Hear the latest happenings,opportunities and products in the online writing world as I keep my finger on the web writing pulse with my informal Daily Diary jottings.

So, what's everyone talking about in the the busy hive that is online writing?

Well, these pages are not about edited, proofed, perfect copy that is web-ready! I keep that for writing articles online.

They represent my hurried scribbles about what I have been busy doing, and hearing!, on the buzzing internet writing grapevine!

In a way, this is quite a refreshing form of online writing in itself - because these are only notes to keep my readers up to date with the very latest gossip in opportunities, jobs, gadgets, gizmos and marketing media - so I can be very brief! Really exciting developments I intend to implement will be covered as I write articles online.

December 17th 2008 - ODIOGO REVIEW

Yesterday, I got wind of a new up-to-the-minute service for blog writers, and perhaps for online writing in general such as writing articles online, so I thought would scribble a quick Odiogo review.

How would you like to have a blog that literally 'talked' to your readers instead of getting them to read your online writing?

The idea sounded intriguing, if a bit mystifying to me, so i 'ran over' to the site, to see what these 'talking' blogs were all about - and to see if there was anything I could use in my online writing and work at home marketing, and then maybe write an Odiogo review.

It turned out the site was called Odiogo, and the guys there have develeped a service, or widget (or program!) that converts your blog entry into a small audio file that looks like a little player on top of your blog post - similar to all the little music ones we are already familiar with.

Apparently, it only takes an hour or so to do and the idea behind it is that busy web surfers who may be interested enough, but too busy, to read your blog - can listen to it instead on their ipods or MP3 players! For those who are writing articles online, it offers an extra form of media for their visitors to consider.

The service is free! (all you have to do is to provide a link to them from your blog) so might be worth a try for some online writers.

I couldn't find an Odiogo review, so I thought I would write some quick thoughts on the Odiogo review myself.

WHAT DID I THINK?

Well, it has potential!

The talking blog idea is not for me at the moment from a surfers point of view (although I might add it here as an example) as I am wondering if it is more suitable for surfers who travel a lot.

I am way, way, too busy to even think about going off to find out how to download a podcast to my player - however that is not to say that in the future, surfers will do this more and more - so I DO think it's worth keeping an eye on.

From a user's point of view, I have a large and energetic family and write full-time seven days a week and don't travel much (or at all!) so I don't really have any 'dead time' to productively fill.

Organised travellers however, who like to educate themselves while on the move, may find this service useful, so i'm keeping an eye on developments for the future!

WHAT DID I THINK OF THE SOUND QUALITY?

Well, I could hear it! The example I listened to was fairly clear, but there didn't seem to be any choice as to male/female voice.

Also, understandly enough as it's early days, the diction was a little 'wooden' to say the least! Speech-wise, it sounded mechanical, broken and stilted - like most computer-generated voice programs. Any Odiogo review will probably say the same to begin with.

However, these are the sorts of early day glitches that will no doubt improve over time.

VERDICT?

Odiogo is 'one to watch.!'

PSI wonder what this page would sound like? Hmmmmmnnn....

Buzzing Off...........More Online Writing Buzz Tomorrow zzzzzzzzz

Want To Build Your Own Site? More Online Writing Help

Aweber review - Squidcool Review - 18/12/09

Ever wanted to put an opt in form on your Squidoo lens? So did I, and so did lots of other online writing fans on Swquidoo - in fact in the forum we kept pestering!

Well .... wait for it .... now we can! At last, we can really help the followers of our useful lenses with their issues, by building mailing lists for them to subscribe to our latest helpful content.

is this just an image of a real opt-in form?Is it just a link to an opt-in form somewhere else?

No, it's a real, live, usable opt-in form that will come in module format like all the other facilities.

My online writing buzz source today?

Many thanks to Squidoocool.com - there you can view a tutorial and Lewis explains how,since Squidoo blocked the i-frame, we were unable to have this feature until now.

Buzzing off to do mine now ......... and to re-read my copy of the best marketing and squidoo guide ( ... the reason my lens is so highly ranked! You can grab your copy below!)

I hope this free information was of use to you.

HOW CAN YOU 'PAY IT FORWARD?'

Just by bearing all the hard-working SBI freelancers in mind when you make your buying/clicking decisions. Many are doing their best to contribue to their family cost of living expenses.

INTERNET MEANIES - WHAT ARE THEY?

People who copy, steal or access recommendation articles/products without giving credit or allowing the tracking credit. There aren't many of these meanies about luckily!

Writing - Articles Online - Tips For New Year - Proofreading Exercises - January 4th 2009

I also decided to check my online author bios - a lot has happened in the world of writing for the internet (such as talking blog facility, smart pen technology, Twitter - and now Power Twitter!) - I wanted to be sure my author bios reflected that. I will be adding Power Twitter to most of them.

Power Twitter adds extra functionality to Twitter, allows you to search better through people's tweets, mouse-hover for whole conversation updates and adds a cool new dimension to Twittering, which now compares favorably with Friend Feed.

Next Up?

