Build Recurring Income

If you’re selling a product or service online one thing you might choose to do is advertise it. One increasingly popular form of advertising is the 125 x 125 pixel (or small square) banner ad, usually displayed in a grid formation in blog sidebars. Their compact dimensions make them perfectly suited to this format.

In almost every case, advertising in this manner will cost money. In return, you’ll be hoping to get click-throughs, exposure, name recognition–and ultimately, more sales. In this post I’ll be explaining what makes an effective banner ad, and some common pitfalls to avoid.

Designing for conversions

In this case, it’s impossible to put the cart before the horse. Before you place an ad you’ll need to design it, or have someone design it for you according to your specifications. There are certain qualities you should be striving for, and certain qualities you should be striving to avoid.

Good qualities

Eye-catching/attractive. A good banner ad is visually interesting. It doesn’t have to be beautiful, but it does have to attract the eye and stand-out from its surroundings. It should do this without cheap tactics like garish animation and gaudy colors, as these things may make your product or service look dubious. The clever hook will go to waste if nobody ever notices it. The banner on the left is a good example of eye-catching design: the bright white text on bright red is very striking.

It contains a hook. Your banner needs to motivate the viewer to click-through to your product or service. If it leaves the viewer thinking “So what?” the presence of many other good qualities won’t matter. Common hooks include: special offers, benefits, descriptions and elements designed to arouse curiosity. The banner on the left is a good example: it promises a benefit for the target audience.

It’s branded. Many web banner designers make the mistake of designing solely for clicks. However, the number of people who see any given banner is always much higher than the number who click on it. Just because a viewer doesn’t sign up for your product the first time they view your banner doesn’t mean it won’t influence their buying decision later on. Your banner should be used to build brand awareness, even among people who do not (yet) believe they need your product. Every good banner must contain some branding. The banner on the left is a good example: it builds brand awareness for Freshbooks while also encouraging click-throughs with a hook.

It’s succinct. Don’t assume a viewer will spend more than a second looking at your banner ad before they make the decision to move on or investigate further. A good banner ad will catch a viewer’s attention and comminicate its hook and branding very quickly. The banner ad on the left does this well by including branding, the hook and a call to action, all at a glance and in logical reading order (from top to bottom).

It’s in the right place. A wonderfully designed ad for Range Rover SUVs will never fare well on a sustainability blog. The chief determining factor in a banner ad’s conversion rate is where it’s placed. Choosing the right environment for your banner ad is exceptionally important, and it will be covered in greater detail soon. The banner on the left is a good example of smart targeting. It names its target market directly (bloggers) and uses lingo that bloggers and internet marketers are familiar with (CPM). The hook is also something that the target market will appreciate, as CPM is a nice payout!

It stands out in its surroundings. Most square banner ads of this kind are situated in grids among other similar ads. How can you stand out? One effective tactic is to play with the background of the environment and use shape to differentiate visually. In amongst a grid of six or eight straight square banner ads, an unusually shaped banner ad will be very noticeable. You can see how the banner ad on the left has used shape to stand out (the border is added by the Anywired design–the actual image has no outer border).

Things to avoid

Visually uninteresting. Your banner ad should never look like just another banner ad. Use bright, eye-catching colors, interesting shapes and unique imagery. The banner on the left has an excellent hook but the combination of dull colors prevents it from popping out of the page.

No hook. This is the most common pitfall of small banner advertising. The banner may be gorgeous to look at and well-branded, but it may still evoke the “So what?” reaction in the viewer. They won’t feel they’re missing anything by not clicking on the banner, because they have no idea what to expect on the other side. While these banners can still be good for building brand awareness, they’re not effective when it comes to click-throughs. The banner on the left is visually interesting, but there’s no hook, and no reason to click unless you’re already familiar with the brand.

No branding. Some banner ads bear many positive qualities but completely miss the opportunity to build brand awareness and name-recognition among the thousands of people who will see them but never click on them. It’s essential to remember that the purpose of a banner ad is not just to get traffic. The psychological benefits are just as valuable. Advertising on a particular blog or website means you are associated with that brand and the person/people behind it. The next time someone sees your brand mentioned elsewhere, they may think “I’ve heard of them before. Maybe they’re worth checking out?” While the logo on the left is visually interesting and contains a solid hook, there’s no branding present.

