Pros to having a Business Number:

• You’ll never tie up your phone line wen other members of the family want to use it, or worry about tying up the line with personal calls when a client is trying to call.
  

  Image: sxc.hu

• It helps to legitimize your business.
• You don’t have to worry about accidentally dialing a client when you meant to call a friend at 2 in the morning.
• You can turn off the phone during weekends and holidays.
• It can be a business expensive if you use it just for business.

Cons to having a Business Number:

• Clients are more like to email freelancers, so your business phone may go unused most of the time.
• You’ll have to get your business cards reprinted with your new number.
• It’s an extra monthly expense, even if you do get to write it off.
• Sometimes, it is better to email a client than call so you have a written record of what needs to be done; a business line could encourage clients to call more often.

Personally, I don’t have a business number - I have a single business/personal line. I just don’t call people often enough (for business OR pleasure) to make it a financially sound decision to have another line. For you, it may actually be a great business decision.

Do you have a business line or are you considering getting one?

Post from: Bizzia

Image: sxc.hu

He said that as a professor in the past, he once brought in a milk carton an asked his students to describe it. Yes, it’s a carton. Yes, it’s cardboard. Yes, it’s white. What else? How many cows are on the label? Are they sitting or standing? What kind of nutritional information is on the label? What color is the sell-by date ink? How does it open? What is the carton’s texture?

We see milk cartons ever day, but we rarely really see them. It isn’t just milk cartons. It’s your whole world.

Sometimes finding inspiration is just about looking at the mundane items around you. Explore your work. Really look at things and see them. You might be surprised at what you find.

Post from: Bizzia

Don’t get discouraged because there’s a lot of mechanical work to writing…I rewrote the first part of Farewell to Arms at least fifty times. - Ernest Hemingway

By far, this is my favorite Hemingway quote about writing. It reminds me that the best work is only considered the best because of all the sweat and tears that go into it. Other quotes by him or from his books:

“A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”

“For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.”

“I learned never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it.”

“It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way.”

“There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly; sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.”

Image via WikiCommons.

Post from: Bizzia

Image: sxc.hu

I blame the sun. During the summer, there’s nothing better than sitting outside by the pool and sipping Sangria or sweet tea. Hell, I can even stay motivated to work out during the summer because it means that I get to go outside and run.

I’m trying not to fall behind on bills and dip into savings this month, like I always seem to do during the summer…and I hope you’ll all join me in swatting away writer’s block and other distractions. Yes, the sun is shining, but if we help one another, we can have a productive, profitable summer. Here are some of the things I have planned for July:

• Writer Interviews: Writers from around the web have come to Bizzia to offer advice on beating writer’s block and finding inspiration among distractions. I’ll be posted a few every week. Yes, you can still participate! (click here)
• Motivation from Masters: What have famous writers and other personalities said about staying motivated? Learn tricks and tips from the masters.
• Inspiration Clinic: Places to find inspiration and inspiration-themed questions answered.
• Procrastination Posts: If you have to surf the ‘net, at least read about the art of writing. I’ll group together the best posts of the week to help you find awesome advice from great bloggers.

Let’s kick some writer’s block/procrastination tushie this summer!

Post from: Bizzia

Image: sxc.hu

So, I want to know how you guys and gals stay motivated. If you have five minutes of time, I’d love to hear your answers to a little motivation and writer’s block questionnaire I’ve created. I’ll post responses here (along with links back to your website(s)) starting next month!

If you’re interested in answering the four questions, email me at allison-at-abcontentonline.com with “Writer’s Questions” in the subject line!

Post from: Bizzia

Or is it?

The Grammar Police have a lot to teach you and me. Image: sxc.hu

Actually, using and I when talking about being with another person isn’t always the right choice. It is often instinctual to use and I, since it was drilled into our heads throughout school, but sometimes, the correct term is and me. *Gasp* Yes; it’s true - you can use and me sometimes and be grammatically correct!

But when?

• Use and I when it is the subjects of the sentence. My fellow writers and I hate grammar mistakes.
• Use and me when it is the object of the sentence. Grammar is sometimes difficult for my fellow writers and me.
  

A good way to test yourself? Take out the other person so that you’re just using I or me. For example, if I were to say, “Jane and I are going to the park,” I could take out Jane and say, “I am going to the park.”

Or, if you say, “He game the book to my sister and I,” and you take out my sister, you’re left with, “He gave the book to I.” Wait, that doesn’t sound right! Clearly, it is better to use me in this situation.

You can see other Grammar Police posts by heading to this page.

Post from: Bizzia

The Grammar Police force has its own typo-sniffing dogs. Image: sxc.hu

• It’s should be used to refer to it is or it has. It’s a contraction.
• Its should be used as a possessive form of it. Its lack of apostrophe is important.

How can you remember this? It can be tricky. Here’s how I do it:

It’s (it is or it has) uses an apostrophe. In contractions like don’t and can’t use the apostrophe to replace a letter. The same is true for it’s. If you’re writing the word to mean it is or it has, you’re replacing a letter with an apostrophe. When you’re making it possessive, you’re not replacing any letters.

You can see other Grammar Police posts by heading to this page.

Post from: Bizzia

The Grammar Police have less patience for mistakes than most people. Image: sxc.hu

• Use fewer when you can count the item.
• Use less when you cannot count the item.

Simple, huh? So, you’d say, “John has fewer toys than Joe.” You’d also say “It rains less in Arizona than in Florida.” Less also applies to emotions and other things you can’t see or touch.

You have fewer shoes, but less happiness. You have fewer pillows, but less sleep.You have fewer watches, but less time.

Easy enough - so use the words correctly!

You can see other Grammar Police posts by heading to this page.

Post from: Bizzia

The Grammar Police wear badges with six points. Image: sxc.hu

• Spell out numbers less than 10.
• Use digits for numbers over nine.
• Be consistent if there are two or more numbers in a sentence and one is over ten.
• Spell out fractions like one-half, using a hyphens.
• Use digits for decimals like 0.19. Add a zero to the front unless the decimal starts with a zero.
• Spell out large round numbers like one million or seven thousand.
• Spell out the number if it starts the sentence. Twenty-three would otherwise be written in digits.

You have a little wiggle room here and there, depending on what you’re writing. For example, many writers use digits in their titles instead of spelling out the word in order to keep the title shorter and more attention-grabbing.

You can see other Grammar Police posts by heading to this page.

Post from: Bizzia

The Grammar Police will not lie down. Image: sxc.hu

You lay an object. So, the following sentences are correct:

• Lay the book on the table.
• The girl will lay her clothes on the bed.
• I want to lay this blanket on the chair.

You lie if you’re talking about yourself…or another thing (like a pet) is doing it to itself. So, the following sentences are correct:

• The child will lie down in the afternoon.
• The cat likes to lie on the window sill.
• Lie on the bed if you’re tired.

Think of lay and lie as the words set and sit. If you could use set in the sentence, you should use lay, and if you could use sit in the sentence, you should use lie. I remember that because sit and lie both have the letter i.

The tricky part comes with changing the tense of a word, because lay is also the past tense of lie. Stupid English, haha. So, saying “Yesterday, the boy lay on the bed.” would be correct. Confusing, huh?

My best advice is to make your sentence present tense, figure out whether to use lay or lie and go from there. Any questions? Just ask!

You can see other Grammar Police posts by heading to this page.

Post from: Bizzia