How Working Online Will Change You

Lots of articles have been written about the kind of person who becomes a blogger or an SEO, and the ways that you can make yourself better at blogging or running a website. What is less often discussed however, is how working online can actually change who you are as a person and influence your personal development. There are many ways that this can happen and a number of common effects that blogging can have on your personality and your attitudes. Read on to meet the person you might become... 

 

How Jobs Impact On Us 

 

I used to proudly claim that I hadn't changed, because I became a blogger and never bowed down to the man. I have no colleagues as a blogger meaning that there was no one for me to become ‘more alike’, but this in itself can have an effect on you. And likewise, working from home and earning passive income has probably had some impact on me too. Blogging/optimizing changes you just like any other job, only it changes you differently. Once I was self-aware enough to recognize this, I set about finding out what had changed about me. Here's what I came up with... 

 

Care Free 

 

I would say that compared to my other friends, I am more carefree and less restricted. While my friends have to work 9-5 jobs and get very stressed if they stay out too late one night, I can remain flexible and free to work when I choose and where I choose. If I'm honest, this has also led me to somewhat resent those people who aren't free to hang out because they have work the next day. I guess it's fair to say that I've become somewhat detached from the 'real world' and regular routine. 

 

Opinionated 

 

Writing online regularly has also made me somewhat opinionated. Sure, I'm opinionated in my views on employment (and self-employment), but I've also become very used to expressing myself a lot online and sharing my opinion. This undoubtedly crosses over into my daily life, as I tend to wax lyrical about pretty much any subject that I get the opportunity to talk about. 

 

Independence and Confidence

 

You also get a lot of confidence from working online. Once you’ve made money yourself – completely yourself – you realize you’re capable of anything. This helps you to feel more successful and generally means you get used to ‘being the boss’.

 

And with that comes increased independence too. You don’t rely on anyone, and you have countless projects to pass the time when you are alone.

 

An Unusual View of Money 

 

In some ways, being an online entrepreneur has made me stricter with my money. The money I've earned has been entirely down to my own effort and is a reflection of my success, so I feel more personally affronted when I spend it. On the other hand, though, I also think of money now very much in terms of overheads and profits. Spending a little money on a friend is just another 'overhead' and I can earn it back by working a little extra hard for a while. 

 

These are just some of the ways you change when you become a blogger or a digital marketer. Of course, the precise changes partly depend on who you are to begin with. Either way, expect to grow and change and to get more from the experience than you necessarily bargain for…

 

Loneliness and Working Online

Being a successful blogger, digital marketer or other form of internet entrepreneur is an amazing achievement and in many ways it can improve your life to a huge extent. Not only does becoming a successful marketer/blogger grant you financial independence and the ability to set your own wage, but it also gives you creative freedom and theoretically it allows you to accomplish the kind of work/life basis that many of us are missing. 

 

But of course, like anything there is an element of the ‘double edged sword’ here and there are downsides to that independence too. One of the very biggest ones here, that a lot of us don’t anticipate before going into this business, is loneliness. When you strike out on your own and are able to give up the day job, the commute and the office politics it can feel like a breath of fresh air. But then later when you hear about your friends’ Christmas parties and their office romances, you can start to miss the camaraderie that working with other people provides. 

 

And in fact, as you sit there typing away most days, you can even start to find yourself getting rather bored or going out of your mind for the lack of people to talk to. Here we will look at some ways you can avoid this, and how you can avoid letting your blogging drive you mad... 

 

Go Out 

 

Many people want to blog for a living because they want to ‘work from home’. Do note though, that work from home here is really more of a figure of speech rather than a literal description of where you are going to work – because actually when you’re self-employed you can work anywhere. Why not then go and work in a café in town? This way you will at least get to chat to the staff that work there and maybe some other people sitting in. Or alternatively of course you can sit in a bar or pub, or when it’s sunny relax on the grass in the sun with a glass of juice. This way working for yourself becomes a much more desirable, and at the same time you’ll be likely to encounter more people, have more conversations and possibly even meet attractive members of the opposite sex. Of course, you also need to be open to chatting to people for this to work. 

