As a personal update, I want to let my readers know that I am going through a bit of change in my life.  Recently I made a change from a full-time employee to being employed part time while filling the rest of my income by web-working.  In this article I would like to talk about what web-working is, what the pluses and minuses are, why I am only doing it part time, and why I am doing it at all.

What is web-working?

Web-working is exactly what it sounds like: working on the web.  Basically, if you make any of your income working on the Internet, whether from home or otherwise remotely, whether it be for yourself or an employer, you are a web-worker.  In my case, as a blogger, I have been hired on as a staff writer for MakeUseOf.com, a very popular technology blog.  In so doing, I receive part of my income from home writing articles for a website.  That is why I consider myself to be a web-worker.  I guess you can say I am a part-time web-worker.

What are the pluses and minuses of being a web-worker?

I am glad you asked!  The reason being is that the whole idea of working from home, making your own schedule and being your own boss seems very appealing but it may not be all it’s cracked up to be!  It is true, I do LOVE the flexibility of making my own schedule and such, but it is not always easy!  I am learning that there are a few lessons I need to learn.  I am learning to be self-motivated.  I am learning to be more organized.  I am working on being focused (something I have always had a hard time with).  I am even learning how to make my own goals and complete them.  All of these are really awesome things to learn and if I do it will affect other parts of my life positively.  However, you must realize that it is NOT for everyone!  Everyone may not even enjoy it.

Why am I only doing it part-time?

This is a good question!  If I enjoy the flexibility and the learning/growing experience, why not do it full-time?  Well, the main reason is that I need stability.  What would happen if either I was asked to step down as staff writer, or worse, if the site I write for goes under?  I would be on the street!  And nobody wants to hear a grown man weep!  Well, there’s nothing wrong with a man that cries, but you know what I mean!  I like the safety of having more than one stream of income, especially when the economy tanks.  Another reason is that right now I only write for one site, and the income is only a part-time income.  Am I actively looking for more writing gigs?  Well, other than having INTENTIONS on continuing my own blogging, not really.  Would I turn down another gig if I was offered one?  It would depend:)

Why am I a web-worker at all?

One reason has already been leaked earlier in this article: I like the flexibility!  As was also mentioned, I like the growing experience.  There is more though.  I like being able to spend more time home with my wife.  I like working on the Internet because it’s something I know and have enjoyed growing with through the years (I have also grown to respect it as a great power for both good and evil).  Similarly, I enjoy working at a computer (manual labor makes me cry – j/k!).  And I like working in the comfort of my own office in my own house in my own bedroom!  How’s that work for ya!?

Some tips I need to follow!

So, what do you think?  Am I totally off my rocker?  Have you ever thought about taking a similar leap?  Are you currently a web-worker?  Share with us!

Image via Wikipedia

I just read an article about Gmail’s latest outage.  It was the title that caught my eye: “Why you should be glad about Gmail failures.”  As someone who is using Gmail, the title kind of got my proverbial goat.  As it turns out, the article was less about boasting on Gmail’s failures and more about how Google has the opportunity to learn from its high profile mistakes.  Although I still have my reservations about Google’s low profile issues, it does seem as if when problems hit in the public’s eye, lessons do get learned.

While reading this article, it reminded me of my many mistakes in blogging through the years.  Some were fixed with a relative lack of difficulty while others I have yet to have the courage to find a fix.  In this article I would like to be candid and share some of those mistakes and some of the fixes and changes I have enacted since.

(1)  The topic

When I began blogging at the domain timmyjohnboy.com I was using it as a personal blog.  The topic basically changed with my whims.  I wrote about whatever I wanted to.  This ended up being a mistake because I not only didn’t reach any goals for my blog, but the goals in and of themselves were vague.

This did not help Google Adsense serve relevant ads.  It also did not help with SEO.  Without a specific topic for the blog, I wasn’t doing so hot with the search engines.

Since then, I took the time to choose a topic I love enough and one with which I have passion and began to create content on that topic.  Choosing a niche helped me participate in the conversation with others in similar niches.  I was able to find people with similar interests.  Although not perfect yet, my ranks have at least begun to grow.  Google Adsense now comes across a bit less confused.

