Writing Articles: Three Areas in Which Everyone is a Qualified Expert

Three of Your Expert Areas
In the companion article post to this one, “How to Write Articles about What You Know When You Don’t Know Anything”, we discussed possibilities in four article theme topic areas. There are three distinct areas however, where absolutely everyone is a hands-up, qualified expert. These are: your home and personal travels, your teaching and learning experiences, and any personal pleasures, pastimes or pet peeves that you may have.

• Home and Travels
Where have you lived, visited, vacationed or traveled to? What’s it like to live, work, travel or study abroad? Can you speak a foreign language? How did you learn to do it? What mistakes did you make? How did you manage living in South America, Asia, Africa or Europe? What did you eat and drink? How do you prepare meals from those places? What tips or advice do you have for others who’d like to follow in your footsteps?

• Teaching and Learning
Have you ever taught something to someone else? Have you then, ever learned something unique, different or special in some way that is interesting? You can expound on that at length and in detail, can’t you? Do you have pictures, photographs or videos of these things too? Can you go back and get pictures, photographs and videos?

• Pleasures, Pastimes or Pet Peeves
What really ticks you off? How could people learn to avoid doing things like that to others? Express your opinion with ways, tips and techniques to develop the needed knowledge and skills to be better. Whether social skills like meeting people, etiquette, self-improvement, over coming fears or bad habits, among many others, there are possibly thousands upon thousands of people wanting to know what you know. Tell them by writing about it.

So You REALLY Don’t Know Anything?
With these three topic areas and questions, you can’t possibly say, “I don’t know anything.” You’ve found out several areas that you are an “expert” in which would interest others enough for you to write about. Be sure to have a look at, “How to Write Articles about What You Know When You Don’t Know Anything”, if you haven’t already. Now get to writing.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

How to Write About What You Know When You Don’t Know Anything

Write About What You Know
What to write? Well, write about what you know. Right. How can I write, I don’t know anything? Really? I’ll bet you do know something. Not only that, but I’ll even bet that you’re a near expert on one or two topics too. “Oh no I’m not”, you say. So let’s just see about that. Here are four areas with questions to ask yourself that might just help you to find out what you are an expert in that would interest others enough for you to write articles about.

Here are Four Areas Where You May be an “Expert”

• Occupations
Where have you worked? What kinds of jobs have you done? Paid or not paid doesn’t matter, but length of time on the job might. If you’ve worked as a salesman, a cook, walked dogs, cared for other people’s children, made crafts, taught something to others or just generally lived and loved, you can talk – and write about it. Been living in a cave for years, you say? Then you’re an expert on caves and cave dwelling, living in the wilderness and in the dark.

• Hobby or Special Interests
What do you like to do? Can you paint, draw or create with your hands? Do you know cars, antiques or how to cook certain types of foods? Can you sew, knit, play music, sing or hum? How about fishing, hunting, bowling, other sports or photography? Do you dance, bird watch or garden? Have a good hand at raising earthworms, identifying butterflies and insects? Do you know about dogs, cats or other types of pets? Certainly there is something you like to do that you can talk and write articles about.

• Special Skills and Abilities
Have you learned or been specially trained to do something? Fix cars, tune motorcycles? Decorate cakes, make pies or rag dolls? Can you program or fix computers? Appliances or power tools? Do you know how to catch fish or make your own fishing lures? Can you tile a roof, make a bookcase or perhaps dance Salsa or Tango?

• Life Experiences
How about your life experiences? What have you done? What has happened to you, your family and friends over the years, that has truly had an impact on you? Can you tell others how to meet famous people? Find a good marriage partner? Care for an elderly sibling, spouse or parent? Buy a house or condo? Travel on the cheap? Do you know about credit ratings, bankruptcy and personal finance? Thousands of others may be waiting to know the information you have locked up in your heart and brain.

I Don’t Know Anything
After going through this quick list of potential topic areas and questions, certainly now you’ll no longer say, “I can’t write. I don’t know anything.” Hopefully by now, you’ve found out several areas that you are an “expert” in which would interest others enough for you to write about.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

Writer’s Block: There’s No Such Thing – Or is There?

You Call Yourself a Writer?
If you’ve called yourself a writer for any length of time you’ve been there. There are days when you can’t write a thing. There are days you fight for every word that goes on the page. There are times everything that comes from your pen or keyboard is CRAP – and you know it. Then there are even those times you don’t want to even enter your writing space; not look at a keyboard and the thought of picking up a pen gives you the “willies”. That’s what might be called “writer’s block” and like it or not, unlike the Boogey Man, it does exist in different forms and degrees.

It’s NOT Terminal
Fortunately, it isn’t a terminal condition, although it can at times reach critical proportions. If you’re tired, depressed, over-stressed, sick or just in a mangled state for whatever reason, writer’s block can be minimized or successfully managed with just a bit of effort and foresight. Here are some simple, effective steps you can take to manage, ward off or prevent the nebulous condition known as “writer’s block” in any of its forms.

Do the Philadelphia Foxtrot:

1. Take a Break – long or short, near or far, change your venue. Go for a walk, read a little, catching up on a novel or two, talk on the phone or chat with a neighbor or family member. Nibble a non-fiction tome on a subject you’re interested in. Watch a little TV or grab a snack (just don’t rely on this one too often or you’ll start to pack on the pounds)

2. Relax your mind and body – Many types of writer’s block actually come from forms of stress. So curl up in an easy chair, listen to music, watch a comedy sitcom or video. You might also try checking out a movie at the local cinema or pop one into the DVD player if something’s available. Do Yoga if that helps you to unwind.