 

Meet Up With Others 

 

You can also make blogging more sociable by using the opportunity to meet up with people you don’t normally see. For instance, you can meet your friends for lunch on their lunch break, or you can meet them after work if they finish early. You’ve got the time, and you can even do things like design work while you chat. And in fact, this will be a lot more sociable than most people are in the office anyway. Apart from anything else you’ll be chatting to people who are actually your real friends rather than just colleagues. 

 

Network 

 

Networking and interacting with other bloggers, writers and your visitors is very good for your website and a great way to promote your business and make contacts. At the same time, it can make your business less unsociable, so try attending networking events, working face to face with designers and marketers, and responding to your fan mail rather than locking yourself away. It’s good for your site, and it’s even better for your mental health...

 

Power User Tips for Internet Marketers

Being a 'power user' is a term that sounds much cooler than it is. Actually of course this just means being able to 'work even quicker on the computer' which when you think about it isn't something you'd probably have bragged about back in the playground. 

 

Nevertheless, being a power user means that you can get more done, be more efficient and ultimately earn more and create more in a shorter timeframe - which is pretty cool. 

If you’re a digital marketer, then this is especially important. So read on and learn these power user tips that can help you work faster and smarter.

 

Use Google Keep 

 

Google Keep is a web app that Google designed with similar note-taking features to Evernote but a less steep learning curve. The concept is great - allowing you to quickly take a note in your browser then access it from your phone, and in practice it really is very convenient for accessing your ideas and photos from wherever you are in an intuitive, minimal and quick way. 

 

Use Your Bookmarks 

 

If you aren't using your bookmarks properly then you are missing out as they can help you to work a lot more quickly online. Bookmarks can let you navigate instantly to the pages you use regularly, and that can include your work e-mail or the collaborative site you use at work. If you want to prevent yourself from procrastinating so much in the morning, then just make the page you need for work your homepage - that way this will be the first thing you see, and you won't be tempted to browse Facebook before getting down to it. 

 

Better yet, consider using the Google Chrome app ‘join’ which can be used to send tabs, bookmarks and more directly from a phone to a PC and back again.

 

Get a Headset 

 

Having a headset for your computer can liberate your hands while you're talking on the phone or taking notes, and this can be incredibly useful for multitasking. Use a headset and you can chat to clients while answering e-mails, or dictate notes with voice recognition software. 

 

Learn Keyboard Shortcuts 

 

Learning keyboard shortcuts can save you a great deal of time when it comes to getting through large workloads. A few taps of your keys and you can have opened new documents replaced elements and saved and once you get used to doing this it will become almost like breathing. 

 

Have Multiple Monitors 

 

Working with multiple monitors is something that almost every power-user swears by. This way you have more screen real estate for running multiple applications and you won't find your workspace so crowded. If you don't have space for two monitors, then bear in mind you can use a television or even an Android tablet as your second screen (the latter of which will probably also impress colleagues). 

 

Another option is to get an ultrawide monitor, and studies suggest that this can increase your productivity by as much as 30%.

 

Organize Your Folders 

 

If you want to work as quickly and efficiently as possible then it pays to think ahead and to set everything up to be easy. One way to do this is to organize your folders so that everything you need is right at the top and in a logical place where you can find it quickly. 

 

Step by Step Instructions for Becoming a Digital Nomad

A digital nomad is someone who works entirely online in order to be able to travel freely wherever they want. A digital nomad will normally be found wearing just a single backpack with a small laptop or hybrid slate computer slipped in, and will spend their time moving from WiFi-providing café to WiFi-providing café in all kinds of sunny countries. 

 

The idea is that they get to travel and see the world, while being able to easily fund their movements and not have to worry about getting into major debt. Sounds ideal right? 

Well for the right person it is. As long as you can bear to be away from your creature comforts and you don't need the social stimulation that comes from working in an office, then you can use this as a way to live the kind of life that most people only dream of. 

 

But how do you go about making that leap? Going from an office worker to a digital nomad? Here's the process in a simple step-by-step form. 

 

Speak to Your Loved Ones 

 

What stops most people becoming a digital nomad is not their jobs really, but rather their relationships. If you're in a romantic partnership now, then you'll need to talk seriously with your partner about the prospect of you travelling the world. Hopefully they will be supportive and recognize it as something you need to do. If not? Then you'll have to decide what's most important to you. 

