Are we in the process of yet another Google pagerank update?  The last one was April 1 but I seem to be seeing updates on some of my websites.

Two of my sites that had a zero pagerank are now showing a pagerank of 1 – this site included. Another brand new site is now showing a pagerank of 3. The rest have remained static.

Could be just a glitch on my Google toolbar but I have tried it in a different browser and it is still showing the changes.

Fortunately, Google pagerank is not seen to be as important as it once was. It is a useful tool for gauging the importance of a website but it really shouldn’t be taken too seriously.  But I am so used to looking at that little green toolbar when I enter a site…it’s become a habit.

Has anyone else noticed the update??

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By guest author Nia Sowden author of Survival Wytch

I am a freelance writer and this is my perspective on working from home. I’ll share with you what I have found to be the advantages and disadvantages.

I began working from home when the kids were little, having part time jobs cleaning or selling products or preparing and selling food to cafés and being a day care mom. This meant that I could be at home for my children after school.

I loved the freedom of being my own boss and having my own hours. I always made sure I had something freshly baked for afternoon tea, I loved having time to potter around or tidy up in the garden or create a mess. I love sculpting in clay and styrene so having time to practice my art was important to me, working from home means I can do whatever I want to do.

What I have always loved about working from home is the choice of having my own schedule, creating my own time and being my own boss. I can shop when I want to, visit my friends, see a movie and go to the beach.

I have returned from working full time outside the home, to working from home writing articles.

The Time Management Myth

Again my time is my own. I have to be disciplined though. The first step to success is time management.

So I read the articles available on realistic expectations of working as a writer from home, being committed to working from home, looking after my health, eating properly and exercising, taking time away from the work desk to do something unrelated to the task at hand.

These accounts are all very different to what is my reality.

Do one thing at a time, that is the time management secret, and devise a plan. The plan of my day looks like this:

• I write a heading and main ideas, then wash the dishes, flesh out the first paragraph, make the beds, get involved in the article, hang out the washing, save article and cook lunch.
• Rewrite bits that don’t fit for whatever reason, prepare afternoon tea for the children, stare at the screen.
• Bring in the laundry and fold and put away.
• Prepare the evening meal.
• Adjust the article for readability.
• Talk to someone about their day.
• Return to the article and send it off.

I am finding being a freelance writer is quite different to the romantic way this particular employment choice has been portrayed.

My evenings are filled with interruptions because I guess I am neglecting my parental responsibilities and as for being a loving partner…

I thought I would interrupt the family during something they love to watch to demonstrate the ‘no interrupt’ policy I need for writing success.

It didn’t work.

My family switched off the television to talk to me because, they claimed, they never see me. And besides, if I am away from the computer for 5 minutes they figure I have finished and then they want to use it.

I get engrossed in a story, investigating and researching an idea and just ‘exploring my craft’. After all the story doesn’t get written if I don’t make a start. And then I get interrupted by my family, ‘Are you finished yet?’ or ‘Can I use the computer?’ or ‘What’s for dinner?’… Dinner already?!

My husband has pointed out to me that the evening meals have all had something that is not quite right about them lately. The pasta was hard on Wednesday, the rice was only half cooked, mm crunchy rice on Thursday and the beans and carrots on Friday were only warm and still raw. (Memo to me, stop thinking about writing when cooking dinner).

I have read other writers accounts of how they manage their time, how they justify the time in front of their computer, how they do things in stages so that they can improve on it.

Take breaks from the computer the guides all say, but when I’m on a roll I just can’t. Unfortunately my family is on the back burner while I get my article finished.

Make sure you exercise often, stretching and moving around to increase blood flow and oxygenate the brain.

My exercise breaks consist of hanging out a load of washing, or vacuuming the floor. I’ll do household chores whilst I rework an idea.

These exercises don’t appear in the keep healthy manuals, they just aren’t written for work at home mums! I felt that I wasn’t maintaining my fitness because I wasn’t doing crunches while talking on the phone or squats while searching through the filing cabinet and as for lunges or running on the spot, does running to the stove to save some forgotten meal count?

Exercising by doing my housework is a great strategy to rework an article in my head, or when I get discouraged with they way an article looks, I can still ensure my responsibilities to the family are met with house work done and the batch of cookies for afternoon tea.

But I’m always working, I can’t switch off. Maybe I’m obsessive about writing and I’ve become a Zombie mum working from home, Distant and aloof.

“Can I eat everything in the house?” asks my 9 year old daughter. “Hmm?…yeah sure” I absently reply

Maintain a healthy diet

I make sure I eat properly, albeit with one hand while I type with the other and I haven’t enjoyed a hot cup of tea in days.