Wrong image. There is a certain ’style’ of banner ad associated with scams, usually featuring gaudy or clashing colors, flashing animation and unbelievable claims. While they might be successful at gaining curious click-throughs, this kind of advertising strategy does not contribute to a trustworthy brand. Many potential customers will be turned off by the appearance of your ads, even if your product is very good. The banner on the left is well-targeted to its intended market (it’s displayed at ProBlogger.net) but it does make the service or product being offered look a bit scammy–even though it probably isn’t.

Drawn-out message. Animation can be used to add visual interest to a banner, but it’s often used to draw out a message that could be communicated in one frame. Assume that a viewer will only glance at your ad before making the decision to keep looking or look away. They will not sit there like zombies for nine or ten seconds waiting for your ad to play out. If you’re going to spread your hook over several different animation stages, make sure each stage is a strong advertisement on its own. Ask yourself: if a viewer only saw this frame, would they be sufficiently motivated to click the ad? While the banner ad on the left is well branded and eyecatching, none of the animation frames offer a strong enough hook to stand up on their own.

Wrong place. Some banner ads are of limited effectiveness because they’re not cleverly placed. Lots of traffic does not necessarily mean targeted traffic, but it will always be expensive. The banner ad on the left is quite well designed, but it currently appears on the TechCrunch main page. TechCrunch readers are interested in start-ups, venture capital, social media, social networking, powerful website hosting and blogging, but they are not necessarily interested in renting out stuff. The targeting here is not terrible, as Zilok is a start up, but more effective banner placement would see the ad on blogs and website dedicated to products that people might want to rent out (cars, video game consoles, and so on). Being interested in the start-up is one thing–but using it is another.

Case studies

To demonstrate the above principles in action I’ve provided some mini-reviews of various small banner ads. I’ll describe what they do well, and what they don’t do well.

If you want to see examples of good banner design it’s always wise to look at how big companies do it. They have the funds to hire the best advertising agencies and do the most extensive testing. The banner ad on the left is from Microsoft and it does a lot of things right: it’s eye-catching while being strongly branded, it contains a hook (search jobs in the Valley) and a call to action (click here).

When designing a banner ad, don’t assume anyone knows what your product or service is or why it matters–unless you’re a big-name company like Microsoft or Coke. While the banner on the left is interesting to look at and prominently branded, there’s no hint as to what the website has to offer, especially considering the context: it was found on an internet marketing blog. In short, there’s no hook.

This banner ad appears to do everything right, but let’s look a little more closely. Most of the ad is devoted to imagery that, while interesting, doesn’t provide a hint about the nature of the product or communicate any of the brand’s attributes. While the keywords at the bottom seem like a hook, they’re very vague, and I still don’t know what the service or product being offered actually is.

This banner ad from sponsored reviews is an example of many good qualities in action. From top to bottom it features branding, a hook that speaks directly to the target audience (bloggers and advertisers) and a call to action (build buzz now). By having the top of the green tick extend outside the box, it will stand out in a grid of straight square banner ads.

This is an example of a banner ad that is very well targeted to people already familiar with the brand. If you know anything about Crazy Egg, you’ll know that it’s a click-tracking service that costs money. The offer of a free account is a tempting one. However, looking at the ad from the perspective of someone who’s not yet familiar with Crazy Egg, there’s no hint given about what the service actually is. The space at the top of the banner could be used to summarize the service in just a few words, and tap into a new market.

While this banner ad is visually interesting, branded, and contains a hook, I don’t believe it’s effective. This is because the hook is weak: if I want to ‘Get Video’, I can go to YouTube. What makes the service different? The hook doesn’t sound enticing enough. Though I’m sure the mediaplayer has many unique qualities, the ad doesn’t hint at any of them.

A useful formula to follow

While it’s possible to innovate and create a banner with plenty of good qualities, innovation can be hard work! Luckily, it’s possible to create an effective banner by following a simple formula.

1. Place branding at the top of the banner.
2. Place your hook in the middle.
3. Place your call to action (i.e. ‘Download now!’ or ‘Click here’) at the bottom.

If the design is interesting to look at, you have just created an effective banner. Remember: even a cleverly-constructed banner can be ineffective if poorly placed. I’ll be discussing ad placement in-depth in my next post.

This is the final part of a three part series. If you’re learning to earn six figures, start here, then move on to here.

