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How To Use A Blog As An Educational Tool

While blogging originally had the purpose of easily allowing people to post their personal thoughts online, blogs today are used for a number of different reasons. Now some of the most interesting and useful blogs are used for educational purposes, where the focus is to educate an audience about a specific topic. When using a blog for this purpose however, there are a few additional steps that you must consider before you create your blog and customize it to your website. Most of these steps are rather straightforward, but should still be taken into consideration.

Determine the Target Market for Your Blog

Choosing your target market is a standard step for any online or offline business endeavor you choose to go into. This is especially true for an educational blog, because in addition to determining your target market and the specific niche, you also have to decide what knowledge level your desired target audience has of your subject material. The knowledge level will also have an impact on the content contained in your educational blog.

Are you educating people who have almost no knowledge of your topic, or are you educating people who have a basic knowledge of the subject and are enhancing what they know? Both audiences will require very different kinds of information, even if it is the same subject or niche.

Determine How You Want to Educate Your Users

In order to know how you want to educate your users, you will need to decide what it is your blog is going to accomplish. Will it be to provide a place to post comprehensive details about specific products you offer, a place to post class homework and lessons, or perhaps a way to share answers to the most frequently asked questions you get in your business? Once you have determined the specific type of educational purpose your blog will serve, you will need to set up the blog to allow it to support your specified goals.

Determine the Format for Your Blog

Once you have determined how you want to educate your users, or target market, you will need to determine the format for your blog, or how you will present the information.

If your purpose is to answer frequently asked questions, you should set up your blog to have many categories, which are listed on the side. This will give visitors easy access to your questions. You would also want to have links to the latest FAQ entries in your sidebar. The title of your FAQ entry, should be the question, and body of the blog post should contain your answer. If you have the ability to put a link in your blog entry, you should link to another part of your site that gives even more detailed information about the related question if available.

If your purpose is to provide instruction sheets about specific products and services, you should set up your blog to have enough categories to define the largest grouping of products. The title of your blog should be the product name and the phrase ‘feature set’, or ‘instructions’. The post body should be the instructions or feature set, or it could be a brief description with a link to a downloadable pdf file of the feature set or instructions.

If your blog’s purpose is to post lessons for students who are taking an online course, then you would typically only need categories if you are teaching more than one course through your blog, and in this case, each category would be named after the course. Each specific blog posting would have the title of the lesson being taught, plus the lesson number (I.E. the category would be Computer Science 101, the title would be Lesson 10: Functions and Procedures). The actual post body could be the entire lesson, or a brief description of the lesson and a link to a downloadable pdf file that the student can print out and use, or both (posting lesson in the blog with a link to a downloadable version of the lesson.

Allow Users to Comment on Your Postings

Allowing users to leave comments on your blog will enable them to ask questions about lessons, or other educational content. Using comments is a great way to get feedback that you can use to fill in any missing pieces that you may have overlooked. Comments from your users will also provide additional perspectives to the subject matter, and will allow other blog readers to answer questions if appropriate.

Allow Users to Download Files From Your Blog

If you use your blog for educational purposes, you will probably have additional resources that you will want to make available to your users such as white papers, lessons, product information sheets, or a syllabus. Depending upon the nature of your educational based blog, some of the information you may want to convey is best done as a pdf file instead of a blog entry. Most of the good blogging software today will allow you to upload files to your site that you can make available to your readers/students. This will give you more flexibility in the way you can educate and communicate with your readers.

An educational blog can be a powerful means of communicating with and teaching your audience about the specific information you wish to share. The power of using a blog is that educating your audience can be done in a number of different ways. Once you have the content in your blog, it can be a great resource and tool for your visitors for years to come, and is very easy to maintain and update as new material becomes available. Your next step should be to learn how to incorporate other features into your educational blog that will allow you to earn revenue so your blog can pay for the maintenance costs required to operate it.

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Five Tips for Selling at Live Auctions

Ah, the old-fashioned country auction! The idea of a country auction conjures up certain images for people. The image of a fast-talking auctioneer offering up an antique table or chair is a popular example.

