The Writer’s Technology Companion

The Tech-Savvy Guide for Non-Tech-Savvy Writers

Entries for the ‘How To’ Category

Free e-Book on Writing for Helium

Bob Younce of The Writing Journey has released an e-book detailing how to make money writing for Helium. The Helium Report offers advice on how best to use Helium’s system to make a strong income from the site — Younce shows an income of just over $1,000 US with 2 hours a day work over 45 days.
I’ve […]

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Spread the Link Love: Link to Other Blogs to Promote Your Own

One of the best ways you can promote your website is to link to other sites.
Doesn’t make sense on the face of it, does it? How can sending people away from your site build traffic to your site?
Well, there are several ways linking to other sites can help build up traffic for your own.

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How to Create PDFs from Any Document

PDF, the Portable Document Format, is a standard created by Adobe for circulating formatted documents over the web. Using Acrobat Reader or some other PDF reader (I like Foxit Reader, which opens much faster than Acrobat Reader and seems to work just as well), the recipient views your document exactly as it appeared on your […]

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How to Add a Plugin to a WordPress Blog

One of the great features of the WordPress blogging platform is the ease with which you can extend its functionality using plugins. Wordpress maintains it’s own directory of plugins, and you can easily find others that aren’t in the official directory by Googling “Wordpress plugin [some function you want to enable]” (without the quotes).
Installing […]

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Writing for the Web

Whether you’re creating content for your own site or seeking work writing on another site, you need to learn how to write for the web. Reading on a computer screen is a different experience that melting into a favorite chair with a book or lounging with a magazine, and demands different conventions.
As a general rule, […]

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Writing Ebooks Series Available as a Free Ebook — and a New Addition to the Site

It would be sort of hypocritical if I were to write a 5-part series on writing ebooks if I didn’t put my money where my mouth is and pony up an actual ebook. So I’ve decided to put the five posts together, reformat a little, add some nice images, and release the whole thing as […]

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Getting Comfortable with RSS

I had originally scheduled this post for later in May, but the folks at Daily Blog Tips declared May 1 RSS Appreciation Day and I decided to join in the fun. So you lucky readers get not one but two posts this Thursday — a day when I normally don’t post at all!

Depending who you ask, RSS […]

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How to Add a Contact Form to a Wordpress Blog

It’s generally not a good idea to post your email address “as is” on your website. Spammers use programs called “bots” to scour the web and collect email addresses, to which they then send massive amounts of spam email.
Instead, create a separate “Contact Me” page and add a contact form where your visitors can […]

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Elements of a Writer’s Website

You might be wondering what exactly to put on your writer’s website. There are a few elements I think should be on any writer’s website, but in the end, your particular needs should determine what your site contains.
The core of your site should show you and your talents off in the best possible light, and […]

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How to Select the Right Domain Name for Your Writing Site

I recommend you get a domain name right away — they’re cheap, and they make you look professional. There are two trains of thought about domain names. The first says to pick something clear and descriptive, like business.com — that’s clearly a site to go for if you want business information, right? The second school of thought is to […]

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