 

Speak to Your Employer 

 

Before you give up your job, you should first ask if there's any way you can set up a remote-work arrangement. Explain your ambition and your manager may help you to make it a reality with no career-change necessary. If not, you'll need to try another tact… 

 

Start Earning 

 

The next thing to do is to start earning some cash off of your own back online. Do this by writing articles for webmasters, by creating web designs or even by providing proof reading services. You can advertise these skills on a webmaster forum or a site like ODesk or even Fiverr. The aim is to start generating just a little work so that you can start to gain confidence and 'wean' yourself off of your 'main job'. Once you're earning enough to be confident you can quit – remember you don't need that much money to do this. 

 

Better yet, consider becoming an internet marketer. By selling affiliate products, PLR products or your own digital products, you can earn money even while you sleep. Or how about becoming a travel blogger and that way turning travel into a financial asset rather than a burden?

 

Speak to Your Mum and Dad

 

You will need a lot of money if you want to pay rent and travel the world at the same time, but if you are willing to throw out a lot of your things and get your Mum to look after the rest then you can free yourself of this financial burden. You might have friends who can do this, but Mum is your best bet seeing as it’s a rather big ask. Otherwise consider storage, but make sure you'll have somewhere to stay when you get back. In general, you’re probably going to have to cut back a little on your possessions!

The Best Places to Work if You Work Online

If you work online, then you have the freedom to be physically located anywhere in the world and to still earn an income. This is an amazing freedom that so few people are afforded, and it’s one of the top reasons that many of us are attracted to the notion of working online in the first place.

 

It’s a minor tragedy then, that so many people who manage to make their income online, will not take full advantage of this. So many people who work online equate this to working ‘from home’ in a very literal sense. That means working out of a home office, or working in bed. Sure, this has its appeal too, but it’s not exactly taking full advantage of this untethered way of working.

 

You can go anywhere if you work online. So where should you go?

 

Working Abroad

 

Of course, the natural conclusion is that working online should mean working abroad. That way, you can see more of the world, experience other cultures and truly live a kind of life that wouldn’t be possible any other way.

 

I have done this a fair bit myself. One of my favorite memories was finding a friend who also worked online and travelling to Croatia. There we explored and saw the sites during the day (and had some great adventures!) but in the evenings we would work in cafes and bars.

 

Sure, many people would rather be out partying during the evening, but my friend and I are introverts. And we love what we do. So, the idea of being able to sip a beer and watch the world go by, immersed in the atmosphere of the nightlife… it was incredible. One evening in particular, we worked in a bar listening to some Euro music while watching rain hit the cobbled streets outside and watching people pass by on their holidays. It was a great feeling and really made us grateful that we had the opportunity to work this way. On another occasion we hired a small log cabin from AirBnB in the mountains of Switzerland. There we worked while sipping tea and enjoying a view of the mountains from our wooden balcony.

 

For the Non-Digital Nomads

 

I’d like to point out at this junction that I am not a digital nomad. That is to say that I do come home in between trips and you can do the same. You don’t have to give up all your creature comforts or your relationships in order to enjoy travelling as you work. Working online means you can just travel more.

 

And even in your local area, there are no doubt more exotic and exciting places you can work. Anywhere with an internet connection where you won’t get kicked out can make a great place to get work done.

 

Working in a coffee shop is the most popular and sensible option. As long as you spend a little on coffee, you should be able to stay there as long as you like and most will have free wifi and power. Plus, you can enjoy people watching and listening to the background chatter, all while avoiding the many distractions and temptations that come from working at home. Libraries are great too!

 

The Most Useful Tech for Online Entrepreneurs

Are you interested in working online? Thinking of becoming a full-time entrepreneur? Then what you need to realize is that your lifestyle is going to change in some big ways. Simple things like no longer having an office and no longer having colleagues will make a huge difference to the way that you spend your days and your workflow.

 

And with those changes will come new requirements for your tech. In order to get the most work done, you will need specific hardware to help you get there. You will no longer be able to rely on an office desk being there every morning when you get into work. So what tech should you invest in? Here are some important and useful considerations.