People who are buying household goods or collectibles are looking to get their items at the lowest price possible. However, the people who are selling their items at auction are hoping for the highest price!

Unless a person is in the business of buying and selling antiques or other items, not a lot of thought goes into how goods are prepared for sale via the auction process. However, if you are one of the growing number of people using auction venues to sell your collectibles or other inventory, there are a few things to learn first about how to sell at auction before you bring a truckload of stuff over to the next event.

Tip 1: Make sure the things you want to sell are a good “fit” for the auction house you’ll be using.

Never bring a load to an auction house without actually having been to one of the previous auctions. It’s important to get a feel for the type of goods that the house sells. For example, at one very rural country auction it was common for the owners to sell live chickens, pots and pans, car parts, and farm equipment.

After close investigation, this would not be the right venue for selling your daughter’s “Hello Kitty” collection. On the other hand, the spare John Deere parts that you bought at last week’s yard sale might be just the right thing for the buying crowd at this auction.

Tip 2: Be sure you clearly understand the terms and policies of the auction house.

Visit with the auctioneer ahead of time. Call to find out what the best days and times are to visit. One of the worst possible times to drop in for an informational visit with an auctioneer is the day of the auction. Call ahead and ask. While you’re at it, find out what are the best days and times to drop your stuff off.

Once you have a little time with the auctioneer, you’ll be able to find out what type of commission he or she takes from consigners (which is you), and what type of paperwork might be needed. Some auction houses send out Form 1099 tax forms at the end of the year. An auctioneer may need to see your identification and have you fill out a W-9. Be prepared.

Find out what happens to your items if they don’t sell. For example, some auctioneers may have a minimum starting bid. If, for some reason, one of your items does not sell, it may be grouped with another one of your pieces. Know the auctioneer’s strategy beforehand so that you aren’t surprised on pay day.

Tip 3: Make sure the auctioneer knows what you’re selling.

It might be perfectly obvious to you that the signed print you are consigning is a rare and valuable piece of art. However, the auctioneer may not know this particular artist. Make a note of anything particularly special about your items, and leave the note with the piece. Be sure to tell the auctioneer about it as well. He or she might determine that this is something to highlight on the company website or in the newspaper listing.

Tip 4: Present your items neatly.

No one likes to have to dig through a box full of grimy and greasy car parts to see what treasures might be in there. Separate the parts and lay them out on a flat, or use more than one box to de-clutter the lot.

There is no need to buy fancy display boxes. It’s easy enough to go to the local convenience store or supermarket and ask if you can have the emptied boxes or flats that they are discarding.

While it’s good to present clean items, take care not to ruin the value of anything by over cleaning. For example, if you find some old cast iron cookware, clean the obvious dirt and grime, but don’t scrub it to its original finish. For many people, this ruins the value of the item. So, clean and tidy and organized is the key here.

Tip 5: Don’t complain to the auctioneer if your stuff doesn’t sell for as much as you’d like.

The phrase to remember here is, “You win some; you lose some.” That’s just the way it is. There are some days where an auction house is loaded with people who all seem to want what you’re selling. There will be other days where the crowd is sparse, and the bidding is simply not competitive.

Remember that it’s in the auctioneer’s best interest to sell your things for the highest possible hammer price. But sometimes, it’s just not going to be a stellar sale. The auctioneer is only human, and is also disappointed if a sale doesn’t go as well as planned.

If you notice that every time you bring a bunch of goods to sell that you’re not realizing as much as you think you honestly should, try another auction venue and compare apples to apples. That is, bring the same types of items to the new auctioneer and compare the results.

Unless the auctioneer is particularly disagreeable or inconsiderate to you or buyers, there is no reason to confront him or her about a sale. If you find you just don’t care for an auctioneer’s style or methods, find another one. Believe me, there are plenty of them out there!

The primary thing to remember as you learn how to sell at auction is that the business is unpredictable at best. You will have good days, some not-so-good days, some great days. The more you sell, the more experience you will gain, and the more enjoyable the business will be.

