We have a bunch of machines that somebody named similar to the following:

• WEBV-1
• WEBV-2
• APPV-1
• APPV-2
• APP-V1
• APP-V2
• APP-V3
• WEB-V1
• WEB-V2

Not only are these names all very similar, you wouldn’t know that these servers comprise development (DEV), stage (STG) and production (PRD) environments. They aren’t marked as such. Here are the machines listed by environment:

DEV

• WEBV-1
• APPV-1

STG

• WEBV-2
• APPV-2

PRD

• WEB-V1
• WEB-V2
• APP-V1
• APP-V2
• APP-V3

Huh?

Maybe it doesn’t seem like a big deal. In practice though it is. I made mistakes just typing this out and had to keep double-checking things. Imagine trying to communicate with other team members or your manager using these names. It’s a complete mess and it’s completely unnecessary.

There are several different approaches to naming. It’s another thing some geeks like to argue about. I don’t really care so much about an absolute right or wrong naming. I do care about names that at the very least allow you to distinguish servers from each other.

We are rebuilding all of the machines and settled on something similar to the following:

DEV

• DEVWEB-1
• DEVAPP-1

STG

• STGWEB-1
• STGAPP-1

PRD

• PRDWEB-1
• PRDWEB-2
• PRDAPP-1
• PRDAPP-2
• PRDAPP-3

It’s a very basic approach but you can see right away how much better it is.

I have no desire to be in the inbred business of selling information or training related to online business. I might mention a couple things that have helped me but I’m not going to push them. There is something about that entire online business community that turns me off. I think it tends to turn a lot of people off. But ultimately those people are buying hope. And the marketers that do well are experts at maximizing feelings of hope while minimizing feelings of doubt.

So why all the online business posts lately?

I’ve simply reached a point where I have enough good and bad experience to start sharing.

I started a Meetup group last year to share what I learned with others and to learn from them. These blog posts are mainly for them. Also, friends and family members know that I run a few websites. They often have questions. So it’s easy to write about the topic and point them here.

Oh I could never design a website!

Oh I could never do keyword research!

Oh I could never find the right topic!

Oh I could never figure out all that technical stuff!

One that I’ve heard lately is:

Oh I could never write in depth about something!

I’ve kept this in mind recently as I’ve been writing content. And I wrote this post for those people who see writing as some show-stopping obstacle to building a profitable content website.

What Makes Writing Good?

This is a odd post for me to make because I’m certainly not a good writer. Still, despite awful grammar and embarrassing typos, I’m usually able to get my point across. And that is the important thing.

I propose that you don’t have to be a masterful writer to communicate ideas. You just have to get your point across. It is one thing to write like Mark Twain. To do so probably takes a certain inborn spark and a lot of polish. It is another thing to write something that another person can read and use to accomplish some end. I’m convinced anybody can learn to write something useful.

Typically my web content writing falls into three categories: technical articles, commentary type articles and persuasive copy. Persuasive copy is a separate skill (but also a skill I think anybody can learn) so for this post I’ll only address the first two. The approach for both types of writing is a little different.

(By the way, by technical, I’m not talking about technology. I just mean an article where I get into the nuts and bolts of the subject in a methodical and factual way. )

Technical Writing

Technical articles are generally paint-by-number affairs. Everything you need to know about this type of writing you learned in middle school.

To start, I’ll typically do a few hours of research over several days, carefully recording facts and data along with their sources. Then I’ll let things sit in the back of my mind another few days.

When I feel like the topic has gelled in my mind and I have a good understanding, I’ll write out the main point of the article and then any supporting points. These might be the points of an arguments or the steps of a process. It doesn’t really matter.

This forms an outline that I can use as the main structure for the article. From there I just flesh out all the points with examples and details. A few rounds of fact-checking and editing and the article is ready.

I’ve written countless articles this way. There are variations of course but the underlying structure of the articles and the process is always about the same.