Is your blog more of a personal one, or does it revolve around a specific topic or niche?

(2) The Goals

When I began to blog, I really didn’t have much of a goal.  It was more getting things off my chest.  I did gain a love for writing and I did meet some interesting people.  But I didn’t have real goals to meet by blogging.

Since then I have been blogging in order to do a few things, one of which is to strengthen my authority in my niche.  This means that I am not only learning more about my niche, but I am also showing my own current aptitude.  I am also working on my writing style.  The more I write, the better I get at communicating.  Although I have not quite arrived in the place where all my goals are met, I do have a reason for blogging and my goals are being achieved.

What are your goals for blogging?

(3) The Domain Name

The name actually came from a nick name my father gave me when I was young.  Basically with a first name Tim and a middle name John and an apparent like for the Waltons as a television show, the name came together as TimJohnBoy or TimmyJohnBoy.  I began using it online when I first started using webmail and I’ve been using it ever since.

I haven’t actually decided if this has been a bad choice for the domain name.  On one hand, it really has nothing to do with technology, computers or the Internet.  On the other hand, using my own name in the domain can aid in strengthening my name’s “brand” or “authority.”  What I mean by this is that it can strengthen the tie between my name and the topic  that I write about.  For instance, although he may see his domain choice as being a mistake, it is difficult to hear John Chow’s name without thinking about the blogging about blogging niche, right?

You tell me, is my choice of domain name a mistake?

We all have made mistakes.  It is only when we see what we can learn from them that we learn how to grow.  Sometimes we CAN be glad about our failures!

Today I had the opportunity to interview Brett Barner, blogger from GodlySheep.com.  Let me tell you a bit about what they’ve got going on over there!

GodlySheep.com is a blog with a goal of helping churches and individuals.  Well… um… watch the interview and let Brett explain it!

You can check out GodlySheep.com and follow them on Twitter: @GodlySheep.  Brett will also be a guest blogger on here every so often so keep yer eyes open for a fresh voice!  He’s somewhat new to blogging but from what I’ve seen so far, he’s a great writer (as are the other writers on GodlySheep.com).

Brett, thanks for the interview and happy blogging!

One of the interesting things about the Internet is the sheer amount of information out there.  Sure, there is probably a very small percentage of it that each person is even remotely interested in, or has time to absorb, OR is even a little edifying, but how does one filter out the other stuff?  Well, that is an ongoing issue for everyone, believe it or not.  Many people call it “information overload.”  Well, a man named Clay Shirky is quoted as saying “It’s not information overload. It’s filter failure.”

There are many solutions people are coming up with to filter information.  One method is subscription to RSS feeds with feed readers such as Google Reader.  This method is fairly successful.  I, however, often run into the issue of subscribing to too many feeds and, therefore, end up in the same situation.

I ran into a new service that helps to filter news and articles into topics that you’d want to read.  It attempts to create a personal online magazine rack for the individual.  It’s called Alltop.com.  From the horse’s mouth:

The purpose of Alltop is to help you answer the question, “What’s happening?” in “all the topics” that interest you.

Alltop’s purpose is to filter and assimilate topics that interest you in order to make it easy to absorb.  Basically, you can read what you want to read on the topics you enjoy without all of the other junk making it harder to find.

Alltop has some interesting features.  One of the first features I noticed is that while I was browsing, Alltop was remembering the topics I was reading, making a list for me in case I wanted to revisit something.  This was done before signing up for an account; I was just a visitor.

If you sign up for an account, you can save the news sources you like so you can peruse the most recent articles from each source.

All they want from you is a user name, password and an email for account confirmation.

Once you’ve signed up you can begin to search for topics you like.

You can also browse by topic or alphabetically.

I chose to peruse the tech section and I narrowed it down to “blogging.”

If you feel like subscribing to a news source or blog, just click the plus sign and it turns into a check mark.