 

A Laptop

 

Firstly, you will likely want a powerful computer for handling some of the more demanding parts of your work. If all you do is basic SEO, then you can get by with something simple, but if you intend on doing any video editing etc., then you’ll need something with some more impressive specifications.

 

Getting a laptop is also a good idea, because that way you’ll be able to work from anywhere. The only problem is that getting a computer that is at once highly powerful and highly mobile is not so easily done. 

 

Good options include: the Surface Pro, the Macbook, the Surface Book, the Razer Blade and the Dell XPS 13 and 15. My pick of the bunch has to be the XPS 15. This device comes with a Kaby Lake i7 processor, a GTX 1050 GPU, a 512TB SSD harddrive and 16 GB of RAM and is considerably less expensive than a Macbook.

 

A More Mobile Device

 

Something I highly recommend to any digital entrepreneur though, is that they also invest in an even more mobile device to work on. One of the great things about working online is having the freedom to be able to work from anywhere. Use something like the GPD pocket – a tiny 7” laptop – and you can slip it in your pocket when you’re done. Another option is to get a folding keyboard for your phone, such as the Microsoft Universal Folding Keyboard.

 

A Great Phone

 

You’ll find that you can also actually end up doing an awful lot of work on your phone. Whether you’re chatting with clients and business partners over Slack, or you’re managing your content via the WordPress app – there’s a surprising amount of work that can be done from a phone these days. Invest in a good one and consider the requirements of a power user: such as a large battery, lots of screen real estate for multitasking etc.

 

Kit Bag

 

You’ll also need the right bag for carrying your stuff around. If you’re going to stay productive, then you’ll need to be able to carry a lot with you and you’ll need to have all of this to hand when you need it.

 

Some things to keep in your bag should include:

 

·      Powerbank for getting extra charge

·      Portable harddrive for extra storage

·      Noise cancelling headphones for working on planes and trains

 

Why You Should be a Content Creator and Not a Marketer

Labels are important. Most important are the ones that we give ourselves. How you define yourself will color the way you see yourself, and this in turn is going to influence the way that you interact with others, your happiness, your confidence and much more about you.

 

This is particularly true for people like internet marketers. If you’re someone who works online, then you will work a job that isn’t easily defined and that many people won’t really understand. What is it you do again? How do you make money without leaving the house??

 

And it also changes the way you feel about the work you do and the work that you will end up pursuing. I recommend considering shifting the way you describe yourself from ‘internet marketer’ to ‘content creator’. And here is why…

 

The Same Thing Really…

 

You might be wondering how you can just go ahead and change your label if you’re still doing the same job. Isn’t a content creator something entirely different from a digital marketer?

 

Well, not really!

 

These days, content marketing is the most effective option for any brand wanting to increase its visibility and status online. Content marketing is necessary for SEO (because SEO is predicated on having content for Google to crawl) and it is synonymous with social media marketing (because one of the most important aspects of social media marketing is sharing content through your various channels). 

 

And if you’re a content marketer who creates articles and videos for a blog, then chances are that you have the precise same goals as the marketers: getting your content seen.

 

The only difference is that a content marketer is someone who puts the ends first, whereas the content creator puts the quality content first. They put the value first. The content creator builds a brand and then promotes that brand with great multimedia content. The marketer on the other hand looks at the market and asks how they can make money…

 

Why the Content Creator is the Better Outlook

 

But the content creator – ironically – actually often makes more money. That’s because they have a brand they believe in and they are putting more work into their content. 

Both these things are not lost on readers who will end up wanting to spend more money as a result. And thanks to Google’s more recent changes, they’re not lost on the search algorithms either…

 

Then there’s the fact that content creators are happier. Why? Because they are working on something they love. Success doesn’t come online quite as quickly as some marketers will have you believe. It takes a lot of time and even more work. If you’re going to avoid letting this crush you and make you miserable, then you better ensure that you are doing it for the love and not because you have to!

 

Think about all the most wealthy and famous people online. How did they get there? From pedalling ‘make money’ ebooks? Or by creating an amazing YouTube channel and sharing a vibrant personality and talent for writing and production?