Commentary Writing

For commentary type writing, I’ll usually have to do a brain dump to get everything out on paper or on a screen. Sometimes I won’t even know exactly what is motivating me to offer commentary on a particular subject. I’ll ask myself:

Why do I feel compelled to write a reaction to this?

To uncover that motivation, I’ll open a blank document and simply write until I can’t write any more.

Then I’ll reread what I wrote and look for patterns. Usually the thing that is motivating me becomes clear. That’s my main point. Some supporting points start to stick out. From there I can create an outline as described above. After that, the process is much the same as with the technical articles.

Getting Unstuck

If I get stuck with either type of article I’ll usually do some or all of the following:

• Take a break.
• Write another braindump.
• Revisit the outline, asking myself what point(s) I’m really trying to make, tweaking as necessary.

It’s not fast or pretty. But that’s how I get it done.

Other Observations

I always write one sentence to a line in the beginning. This makes it easy to move lines to different paragraphs or different parts of a paragraph. If the final product is something like a Word doc or will be posted in WordPress, I’ll stitch together all the sentences into proper paragraphs. If I’m just publishing in straight HTML, I’ll leave all the sentences on one line and format with HTML tags.

My first pass at organizing a piece of writing is usually awful. It’s not until I’ve gotten most of it out on screen or on paper that I can figure out the best way to organize it. That’s why I like writing one sentence per line in the beginning. It is slow going when you have to move sentences around within paragraphs.

I write almost everything as a blank email in Gmail and just save it as a draft with a title. I give things labels to keep track of them.

I almost always keep everything I write even if I don’t use it.

More often then not, I’ll use the Google Keyword Tool to help me build a suitable headline. Why? Because key words tell you what people are looking for and will help them find what you wrote.

Photography is one of my hobbies and I spend time poking around Ken Rockwell’s website. I don’t have the link but somewhere he made the point that a good photo emphasizes what is important and de-emphasizes what is not important. You’ll see the same thing if you read books on the craft of writing, movie making, music etc. A lot of making something better is simply cutting away things that aren’t good and aren’t necessary.

I get the best results when I print out my writing, correct a whole document in pen and the go back and edit. If I read and edit too much with a live document it turns into a mess and takes forever.

It might feel silly but I’ve found that reading my writing out loud helps uncover a lot of dumb mistakes. It takes time to print something out and read it out loud a few times during editing. I don’t do it for everything. But I’ve found that when I do it the results are definitely better than when I don’t.

You Can Write

Any English teacher would start using their red pen within the first sentence of pretty much anything I write. I don’t have any special writing skills. If I can do it — you can do it. Just start writing. Don’t set the bar too high at first. Keep it simple. You’ll improve as you go along. Don’t let a fear of writing hold you back.

Why?

Because the user expresses their intention in those keywords. They are looking for something in particular. You want to make sure that your ad gives them what they are looking for in a way they recognize so they will see it and want to click. This idea has a name: scent. And it doesn’t apply only to ads. The concept has a much broader application.

Quick example. Say you search for “digital camera reviews”. Two ads come up. One ad shows this headline: “Pay too much for your camera?” and the other comes up with “Digital Camera Reviews”. Which one matches your intention? Which are you more likely to click on?

If you actually do that search in Google, you’ll see that most of the ads use the appropriate keywords in the headline. The natural search results show the same thing. Makes sense: poorly titled content is not going to rank well and properly named content will. This concept is the same for page titles, headlines and even URLs. You’re trying to meet the reader or prospect where they are.

If you use Google Analytics, read this post for optimizing your site for scent and you’ll get a better idea of what it’s all about. You’ll also get a practical, step-by-step method for optimizing your site. It depends on your site but going through this process and implementing a few changes could make a big difference in bounce rate and site stickiness.

1. How to choose a topic for your site.
2. How to monetize your site.

Those are things you can get from the SBI Action Guide.

Another good place on building profitable websites is Chris Beasley’s site: websitepublisher.net. Check out his guide: Build a Successful Website. That is the first legitimate resource I found on building profitable websites. I reread that guide every few weeks! It covers everything including choosing a topic and monetizing your site.