Many people struggle with the duality of enjoying their current work while yearning for an increased income. Our Freelance Switch survey showed that many freelancers are working part-time to supplement their core source of income (salaried work). What do you do if you love being in your profession but know it’s unlikely to ever allow you to earn six figures a year?What should you do if you know freelancing is not the right choice for you?

You’ll need to supplement (or eventually replace) your income through strategies that are high-yield, low time, and enjoyable in their own right. If you’re already working 40 hours a week, the time you spend trying to set up supplemental income streams should not feel like work. Ultimately, I would suggest taking up an income-producing hobby.

Investing. A friend of mine delivers newspapers from his car during the day and spends between 5 – 10 hours a week buying and selling stocks. The latter produces most of his income, but he’s unwilling to leave the first job because of the friends he’s made at the newspaper warehouse. He’s mathematically minded, so investing suits him well. Income earned is also not tied to time, and stocks can earn him money while he’s not attending to them. If you’re worried about the financial risk, consider bootstrapping after one initial investment.

Blogging. Whether you make money directly (through advertising on one or multiple blogs), or indirectly (through offering services on a blog), blogging is a hobby with the potential to earn a supplementary income. If you’re a freelancer, focus on getting blog readers to your services page. If you create great content but you can’t be prolific, focus on building one very popular blog. If you’re able to produce lots of content but you’re unsure how to create a super-popular blog, focus on creating a small network of two or three blogs. A few moderately popular blogs can earn just as much as a one highly popular blog.

Blog/Website flipping. With some pundits valuing subscribers at each, Anywired is apparently worth 5,000 (yeah right!). I think ,000 to ,000 would be a much more realistic figure, but the example does show that blogs and websites can accrue a lot of value. If you’re quite good at monetizing blogs/websites and drawing traffic to them, growing and then ‘flipping’ your properties could be quite lucrative. As you build a larger network of web properties, you can channel your existing traffic into new projects to give them a very useful head-start.

Create an online product (web app, paid membership website, etc). Blogs are certainly not the only way to ‘make money online’. Web apps are being built and becoming successful at a rapid rate, as are premium content websites, membership-only websites, and so on. However, the start-up costs for these can be quite high if your idea requires that you work with a web developer to make it happen.

Consulting. Simply the act of imparting your skills and expertise to others, or making recommendations based on your knowledge, consulting carries a high per-hour rate and is highly customizable. Aside from traditional types of consulting (SEO consulting, branding consultations, etc.), there’s nothing to stop a talented World of Warcraft player offering consulting to players who want to increase their skills, a high-achieving student offering consultations on how to achieve similar results, a freelancer offering consultations on how to start freelancing, and so on. If you have skills or knowledge that other people want to learn, you may be able to turn this into a source of supplementary income, even if not in ‘traditional’ fields.

I encourage you to break down the above options (or the many others that are available to you) into stepping stone goals, just as we’re doing with the task of earning six figures. It’s an incredibly useful approach for achieving any goal that you have.

Final notes on this method

Keep in mind, however, that if you earn ,000 a year in your regular job, you will need to double that income in the ten extra hours you work, equivalent to more than 0 an hour (as you will surely need at least one hour a week to do non-billable tasks). In other words, the decision to stay with your existing core income will add another level of difficulty to the task of increasing it (but where there’s a will, there’s a way).

Instead, you might eventually choose to reduce the amount of time you work in your day job and increase the amount of time you spend tapping into extra sources of income. You might decide to work 25 hours a week instead of 40, with another 25 hours devoted to an income producing hobby.

One last tool

One of my favorite ideas from the 4HWW is designed to help you change the way you think about things that seem impossible or very difficult. You’re asked to imagine a scenario where you had no choice but to achieve one of your most ambitious goals. Once you start making plans instead of excuses, you’ll be surprised to find that anything someone else has done before can be repeated. This method won’t help you walk on water, but it could help you earn six figures, learn seven languages, or travel eight times around the world.

I’ll leave you with these three questions and answers:

• How many people have audacious goals? Many.
• How many people define what exactly would be required to reach them? Fewer.
• How many people define what’s needed, then undertake all of those steps? Few.

Few succeed, but it’s those few that do.

This post is part two in a series. If you’re learning how to earn six figures, start here.

If you’re not overly attached to your current job and would be willing to switch it for something better, this route is for you. Some of the things that prevent us from pursuing new and better jobs really don’t matter as much as you think.