 

3 Best Editing Tools For Captivating Videos

Shooting a video can be a great way to show your creativity and make something that will really capture the attention of the audience. Before you can complete that video though, you need to make sure that you choose an editing software that is simple to use and has a lot of power. 

 

As you begin your research, you are going to find lots of options available. But which one will provide you with the captivating videos that you would like? The three best editing tools you can use for captivating videos include:

 

Adobe Premiere Pro

 

The Adobe Premiere Pro is a great option for even the most demanding users out there. It has a professional-level video editing program that can turn even a simple video into a masterpiece. There are a lot of things to love when you choose this one including:

 

1.    An interface that is clear and flexible. 

2.    Lots of tools for organizing

3.    Responsive speed

4.    Unlimited angles for your camera

5.    A great stabilization tool so things do not bounce around. 

 

This is a great option for those who have some experience with creating videos and editing. If you are new to the game, this one may be a little bit advanced to use. 

 

Apple Final Cut Pro

 

Apple has some great video editing software that you can use, and the Final Cut Pro is one that you should choose. It brings a lot of power to the game and has a lot of AI powered tools to help make video editing a bit easier. Some of the benefits for this one includes:

 

1.    A magnetic trackless timeline

2.    Fast performance

3.    Can support more than one camera

4.    Lots of organizational tools for you to get the work done. 

 

This one does lack a bit with the stabilization compared to the other options, which may make the videos wobbly and shaky. 

 

CyberLink PowerDirector

 

This is a great video editing tool that has a fast and full-featured library that can offer the technology you need, even when you are not a professional in the field. Some of the benefits of this editing choice includes:

 

1.    Fast rendering and a clear interface

2.    Multi-cam editing

3.    Allows for 3D and 4K capability

4.    Motion tracking

5.    Lots of effects

 

The biggest problem with this one is that it is going to have so many options that the interface will feel a bit overwhelming. The weak color matching leaves much to desire as well. 

 

Choosing one of these great options will ensure that you are able to get the right videos created that look the way you want. 

 

Retreating from Social Media to Reduce Stress

Going dark on social media seems sometimes like the person doing it is punishing those around them for being a distraction or for disagreeing with what they do. However, it is actually healthy to disconnect every once in a while, and allow yourself to fully experience the range of your surroundings without having technology distracting you from the world around you.

 

To unplug can be a very rehabilitating experience. We are sometimes so consumed by our negative situations that we are unable to focus on the things that matter most to us. When that becomes an issue, one of the best ways to resolve it is to allow ourselves the opportunity to disengage from raining sources without feeling obligated to give more to others than we are able to do comfortably.

 

Social media can often be a draining experience for us. We are forced to compare our lives to the lives of other people who may have had more opportunities and who have accumulated more wealth. However, studies have proven that there is no faster way to low self-esteem than to compare ourselves to other people. 

 

It is a mentally, emotionally, and physically draining experience. We envy those around us even if we try to tell ourselves that we are happy for their success. And in fact, the fastest way to reduce stress can be to actually accept that everybody leads different lives and has different opportunities and try to find some genuine peace in knowing this. If you can do your best to be happy for other people and their successes rather than comparing their lives to the ways you feel you are failing or have failed, then this will reduce a huge burden of stress from your shoulders. 

 

Sometimes, it can also just be refreshing to be away from social media drama. People are constantly putting their opinions out there for the world to see, inviting and sometimes even provoking heated conversations about controversial topics. Politics, religion, and other personal issues can be flaunted and trumpeted, causing major stress for people who are simply hoping to catch up with the people in their lives they may have lost touch with. 

 

We can be reminded of all the things that we wish we had and that we are aspiring toward. It is discouraging at times to find yourself caught in a cycle of wishing for more than what is currently possible, or assuming that other people in your life are better off than you are or may ever be. But that is a trap that is perpetuated by social media, where everybody puts their best faces forward and is selective about the details they put online. Then again, some people put all their dirty laundry out there, and that can be stressful too!

 

In either case, avoiding social media for a few days can be a great way to recharge and limiting your time on these networks can be a good trick to keep in mind for those days you need to destress and recharge!