3. Treat the Symptoms and the Ailment – Feeling out of sorts? Is it time for a medical and dental checkup? Schedule them ASAP. In the meanwhile, take a pain reliever for your mild head or muscle aches. Sip an herbal tea or mineral water. Have a hot shower if you feel that might help you to relax and detox. You could even take a short nap if you’re feeling a little tired or energy-sapped. The point is, don’t just sit round bummed out – DO something.

4. Read, Refresh and Refuel – What you might really need is to charge up the mental energy reserves of your writing muscles. Try grabbing a camera and going through an informal photo shoot? Do an assignment or two with a camera or use pad and pencils, markers, crayons or paints to unleash your artistic side. Forget about writing, focus instead on expressing your artistic creativity using other media.

5. Read, Research, Investigate and Reflect – Finally, you can often jump-start your muse and get your writing juices flowing again if you’ll delve into some much needed research on the topics you frequently write about. How about trying to D.I.A.P.E.R.I.N.G. your “writer’s block” away by:

• Delve into the dictionary
• Investigate using the internet
• Analyze an almanac
• Pore through periodicals
• Ease your way through an encyclopedia
• Read a reference work
• Internet search and research through some statistics
• Nip on a newspaper
• Grab some audio and video recordings on your hottest topics to “bone up” on the latest in your niche markets

Yes, most writers will agree that there is such a thing as “writer’s block” but it needn’t be a terminal condition if you’ll follow these steps to banish it – at least temporarily anyway.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 100 countries. Get your FREE E-book,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Then E-mail me for further information.

How to Explode Your English Language Teaching Online Presence in Less Than 48 Hours

Instant Exposure to Millions of Web Surfers
Whether you’re selling a product or service, job hunting, exploring or just surfing the net for pleasure, teaching English online, providing foreign language learning content on the internet or other reasons, you can explode your online presence and be seen or known by hundreds of thousands or even millions of persons. It needn’t be a lengthy process to do so either. The very nature of the internet allows for views to me made by hundreds of thousands or even millions of people in a matter of days or hours, in many cases. So how can you ramp up your online exposure forthwith without spending your inheritance in the process? Read on.

The Internet’s Top Five
Essentially, you’ll need to get exposure on the internet’s top five websites. This will almost automatically expose you to views from millions of online views from web surfers worldwide. Once exposed on these sites, in a matter of a few hours, you can be seen and on the lips and minds of literally millions of people. How does that sound? Here are the internet’s top five sites and what they offer.

YouTube
www.youtube.com
The internet’s newest online mega-site player, you can post screen captures and videos here for free. Setting up an account takes only a few minutes. Uploading a video can be done within an hour or so and be available to millions of viewers. You can also link to your video’s individual site using hypertext and back links to speed the viewing process along.
Videos are rapidly snatched up by search engines so your video’s presence will be noted sometimes in a matter of minutes.

Blogger
www.blogger.com
Blogs are all the rage from business and technical to personal thoughts and insights on virtually any topic. The top two are Blogger.com and Wordpress with no-cost Blogger being more widespread at the moment. Again you have the potential for millions of viewers almost instantly and they can come fast and furiously too depending on your blogging topic. Since blogs are picked up quickly by the major search engines too, your exposure can skyrocket in a matter of hours.

My Space
www.myspace.com
Another people-to-people biggie, you can create your own personal site here and post to your heart’s consent on any topic or theme of your choosing. Add photos, graphics and sound clips to round out you space, making it more interactive and you can easily wind up with a winner on your hands. Network like crazy to your other online presence sites and you’ll get checked out by hundreds of views per hour if your topic and theme are hot. Even if they’re not, you’ll still have massive exposure potential.

EBay
www.ebay.com
You’ve heard of the mega-site EBay for sure unless you’ve been living on another planet, the ozone layer or a desert island somewhere. So get yourself a posting here to garner at least a piece of the internet’s millions of viewers and surfers. Be it a product, service or information offer, this is a site you need to be on as part of your web presence explosion process. Payments are managed through PayPal which reaches globally to more than one hundred countries. Now you can offer services and products just as easily in Hanoi, Hong Kong or Hoboken.

Craigslist
www.craigslist.com
The place to advertise globally for free, this vast site allows you to reach potential clients, customers and other interested parties in a global market of your choice. You can hawk your wares and information by continent, country, or city area. Want to become known in Mexico, Malaysia, Madagascar or Mongolia? Then this site is definitely the place for you.

Summary
Yes, you can certainly explode your online presence in 48 hours or less by posting to these top five internet websites with your information, voice, videos, products and services, among other options. Only you can set the limits as to what you can achieve. Think up your campaign and get your posts and materials ready. Then set up your accounts at each of these massive exposure web site mega-sites and then just watch as your online presence soars through the roof.


Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on the lucrative, fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign Language, get your copy of his no-cost, full multi-media, hypertext-linked pdf ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know” by sending an e-mail to lynchlarrym@gmail.com with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. Need professional, original content and photos or images for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Want more information, have a comment or special request? E-mail the author for a prompt response.