1. I don’t have the skills to do anything else. That’s kind of irrelevant. You can learn anything with enough time. You might not be naturally gifted, but a gift simply doesn’t compare to dedication. Just because you don’t have the skills now doesn’t mean you won’t have them in six months or a year. You don’t have them because you’re not trying to have them yet.

2. I’m not qualified. You could pick what you want to do, and then get qualified, but that can be expensive. Going back to school may not fit with your schedule or your lifestyle, either. Instead, I’d suggest you focus on entering a field where you are often judged on your skills rather than your qualifications. Many types of freelancing fit this bill, while also commanding high hourly rates. I’ll explore this point further in point #3.

From here on, this article will mainly outline the possibility of becoming a six figure freelancer. If this idea doesn’t appeal to you (please read the article first, maybe I can change your mind) I’ll present another route to earning six figures in my third and final post in the series.

3. I don’t know what to aim for. At Freelance Switch, we conducted a survey of 3,000 freelancers to find out what their average hourly rates were. Here are the results:

Keep in mind that this is an average, meaning 50% of freelancers are charging more than that. Does that mean 50% of freelancers are earning six figures? Probably not, as they’re unable to fill 40 hours a week with billable work. Still, if you can optimize your work-week to minimize non-billable work (such as invoicing and liaising with clients), and maximize billable hours, six figures through freelancing is probably your most viable option.

I suggest this field because it balances a high rate of pay with an emphasis on what you can do rather than what you’re qualified to do. Most freelance jobs will look to your portfolio rather than your academic history when determining whether you’re the right person for the job.

Your suitability for a freelance career rests on skills that you can teach yourself relatively cheaply (in comparison to taking a high-end course or getting a degree). Why is this the case? Most clients don’t have a deep understanding of the industry they’re looking to hire in, so they wouldn’t actually know what kinds of qualifications are out there. You’ll find the story is different when jobs are posted by other freelancers or a firm: they’re a bit more likely to ask for qualifications, so keep this in mind.

But–here’s why you shouldn’t charge by the hour

Freelancers have to pay for more stuff than everyone else. With greater expenses, you need to earn more to compensate. However, you may have a hard time telling a client that they’re paying you an hour to design a logo, or 0 an hour for your copywriting work.

Understand that I talk about hourly rates because these are an average–not the number you put on your website. If you work 40 hours a week and earn ,000 a week, you’re on track for a six figure income (gross). That does not mean you should tell clients that your rate is an hour.

Let’s say you charge 0 for a logo design that takes you three hours to create. You’re making 0 an hour, but if you don’t tell your client, they’ll never know. They’re not a logo designer themselves, so they’re unlikely to have any idea how long the process takes. 0 for a good logo sounds pretty reasonable. Paying someone 0 an hour probably doesn’t!

Another example: you charge a client 99 for a web design that takes twenty hours. Once again, you’re earning 0 an hour. In an industry where web designs can cost up to 00, your client will feel like they’re getting a bargain. How many hours you work is irrelevant. They’re paying for your work, not your time, and you should be rewarded for being efficient. If you finish a job early, you earn more per hour.

To summarize: being paid by the hour will limit you. You will earn more per hour if you charge for finished projects alone. I would suggest this is probably the only way you can earn six figures net rather than gross–unless you’re a consultant, of course!

Lucrative fields

If you enjoy writing, here are some options with good average hourly earnings:

Freelance writing for print or online. Note that the rate per article for this type of work varies very steeply. Successful freelance writers will tell you that a 500 word piece is worth no less than . Online content is also a booming industry, with many website owners and bloggers outsourcing content creation. You can expect to command higher rates when you’re writing about something you’re knowledgeable about.

Freelance copywriting. From producing the text for webpages to writing sales letters, pamphlets and emails, copywriters help people sell things through words. You can teach yourself this skill by buying some copywriting books and reading examples of good copy. Practice (and proofreading) makes perfect.

If you’re artistic, here are some options with good average hourly earnings:

Freelance graphic design. This can include logo design, magazine design, and so on. You’ll want to develop decent skills with Adobe Photoshop at the very least, though having the ability to create designs by hand will also benefit you. Design can be quite theoretical, so you’ll need to read up on your chosen field voraciously.