Very cool service.  All you have to do is visit the MyAlltop page to get a gander of everything you’ve subscribed to.  I think the site is cool and it has a good start.  I would like to see the possibility of adding topics to the MyAlltops page to better organize my news sources.  I do enjoy how easy it is to browse for articles without the sign up process and MyAlltops page but I’m sure each of us are different.

The other day I found myself for the first time in a long time separating myself from my laptop and actually curling up with a good book, ProBlogger The Book (thanks for the good read, Darren!).  My wife and I headed to the park on one of the first warm days of Spring and took our lunch and our books with us.  We were looking for that illusive thing we like to call RELAXATION.

Several things had occurred to me.  First, this was the first time in a long time I actually sought out an actual paper and ink book for reading!  What has my life come to?  Is it because I don’t read much?  No.  I read a lot, every day.  The thing is, most of my reading is done on the computer.  I do a lot of research for Bible lessons using resources such as e-Sword and anothe Bible program I found called BPBible Portable.  I also keep up with news mostly online.  I read from my favorite blogs, browse my favorite RSS feeds, read about what my friends and family are up to on Facebook and Twitter and email, and just generally do research and browsing on the computer!  The last time I went to the library I spent most of my time on my laptop!

My wife is a bit different.  She’d much rather find a good book and read through it.  Most of the time she’d rather not even put it down before finishing.  She gave me several reasons why she’d rather read from a book rather than on the computer (I added my own thoughts):

• Reading from the computer screen bothers her eyes
  • This is a common complaint about computers.  I know after a long day of working in front of a screen, when I get home the last thing I want to do is hit another computer!
• Portability – she can carry a book with her anywhere and she doesn’t have to worry about plugging it in
  • Packing up the laptop and its accessories is a hassle.  Finding electricity is a constant concern of mine when hitting the library or local coffee shop!
• In most cases, there are less distractions from the words
  • Here’s one of my weaknesses!  I am very easily distracted and email, twitter, facebook, other blogs, and even my own blog and its stats are constant distractions for me.  Am I ADD?  Sometimes I wonder.
• There aren’t any worries about viruses or bad sites
  • If you know what you are doing, this worry can be set aside, pretty much (read a post I did called Staying Safe In The Wild Wild Web), but I know this worry can be a distraction for some.
• She likes being able to hold and move what she is reading
  • I hear this one a lot.  People seem to enjoy the old fashioned feeling of the paper, the smell of the fresh pages or ink, and the flexibility of being able to hold what they are reading in any manner they deem comfortable.  I can see that.  I don’t really feel the same feelings, in fact I find it intimidating.  Perhaps it brings me back to my school days!  To each their own!

As you can see, my wife and I have some areas that are more oposite than similar.  Perhaps oposites DO attract?  I for one enjoy the conveniences of “e-reading” as I call it.

• Information is easily come by for pretty much any subject you can think of
• With RSS reading, keeping up with daily updates, even of the news, is very easy
• It’s easy to keep up with friends and family (it has been argued that the impersonality of the web can actually hinder relationships rather than build them, but I see it as a way to at least keep in contact whereas otherwise I would not)
• I find that online reading offers many more opportunities to interact with what you have read.

There is a happy medium, I am sure.  I am still looking for it and I’m sure I’m not alone!  Tell me, what is your favorite way of reading?

Many people ask me the same question: “How can I start my own blog?” Sometimes another question is also asked: “Which Online blogging service should I use?”  Or “What’s wrong with just keeping a blog on Myspace or Facebook?  Well, hopefully this post will answer these questions for you.  FYI, the answers are my opinion.  You, or someone else giving you advice may disagree with my opinions.  That’s OK.