Simple content sites.

I believe almost anybody can build a simple online business like that. It takes a fair amount of work over time but it’s not especially hard or complicated. It’s entirely possible for the average person to do it.

Tomaz seems to be well organized and treats his sites seriously, as a business. But I don’t think Tomaz is any technology guru. I make that observation not to knock Tomaz but to make the point that you don’t have to be a geek to do well.

Whenever people ask about my sites, they tend to say the same thing after I explain what I do: “Oh that’s easy for you because you have a technology background. I could never do something like that.” The truth is though that very little of my technology background is necessary to build the kind of sites I do. If anything it is a hindrance because I tend to get stuck on technology details too much.

So what does it take to build a profitable website?

You just have to be patient and have the grit to stick with it. Find a good model and follow it. Take what you are doing seriously enough to do it right. And don’t get too caught up in technical details (like I do).

Maybe you were expecting it to be more complicated than that. It’s not.

Does it work?

Yes.

Using their method (which is available for free), I took a tiny site that was making $10 per month and turned it into a site that pays my rent every month .

Of course, there are many ways to build a profitable website. This is just one way. But it is solid and it’s something that pretty much anybody can do.  A lot of people ask me how they can make money on the web like I do. This is a good way to do it.

Derek’s  post is spot on — something I wish I could’ve read before I started outsourcing programming, writing and design work a few years back. It would’ve saved me a lot of time, money and frustration.

Here is a quick rundown of his post:

1. Reduce your big idea to “Version 1.0”.
2. Write a simple overview of what it does.
3. Write a detailed walk-through of every click.
4. Break it up into milestones.
5. Make your first milestone a stand-alone project.
6. Post it at elance, guru, odesk, vworker.
7. Continue with the one you like best.

This list hardly does the full post justice though.

The big problem with hiring from various outsource sites is filtering out the bad apples. You can expect a lot of SPAM responses to your project and flaky companies that start off strong and then flat-line. The process Derek describes will guide you through those challenges and help you get your project done.

**

Update: Also read through the comments. People have expanded on Derek’s ideas and contributed a few of their own.

There are several reasons somebody might join Toastmasters. Obviously, the majority of people join because they want to improve their ability to speak to groups. Maybe some have real difficulty with addressing groups. Maybe some need to be exceptional speakers for their job. Maybe some actually want to become professional speakers. Or maybe some are already accomplished speakers and are looking to help others on the path. If you want to join Toastmasters for any of those reasons, you are in the right place.

I wasn’t really interested in improving my speaking. I was interested in two other things: writing and randomness.

I felt that by having something fairly significant to shoot for like a speech every few weeks, the whole process of writing would somehow feel more official and “writerly” — that having the deadline would motivate me, and that the act of honing and polishing a single piece for four weeks would improve my writing.

The thing is that all one has to do to be a writer is write. You don’t need a mahogany desk, a fountain pen, a Toastmasters speech or anything else. Just write, write, write. Then write some more. You are now a writer. Keep it up and you’ll become a better writer. It didn’t seem like writing for the speeches added anything of value to that process.

I was also hoping that Toastmasters would add some randomness to my week. Ben Casnocha explains it here:

One of my life principles is to expose myself to as much randomness as possible.

I firmly believe that if we keep our mind open and explore the unknown, good things will (eventually) happen. If I reflect on some of the best things in my life they are more a result of random events (which I took advantage of) than a concerted effort towards any single outcome.

An ultra-precise friend recently sharpened this philosophy: Expose yourself to bulk, positive randomness and be ready to take advantage of it.

Toastmasters is fairly routine. It’s a great environment for building speaking skills. But there aren’t a lot of unknowns of the kind suggested above.

Ultimately there are only so many hours in a week and you have to decide how to invest them. For my goals, Toastmasters simply wasn’t the right way to invest them.

You will meet great people at Toastmasters. And the whole Toastmasters process seems like it works very well to build people into engaging and compelling speakers. So if that is your goal, Toastmasters is probably a good fit.