Freelance web design. Did you know that you can design websites without knowing one line of code? Photoshop source files can be converted into working code quite cheaply and quickly. If you know what looks good but don’t want to immerse yourself in code, this could be an option for you. Once again, Photoshop is an essential skill, as is an understanding of web design principles, typography and usability. Books and online resources can help here.

Freelance photography. If you have good equipment and a bit of skill, why not make money from your passion?

Freelance illustration. If you can wield a pen, pencil or paint-brush with expertise, there’s a market for your services. Digital scanners and fast international postage means you can also work for clients anywhere in the world.

If you’re a problem solver, here are some options with high hourly rates:

Freelance coder. Whether you’re coding websites, applications or software, freelance coders commanded the highest rates according to our survey. This is another skill you can teach yourself with the help of books and tutorials.

Freelance SEO. Search-engine optimization is a booming industry and every business wants a piece of it. Competition is fierce, so how can you differentiate?

Learning how to be a freelancer

Once you have the skills, you need to learn how to turn them into a business. As editor of Freelance Switch, I’ve read many resources hoping to teach you how to start your freelancing career with a bang, but nothing compares to the book ‘How to be a Rockstar Freelancer‘, which is truly the most comprehensive resource available (and cheap, too).

Another thing that makes this career-path the perfect choice is that it’s not an all or nothing venture. You can work anywhere from 1 to 100 hours a week (though the latter is strongly discouraged!). Test the waters by adding 5 or 10 hours of freelancing a week on top of your day job, then phase out the latter once you’ve established a firm grounding for your six figure freelancing career.

Learning how to be a six figure freelancer

As stated earlier in the series, just because a freelancer is earning between and 0 an hour for their services does not guarantee they are earning six figures a year. A freelancer could be charging those rates but only completing a few jobs a week, the rest of the time taken up with finding work, client liaison, invoicing and so on.

I’ve noticed that the key differentiator between high-earning freelancers and the average freelancer is the ability to minimize non-billable activities and maximize billable work. The foundational activities they practice are:

1. Creating a situation where clients chase them, not the other way round. Receiving job offers in your inbox on auto-pilot is a really nice situation to be in. By placing a ‘Hire Me‘ page on my blogs, I’ve been able to achieve this. Other freelancers achieve the same effect by building a wide network of clients and working mainly on referrals. Other freelancers do it by concentrating on clients who provide a stream of regular work. Others do it by building a strong personal brand and name recognition through an online presence. I’m sure when many of you think logo designer, you think David Airey, for example.

2. By batching. Six figure freelancers batch tasks like invoicing and other mandatory business process.

3. By outsourcing. Six figure freelancers rarely do it without help. A freelancer is required to wear many hats and it’s impossible to be talented and efficient at all of them. For that reason, savvy freelancers are increasingly outsourcing the things that used to bog them down.

4. By making client liaison efficient. Let’s say you offer one service to most of your clients. You’ll often find yourself having to explain the details of that service to new clients. The savvy freelancer makes use of templates and will try to answer possible questions before they’re asked. Emails aren’t time consuming to write — it’s the space in-between emails that can make them inefficient. If you can learn to keep back-and-forth emails to a minimum, you’ll save plenty of time.

5. By incrementally raising their rates proportionate to their increasing experience. If you’re earning an hour you can obviously afford to do less billable hours and still hit six figures a year. Most freelancers who raise their rates slowly and steadily over time are surprised at the positive results.

6. Charging for completed projects rather than by the hour. I’ve already talked about this, but it’s worth restating here.

They differentiate

Freelancers who differentiate earn more. Here’s why: if there are a thousand other freelancers offering the same service as you, with similar skills and similar portfolios, then as far as the client is concerned, the only real difference is price, and freelancers are forced to compete on that basis.

If your client isn’t aware of your competition (or it doesn’t exist), they can’t make price-comparisons. If nobody creates web designs quite like you do, a client is less likely to be sucked in by a lower price elsewhere, because they know they’re not getting the same product in return.

Many freelancers differentiate by specializing, i.e.

• SEO Copywriting targeting young people
• Pet photography
• Usability consulting
• Freelance writing on specialist topics
• Coding in an obscure language

On the last point, a friend of mine knows a guy who earns over 200k by working three months a year. He crams plenty of overtime into those three months, but he’s able to earn so much in such a short time because he works in a very obscure and difficult programming language. There’s very little competition for him, so he can charge almost whatever he likes. He spends the other nine months of the year traveling and vagabonding. Not a bad way to live!