• How to start your own blog (it’s really easy): Choose a blogging platform (one of the best is WordPress.com).  If you’ve never blogged before, you are a little technology-timid, and you want to start out free or spending the least money you possibly can, I’d suggest that you start with a free, online blogging service such as WordPress.com.  Later on, as you grow, you can purchase web space and a domain name, install blogging software, and run your own blog on your own domain.  Here’s a youtube video talking you through setting up a blog on wordpress.com (notice that wordpress looks a little different than on the video – that’s because wordpress has changed their design a bit, just explore a bit and you’ll be able to figure out the differences):

• Which blogging service should you choose: I suggest WordPress.com.  The reason I say this is that I believe WordPress to be the premier blogging software out there today and it’s free.  If in the future you end up wanting to have your very own site (you want to purchase webspace, purchase a domain name, and install the blogging software), I’d suggest wordpress as the software you use.  So, basically, you’ll already have a feel of how WordPress works because you’ve been using it already AND it’s probably the best platform around and has the best community of users from whom you can gain support when you need help.
• What’s wrong with keeping your blog on myspace or facebook: Nothing’s “wrong” with it, but there are some real advantages to having your own blog separate from social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook.  First off, on Facebook at least, I think only “friends” can read it.  Also, you are at the mercy of the obnoxious ads on Myspace.  On social networking sites, your blog is just part of your whole network profile.  Perhaps you would like your blog to be just your blog so people would come by and read what you have to say without digging through all of the other network stuff.  In other words, they can just go straight to your blog.  In the future, this would definitely be a good thing while you are trying to brand a name for yourself.  IMHO.

One more step you can choose to take is to buy a domain (they’re really inexpencive, like $10 a year) and link your wordpress.com blog directly with your domain.  That way when people type your www.yourdomain.com, they arrive at your blog on WordPress.com.  This way you can begin branding, loose less visitors if and when you do choose to pay to host your own blog, and and just be all around uber-cool!

I would be remiss if I did not provide a link to help you migrate from WordPress.com to your own host.

I use HostMoster as my webhost!

Well, welcome to the blogging community! If you have any questions, I’d be happy to help you along!  Just drop me a line via my contact page!  Meanwhile, if I missed anything here, let me know in the comments section below!

I was just browsing through the posts on lifeofjustin.com and became interested in his post entitled “5 Questions For My Readers.”  In an attempt to get to know a few of his readers better, he asked them several questions:

1. What Is Your Name and Age?

2. Where Do You Live?

3. What Is Your Blog About?

4. Why Did You Start Blogging?

5. What’s Your Goal In Life?

He gave his readers the option to answer these questions either in the comments section OR on their own blogs so I chose my blog!

1. My name is Tim and I am currently 29 years old.
2. I currently live in Rome, NY (not Italy but we do have a lot of good Italian food in this area!).
3. My blog is a personal blog where I share many different things that I enjoy, I suppose an online extention of me.  My wife, Sarah, and I have recently started a couple of other blogs (or own blog network, if you will) about more niche areas of interest (check out the sidebar for a list of links to them).
4. Well, I guess it started with some frustration with myspace.com and decided to try to keep in touch with friends and family in my OWN space (I disliked the type of ads and all the spam on myspace).  Now, I blog because I enjoy it and I’d love to be able to say that I’ve added something to somebody else’s life.  Eventual some income from blogging would be nice:)
5. My goal in life would be to be able to say that I have followed God and His will for my life, and to see others changed because of it.

My intention of this post was to answer Justin’s, but I’d love to learn more about some of my readers also.  I know some of you but not all of you.  I’m also sure there are some of you that I KNOW but I may not be familiar with some of these answers about you.  Feel free to chime in!  Give a shout in the comments section!

This week I got anew toy! I picked myself up a Wacom Bamboo Fun – a digital drawing tablet!    In fact, I am actually writing this post with it using handwriting recognition software!  Sure, it takes a bit longer, but it’s a cool experiment AND it’s giving some much needed practice using it!

My actual purpose for getting it is because I want to get back into drawing and cartooning.  Here’s a sample of a series I’m working on containing my cat, Peanut.

I know it’s Still a little rough, but I’m still learning so be gentle! In fact, I’d love any tips, tricks or suggestions anyone would we willing to give!

Soon I will be launching a blog specifically for my cartooning, so stay TOON-ed! It will follow my progress as well as highlight other artists and their cartoons. Maybe we’ll get into some tips and tricks-we’ll see.