I'll be adding a Writer's Room to this site so you all can ask questions of each other and get leads and advice! In the meantime, why not refresh your articles with some proofreading exercises so they're fit n ready for 2009?

Proofreading Exercises For Updating Your Online Articles

Promoting My Make Money With Squidoo Article Today - January 4th 2009

My Make Money With Squidoo lens has been up a week now and needs promoting! Procrastinating the more drudge-worthy aspects of our online business writing or marketing won't help! I allow myself the excuse that it WAS Christmas after all!

So, nose to the grindstone - how am I going to promote my work at home marketing and writing lens today?

Well, luckily I have already socially bookmarked it but it still needs backlinks. So today I am going to add some backlinks by writing some more articles and submitting them to article directories and Web 2.0 sites.

Some good ezine submission sites and article directories to consider are:

Tumblr

Associated Content

Ezine Articles

GoArticles

Weebly

Triond

HubPages

EHow

I'm also going to blog and twitter about it, sharing the ways I generate income from Squidoo: How I Make Money From Squidoo And Other Writing Sites

Buzzing Off Now ..........More Online Writing Buzz Tomorrow zzzzzzzzz

New Online Writing Site? Buzz For January 8th 2009

Why do I find myself hesitating to 'consider my options' and thinking about all the other writing sites and Web 2.0 sites, not to mention newspapers, magazines and ezines?

Well.....

1. Do I want a) to be paid well? b) Traffic or 3) kudos and exposure?

Hmmmn....

What puts this in my head?

Well, ideally of course I am looking for a site which offers all three!

Difficult! So.....

What I will do is this:

1. Approach a couple of newspapers, magazines and ezines.2. In the meantime draft and research the article.3. Run over to ezine articles to see if the gossip is true (apparently they are going to restrict keywords to 1% - can this be true? Also, they don't pay, won't let you link to certain monetized articles or to certain sub-domain pages.4. Get some ideas together for it as a Squidoo lens.

And 5 ......

Checkout a new site I just heard about (Wetpaint!)

Buzzing Off to Do That Now - Reporting back Tomorrow! zzzzzz

Online Writing Buzz from Today February 4th 2009 - Newsflash - Our Website Hosting Valentine Deal is Back!

The good news is, it's up! I've been mostly busy writing a page all about it, and how I found out about this powerful webhosting that drives my site.

Lots of people might be a bit more financially challenged this year - maybe even looking for valentine ideas that have real usefulness - such as the birth of a small work at home business!

Anyway, I will post the link below for anyone else who has (or whose partner has!) been talking about buying a website for absolutey ages but never gets round to it! Now's their chance to buy a great website hosting service at a rarely offered discount!

Our $100 Valentine Website Hosting Special - Deal Ends Midnight February 14th

Why I published poems on Triond - then took them down again! Online Writing Buzzz March 11th 2009

Whilst accepting that many people on the Triond site write favorably about their time there, detailing the need to 'add friends' to generate page views, the experience I had there removed any motivation I may previously have had to put effort and commitment into those activities.

I began writing Triond about two years ago, as a trial to find out how much these writing sites paid out to writers and poets through displaying ads on their pieces. At first, the Triond writing site looked quite promising. Poets and non-fiction writers submit articles (on different channels) and then look to see if they've been 'accepted for publication' by ezines. Triond and Helium were unusual in that they published poems online, as well as non-fiction pieces.

An email typically follows a poem submission to say whether it has been accepted, and by which 'ezine.' Advertising revenue from that poem earned by Triond will be passed on to the poet.

I placed two poems as an experiment. After exploring the forum and learning about how to 'add friends' in order to push up page views, I left the site to let my poems accumulate views over the next few months. I wasn't planning on returning to Triond as this page-view-generation system seemed time-intensive and the forum hadn't convinced me that the writer's revenue was high enough to justify my writing time.

At the end of the year, I revisit my sites to check on my pieces and poems (some sites have a writer payment cut-off point for unpaid earnings.)

Not only was the writer revenue miniscule compared to other online business writing sites such as Helium where even writers earning just a few cents have at least the chance of the Contests and Writers Market to boost their revenue, but my poems had been linked to ads and other articles which were totally unsuitable. When you have an online writing business your freelance writer reputation is important and so I took action.One poem had a glamor video that wouldn't be considered family-friendly placed beside it. The other poem had other material related to childhood issues that many readers, including me, would find offensive, linked to through article lists. I then deleted my poems.

Deletion was, at least,easy to do. Since I started my online business writing and marketing articles, I don't have the time to keep re-checking up on every piece I write in case it's been used to attract certain types of content.

Many other online writers, however, speak well of Triond. In my experience they tend to be young,prolific internet writers who are already established social-networkers, happy to spend hours communicating and sharing work and commenting. They don't seem bothered about the ads on their poems or articles and take an interest in reading each other's pieces. It is possible to monetize published poems this way and I'll keep an eye on Triond to monitor the quality of its advertisers.

Online Technical Writing Courses Get Your Own Website For Your Published Poems - Promote Your Ebook