If you can’t differentiate based on skills, differentiate by specializing, or by creating a recognizable personal brand.

If your personal brand is strong enough, you can specialize simply by being you. People want your specific approach because it’s yours. Other people can’t compete at being you.

Part three, the final part in the series, will be coming soon. In it, I’ll discuss how you can earn six figures by supplementing your current work, or by replacing it with a non-freelance alternative.

How to have the freedom and flexibility to live the life you want.

Hello push-back, hello skepticism. You don’t want to read this post. You don’t want to like it. You don’t want to have your aspirations tugged at with promises the author can’t keep. And that’s fair, because too often, that’s the story of the web. Big promises, big disappointments, and a whole-lot of self-interested voices.

You’re ready for me to tell you about my six figure income; how I got there, and how you can too. Hey — I might even offer you a discount on my eBook.

Unfortunately, I’m not earning six figures, and I don’t have an eBook. I don’t have any landing pages replete with bright-red lettering and enthusiastic testimonials from people who may or may not exist. I don’t have a product, or an agenda, aside from describing the journey I’m on to transform my life.

Like many of us, I hope to do that by transforming my income. Best of all, I think I’ve got it figured out — and I’d like to share what I’ve learned with you.

Deconstructing six figures

Pipe-dream? I don’t think so. The idea itself sounds unassailable, of course. Some people are made to be well-off, while others are ordinary. The six-figure earners have ideas that we don’t have. They’re entrepreneurs with money to buy their dreams. The list of assumptions grows ever-longer.

I started to believe these assumptions might be false when my line of work brought me into contact with a slew of six figure earners. I waited for the big idea, and the secret qualities I didn’t have. Instead, I found the stark differences I’d expected simply weren’t there. They were about as smart as everyone else. They worked about as much (sometimes less, because they didn’t need to). They had just as many ideas.

There was one stark difference, however–something I found to be common across most of the people I talked to. They were pragmatic in their approach to big goals. They filled the space we usually leave empty (the conceptual gap between where we are and where we’d love to be) with stepping stones. They built their own staircase of smaller goals, stacked on top of each other, to go from here to there. They had deconstructed six figures.

Why a six figure target?

Earning six figures is not a self-evident good. However, it’s a figure that, to many of us, represents freedom and comfortable living, but certainly not luxurious living, and certainly not extravagant living (until you start to venture higher up in the six-figure order, at least). This article uses the lower six figures as an example, but many of its principals could be expanded to reach even higher income ranges, if that’s what you would require to meet your goals.

For some of you, your goals may be a round-trip around the world, owning your favorite car, or living in Paris. For others, you might desire a house large enough to truly accommodate your family, to send your children to college and then help them financially throughout their lives, and to take a second honeymoon. The reason I mainly discuss income rather than goals in this article is because every person has radically different goals, but increasing your income can help you to achieve many of them.

Here’s what it means to earn six figures:

You work fifty weeks a year, 40 hours a week, at an hour.

OR

You work fifty weeks a year, 80 hours a week, at an hour.

There are many more combinations of hours and prices, but let’s kill #2 straight away. It makes me uneasy. I hope it makes you uneasy too.

This (very basic) mathematical deconstruction of six figures reveals two things: doubling your hours will get you there, but that’s not a viable option. Six figures has no value if you’re working that much.

Secondly, that we need to be paid significantly more for the hours we work, with a minimum being an hour, 40 hours a week. Alternately, we might be paid more per hour and work less.

The next practical step: find a way to earn an average of at least per hour worked.

‘Finding a way’ does not include meaningful glances at your boss when raise time comes around. Raises are only going to take you so far, and I don’t think your financial future should rest in the hands of one person–that person not being you.

You have two concrete options: do what’s necessary to find work that can be billed at + an hour, or supplement your existing work with high-paying, time minimal work (no more than ten hours per week).

Just like we deconstructed six figures, we’re going to deconstruct both of these goals into a series of pragmatic steps and choices. Part 2 of the series will arrive soon.

Exciting news for Anywired

If all goes to plan the blog should be re-launching soon, with a new (amazing) design and a new but related focus that better plays to my strengths as a blogger. Thank you to all the guest-posters who kept this blog updated with fresh content while I tended to other things in my life.