I’m sure I’ll find a balance, perhaps when I finish this article.

Sometimes when we work from home we tend to forget to take care of ourselves. It is very important to continue to keep up decent levels of exercise and maintain a healthy diet.

When you are sitting at the computer all day at home it is very easy to reach out and pick at unhealthy snacks, not realising just what you are doing to your waistline and health.

With this in mind, Paula and I make sure that we get regular exercise at the local ladies only gym. We have been doing lots of stretch and yoga classes so yesterday I decided it was time to up the ante and did the pump class. Well today I am having difficulty walking up and down the stairs. Every step feels like I am being stabbed with a burning knife blade – at least thats how it appears to me.

Having done this many times before, you know what I mean- reach a high level of fitness and then stopping going to the gym for quite some months; I know that in the next day or so I will feel the benefits of this strenuous exercise but at the moment I just want to curl up in a ball with some hazelnut chocolate and make the bad pain go away.

Having said that, it is important to not let the computer take over your life completely. Factor in the breakations and fun times.

A timer is a good tool to have on your desk to remind you of when to take a break, go for a walk or have a healthy snack.

Now where’s that phone book I need to make an appointment for a massage

For anyone involved in internet affiliate marketing a visit to an Affiliate Summit at some stage is a must do exercise.

Paula and I were at the shareasale.com Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas in 2008. This was our second Affiliate Summit and we were much more confident this time around. We were no longer unsure of how to approach Affiliate networks and merchants especially as a few of our sites are on page one of Google which gives us a little credibility.

Affiliate Marketing is an excellent way to earn an income with your website or blog. Simply join up with one of the Affiliate networks such as CJ, shareasale.com, Affiliate Traction, Link Connector, LinkShare.com; join a merchant program that suits your website and place the merchant ads and/or banners on your site. It is certainly a way to gain a bit of extra income.

For those of you who are really interested in getting started in Affiliate Marketing, Paula and I can thoroughly recommend the James Martell method of learning. Everything is outlined in small (baby steps), easily understandable sessions and James is a patient, thorough teacher

1. Blogging

If you love writing then blogging is a wonderful way to earn money on the internet. You don’t need to be a great writer to blog. As long as you can string a few words together then you can start a blog.

Recommended Sites:

These sites have a number of templates to start you off and with full instructions on how to get started.

Blogger.com
WordPress.com

2. Freelance writing

If you have a bit of experience writing or have a flair for words then you can offer your services as a freelance writer. A large number of website owners are looking for good content for their websites and are willing to hire writers to do the job for them. You could be writing web content, press releases, eBooks, product descriptions and more.

Recommended Sites:

Elance.com
RentaCoder.com

3. Technical Freelance Work

If you consider yourself a bit of a computer geek and have experience with programming software, tinkering with hardware or have experience with computer graphics design then you could be making money today. Most people have little to no experience with the more detailed areas of computing and will hire freelance technical gurus to help them with their computer problems. You could be creating website headers, designing a website, programming a widget or plugin or something more complex like a membership website.

Recommended Sites:

Elance.com
RentaCoder.com

4. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is a commission based system which in essence is used by a large number of website owners on the internet today. Basically it involves developing a website on a particular topic and placing merchant text or banner ads on the site. When a visitor to the website clicks on one of those ads and purchases a product or service from the resulting merchant website then the affiliate website owner receives a commission.

Recommended sites:

CJ.com
LinkShare.com
ShareaSale.com

5. Paid Surveys

Paid surveys are another way to make money on the internet however it can be a bit hit or miss and you are not likely to make a fortune. Ensure you do your research as there are a lot of so-called paid survey sites out there that actually only act as a middleman between you and the legitimate market research companies.

Paula and I have met and read about some very successful people who rely on paid advertising for an income.  And a very nice income many of them enjoy.

However, with Google Adsense making it easy for anyone with a blog or website to put ads on a page has this led to ad blindness by website searchers and consequently less click through rates?  

We have delved into the arena of Pay Per Click advertising but it is not a cheap exercise.  The bidding on keywords is quite competitive and the price on keywords has now become relatively expensive. It also takes a bit of work to get it working successfully as if you don’t do it right you could easily be up for $10 or more per click.

Nevertheless we have taken steps to give PPC a go since many have had a lot of success with it. We knew we needed help however so decided to purchase an ebook called Beating Adwords by well know internet successes Kyle and Carson from Wealthy Affiliate University.

In fact, we actually purchased this ebook some time back and although the ebook is excellent and we highly recommend it we never really got into giving PPC a really good go.

Now that we have a bit more time up our sleeves we are going to give it another shot.  We will update this blog with our progress.