe. You have to believe that someone is looking out for you and taking care of you. Most of these people think that something else is responsible for the events that take place in their life.

Is it possible for people that live a life of faith to educate themselves about their religion, to find the origin and maybe the destination of their religions. Could these people actually assume responsibility for their choices, whether they're good or bad. It's often hard to listen to somebody tell me that some evil entity made them do something bad. These people are easily convinced by others who agree with them and support them with their statements and beliefs. This seems to be where the biggest problem lies.

Once the people around us support our beliefs, they soon become realities in our lives. These realities will be transferred to others around us and give them support eventually about their beliefs. It's like a vicious circle that never ends. One believe supports another belief, until it's a fact.

Education is the path to freedom and will soon deliver the students from religious bondage. Someone a long time ago said," Seek and You Shall Find, Knock on My Door and I Will Open It.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, Science Getting Rich

Greg is currently working on a religious education also visit our article library, filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion

Trust Matters Now More Than Ever

Given the state of the world political stage and the perception that highly important business people are often crooks, it's easy to make the assumption that simple things like integrity and ethics are nice to have but not essential to everyday life. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth - and truth still matters as much, if not more, than it ever has. In fact, it's crucial to building and maintaining trust which, in turn, is perhaps one of the most underrated business tools at our disposal.

Stephen Covey, son of the driving force behind the Habits of Highly Effective People books, is convinced that we are in the middle of a trust paradox. The lower our current levels of trust become, the more we see its importance. No where is this more apparent than in the business world where we can actually measure the results on both sides of the trust equation.

The old adage that says time is money perfectly applies when we look at our present situation vis--vis trust. We see how expensive and time consuming most business has become. Consider how much longer it takes to fly from one destination to another since we've lost trust in the ability of the airlines to protect us. Think too about how financial negotiations have gotten bogged down where we've become suspicious that the people we're bargaining with are untrustworthy.

Conversely, we see how things move ahead when the opposite is true. With trust the speed of doing business changes exponentially. For example, when someone well respected -- like Warren Buffet -- is in the room, the level of confidence rises dramatically, the process of negotiating a deal is streamlined and significantly less time is spent creating transparency and building a slew of safeguards to insure that no one is taking advantage of the other.

Furthermore, once we come to see how indispensable a business variable trust can be, we want it for ourselves as well for others. The important thing is to understand that being trustworthy is a learnable skill that requires the adoption of positive habits that can be practiced on a regular basis.

As Stephen Covey has pointed out, there are several key aspects to this process of garnering trust. In addition to being honest and ethical, we need to be competent, to show up when we say we will and do what we've promised to do. By combining strength of character with such competence we can begin to reap the benefits that come with being trustworthy.

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Well-known international speaker Raymond Aaron is author of seven books and a New York Times bestselling author of "Chicken Soup for the Parents Soul" His latest book, hot off the press, is "Double Your Income Doing What You Love".

Be Different: The Feng Shui Mirror

Stress comes from everyday living. Whether it be at work, home, or anywhere else, it is difficult to keep things in perspective. That is one reason why Feng Shui has become so popular among everyone looking to create balance in their life, even when they look at themselves. A Feng Shui mirror is not only for looking at yourself, but it is a new way to see yourself; here is why.

Introduction

The basics behind Feng Shui start with your working and/or living space. In order to put energy (or "chi") into your life to pursue your aspirations, you first have to rid yourself of the ailments in your living/working quarters. The literal meaning of Feng Shui is wind and water -- feng is the wind that carries chi throughout the space and shui is the water that swims beneath the earth-supporting chi, so it creates a free flow of chi in the environment.

See the Difference

The prime purpose of Feng Shui is to parallel your physical space with your personal goals. Thus, a person has to change the objects within their dwelling in order to keep their goals within sight. With a Feng Shui mirror, it wont only help you see yourself; it will also help you see yourself without negativity. For instance, if you place the Feng Shui mirror in front of whatever is negative in your bedroom or other room, then it will reflect the object, and keep it away from you.

If you need to have a room for relaxation, place a mirror where the negative energy is keeping you from calm, such as a machine or other electronic device. When you need to have other elements or energy in your room, a Feng Shui mirror will help you bring in that chi. Place your Feng Shui mirror facing towards a window, where the element is and the reflection will bring the elements chi into the room.

If you are willing to try something new to de-stress your life, considering the art of Feng Shui could help you. Although an ancient practice, it is believed to chase away the negative energy in a particular space and only stream in positive chi. Using a Feng Shui mirror is not just about positioning your mirror a particular way, it is a way to see yourself differently and in an optimistic light.

Do you know what is Feng Shui For Love?

Growing Up Around Christians - Rethinking Organized Religion

I was born in the 1960s and raised in Southern California, United States of America. During that period of time, and in the area I was raised, there was basically one religion that dominated every aspect of mine and my friends lives. That religion was Christianity. When I was in elementary school, I knew one Jewish boy and he looked different than the Christians and even talk different. He was very smart and spent a lot of his time reading, instead of playing at recess.

There were no Muslims or Hindus and it was a predominantly white environment. The first black students I seen was when I entered the eighth grade and by the time I finished high school, I could count all of the black students I had met on both of my hands. So now you have a pretty good idea of my life, living in a white neighborhood that was 90% Christian.

As you can guessed it, I was raised a Christian, but not a regular Christian, I was a Methodist and proud of it, until my parents got tired of the church elders asking for money or if my father could help build the new church. My father explained to them, that he needed to work to support his family and could only contribute, what ever he could to the church and no more. They were very unhappy and made it uncomfortable for us to go to the church anymore.

Hard to imagine, isn't it. Christians asking for money and then when they don't receive it, getting mad at one of their brethren.

Well it was time to switch churches and we are now going to the Crystal Cathedral Church in Garden Grove California. These people had everything and it was a large church. This was before they built the massive glass structure that is presently the church sanctuary. I enjoy going to this church, because we didn't have to go to Sunday school and got to sit with the adults to worship.

By the time I was 15, neither one of my parents were going to church anymore and my life didn't seem to change that much, even though I prayed every night with my brother. Maybe that was it, I didn't have to go to church as long as I prayed every night... By the time I was 18 years old, I was more confused about organized religion than ever before and this included Christianity.

How can someone kill in the name of God? The Muslims were doing it, the Christians were doing it, the Muslims were fighting the Hindus in India and it all seemed normal. It didn't seem normal to me, when I was supposed to love my neighbor and live a life like Christ who never seemed to start fights or even get mad. Maybe a couple of times, over some money, in the Temple.

I have chosen not to be a part of organized religion. I'd figured out that most of our religious beliefs came from our upbringing. This seems to have brainwashed us into believing we are better because were right and know for a fact, that we have chosen to belong to the right religion. What if were not right?

I want to ask you a question, do you think that other religions are wrong and yours is right? If you really spend some time and think about this, you will see, that your religion is not that different than someone else's and neither was their upbringing. Most religious followers, belonged to the religion of their childhood.

Who Is Jesus?

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development.

Greg is currently working on a spiritual videos filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.