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Top 8 Home Based Business Opportunities For Women

As a woman there are more reasons for you than most men to start your own home-based business. A combination of corporate prejudice and the demands of raising a family are all key factors in most women’s decision to call it a day in the corporate rat race and try their entrepreneurial hand at working from home.And because women are that bit more creative than guys you’ll find that you’re also far more suited to a wider variety of home based businesses than most men.So what we’re going to take a look at here is a mix of both traditional home-based jobs and also the best home based businesses for women. At least that way you’re getting a balanced look at all the options that are available to you and will also help if you’re a tiny bit technophobic! And ideally at the end you’ll have made a choice from our selection of the best home based businesses for women.1. Life CoachingWith such low overheads the option of Life Coaching is a great choice for women who are drawn to helping others improve their lives. There are many accredited coaching courses available and most are online distance learning courses with only limited face time required. The challenge, like most businesses is to find regular clients to keep the practice going strong which is why most coaches soon realise that marketing is a huge aspect to running a successful practice.2. Home BakingOK this might sound a little bit 1950s for your “taste”, but there’s a huge demand for home-baked cookies, cakes and muffins and I personally know women who have built a full-time business from just baking muffins from home. The reality is home baked cookies always; always taste better than the store bought ones. If you’re ever-so-handy in the kitchen then this is one might be worth considering.3. Dog Walking or Dog SittingAgain because most people are either busy going to or coming from work dogs aren’t getting walked nearly as often as they should be. And you have dog owners who hate the idea of their pooches being stuck at home on their own all day. A dog sitter can charge $80 or more to make house visits to a client’s dog or if you’re dog sitting at home around $25 per day is about average. You get 4 dogs per day that’s $500 per week – that’s better than no cash right?4. Adult Novelty Toy PartiesOk, before you get all hot and flustered, or perhaps a little offended it’s worth mentioning this option because there is a booming trade in house parties where adult novelty toys and costumes are sold. The idea here is that you create a party atmosphere by playing harmless games to set the stage for selling more risqué items later on. I won’t go into any more detail here – but I’m sure you get the idea.5. CafePressNow here’s one that most people have never considered. Have you got some cute or funny pet pictures that your friends love? Or how about some holiday snaps that people admire? Or are you just a natural for coming up with funny phrases? In that case you can take your skills and create a free CaféPress store and upload your digital images or funny catch phrases and have them printed onto t-shirts, mugs, beer coasters etc. that are then drop shipped to customers who like your designs and you get paid a share of the sale price!6. Etsy.comAre you an arty crafty type of person? Can you draw, sculpt, paint, stitch, sew, crochet, dye or make knitted goods or handmade jewelry? If you’re even remotely artistic then Etsy.com is the perfect place to sell your wares. Think of them like the EBay of arts and crafts and there are plenty of stay-at-home moms who are making a full time living from selling their arts and craft goods on Etsy.com7. MLMThe multi-level marketing model has been around a long time and there are many companies to choose from that sell every product you can think of. It really comes down to choosing a company that has great integrity, loads of support and training and leadership that can help you and mentor you as you grow your business. People don’t buy product, they buy people so don’t fall for the line ‘our products are the best and sell them selves’ line. This is simply not true. When considering an MLM company look past the products and look for the quality and longevity of people involved in the opportunity and make your mind up from there.8. Affiliate MarketingAnd last, but by no means least, we have affiliate marketing. This is often referred to as the ideal business model for women if you want to start your own home based internet business and work from home because of the limitless earning potential and the fact that once the business is set up it can be set to autopilot after several months of work. Unlike mlm most affiliate marketing products are all sold online so you don’t need to stock product or have an inventory at all. This makes for a very ‘light’ business and extremely portable and can be highly profitable.If you’re not familiar with affiliate marketing it’s a business opportunity where you sell goods for other companies through your blog or website and earn a commission for doing that. You never have to handle any goods or customer support calls so it’s proven to be very popular with thousands of women and who are having incredible success online while working from home or anywhere with just a phone and a laptop.So it’s time for you to grab a cup of tea or coffee and a pen and paper and plan out how to start your own home-based business selling a product or service that you’re passionate about – we’ve given you some of the best home-based business opportunities for women you’ll find.

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