My new book David's Goliath is available now

Those of you that have been with me from the start will know that this blog was set up as I went about starting my own business. In the very beginning that was going to be an estate agency, but the way that the UK housing market was going and the rise of the online-only estate agent put paid to that.

It was while setting up as an estate agent that I started writing commercially. I wrote blogs and books to provide an income that would be there in the first few weeks and months of an estate agency, while I was getting on my feet. As the idea for an estate agency dropped, it was soon replaced by the idea that I could write for myself and others. Contented Writing was born. I now write website copy, blogs and ghostwrite books for others among many other assignments. I also write for myself.

Until now all of my books have been Kindle only and were non-fiction on subjects that I knew a lot about - managing back pain, writing and inevitably the housing market. But my latest book is my first novel and also the first in print. It is called -

David's Goliath: If you found a book that told the story of your life, would you read on?

This is the story of a man who goes on holiday to get away from it all for a short time. He spends some time in Spain on his own and while there, he picks up a book that was seemingly left behind by someone and starts to read. Pretty soon he and the book are inseparable and it turns out that the story he is reading is in fact the story of his life.

David reads through and recalls the significant moments of his life but all the while he has the thought in his mind that he will reach the part of the book that tells him of the future. Will he read on?

This book is the culmination of over a year of work and I have thoroughly enjoyed trying to fit this in with all the work I do for others and family life. The book has a lot of me in it, as the main character is based on my life and experiences. Not all of these things have happened to me, but many of them I have seen first hand though friends, family and work colleagues.

I'd love to hear from people who have read the book. Please let me know what you think. The only way to write something bigger and better next time is to hear what people think of this one. I have begun the next novel, which is a crime thriller about a serial killer with a twist. I'll keep you updated on how this is going.

Ghostwriting and self-publishing startup in earnest today

Today is the first day of my new life. That may sound a little dramatic but that is exactly what it is. I finished my employment in Sunday, the kids were off school yesterday so today marks the start of my solely self-employed life. I find it a refreshing change already! I am now a writer. As regular readers of this blog will know-

I started out looking to set up my own estate agency.

I have fallen into writing for myself and others.

The estate agency idea is firmly on the back-burner today, but will come through in some of the other things I do because I still write an estate agency blog, I have an estate agency/real estate gig on fiverr and I will be writing a guide on how to set up your own estate agency.

This blog will now take the form of something that informs readers about my progress, something that informs you about other startups and products that might be useful to you.

So with the start today I have planned out my next ten books so that I know what I will be able to produce over the next few weeks. The reason that I have done this is do that I don't have any downtime. My main source of income initially will be to write for others. This is so I can gain immediate income from producing things got other people. I am paid up front for this work and I don' t have to wait for sales. This puts me in a position where I can warm straight away. But I can't guarantee that I can fill every minute of every day with this. There will be times where I don't have anything to write for anyone else. In those times I will write got myself, add to my portfolio and give myself a chance of long-term income.

Today will also see three telephone calls-

• The inland revenue to register as self-employed
• The tax credit people with a change in my circumstances
• A charity called Tax Assist to see if they can help me with my accounts

I'll let you know how all of these went on the next blog entry.

In the meantime check out my books that are already available-

The next book is almost ready - and I'm starting on the project after that!

I've finished draft one of the content for my next book. It's a book about writing a book! It will talk through the process of writing a top selling non-fiction book. What I have left to do is-

• Edit the content
• Add any extras, such as illustrations or charts
• Get the cover designed
• Publish
• Market the book

It's exciting stuff!

I've started the brainstorming for the next project and it will be entitled something like the following-

I'll show you how to become an estate agent

I want to produce a book, a MOOC (massive online open course), a support consultancy, a website and an app.

From here I think that I will be able to provide support for both startup estate agencies and marketing ideas for established agents. I will also make available a set of documents for estate agents-

• Contracts
• Letters
• Invoices
• Prospecting letters

These will be available to be bought singly or as a pack. Each document will be set up as both an administrative tool and a marketing tool.

As with all of the writing projects I've been doing, once the content is produced then it just sits there awaiting purchase. There will be annual reviews and updates (possibly more frequently than this for the MOOC) but essentially the work is done.

I've always wanted to have a set income coming through that frees me up to do other things and along with everything else I've written, this feels like it's getting there.

I started writing, got half way through a piece and just stopped.....

-143

I've got half way through a writing piece this week and stopped in my tracks. It's not really happened before but I do t really know how to finish what I've been writing. It's not writer's block or anything like that, it's just I don't really know where I want to go with it. The current text is the second sample blog for my estate agents blog that I let you know about recently-

http://245daystogo.blogspot.com/2015/11/see-writing-skills-that-can-help-estate.html

And the text I have do far is-

"Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England has hinted that interest rate rises will happen later rather than sooner-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34733480

The global economic situation means that inflation is less likely to rise and interest rate rises are less likely to be needed.

But what does the phrase 'interest rates' mean?

When newspapers, television news and websites say interest rates, they mean the Bank of England base rate. This is still at the lowest it has ever been. It has stayed at 0.5% since the credit crunch of 2009, and there really hasn't been much sign of it changing since then. And it's this Bank of England base rate at half a percent that goes on to influence the interest rate you pay on your mortgage. A consistently low base rate gives confidence to the banks to offer low mortgage rates.

But what does that mean for home buyers in Yourtown? What does it mean for customers of estate agents in Yourtown?

Well, a second statement from the Bank of England this week sheds a little more light on this-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34741331

The Deputy Governor states that the Bank of England base interest rate should not be used as a tool to control the housing market. This should mean that house prices in Yourtown follow a more natural curve of demand and supply, without a large intervention from outside sources. This gives you an idea that changes in interest rates are made to control inflation - not to control the price you pay for your next home.

The best way to know about your local market us to keep a watch of your local market. Register with home estate agents and we will send our freshest properties on the market to to your email inbox. To have the latest homes for sale in Yourtown sent directly to you when they are released puts you at the front of the information market. If you speak to is then we can let you know what is available to you and what the asking prices are for the type of property you want.

And it's by understanding what you want that you can get to grips with your local housing market."

 As I've said, I'm not unhappy with the current content, I'm just not completely sure if how I finish it. I'm trying to create several things at once-

1. An SEO-optimised piece that will boost an estate agents search engine rankings.
2. Something that their customers will read all the way through.
3. Something that prompts the customer to action.
4. Something that creates customer confidence.

And I think that this piece so far creates points 1 to 3, but I'm concerned that it borders on infringing point 4. Interest rates are a touchy subject and I don't want the blog piece to put customers off buying a home because they fear interest rate rises. The next step in the blog will have to be a careful one as I want to say more about how my estate agents can help clients but without causing any fear. I'll think long and hard about it and post any updated version on here.

It's a strange feeling to not finish a piece of writing, but it's come to this here. Hopefully it's a one off!

See how changing blog presentation should improve click through

-119

I looked recently about a different way of presenting the work that I carry out over the internet.

http://245daystogo.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-different-way-of-presenting-my-work.html

It's about looking at headlines that will prompt the reader to look further into the article. Many of my blogs are publicised on social media and I'm looking at how the initial words get someone to read through and get interested. I've taken on this way of looking at my blogs as well as starting to formulate how I will put this together for my photography.

The result in a couple of places is starting to show dividends and I have stared using these style of titles in my blogs-

How To Sell Your Home

http://how-to-sell-a-home.blogspot.co.uk/

With titles such as "Find out how to highlight your home for the best sale price" and "Use this selling tip when marketing your home" give interested readers enough information to read through the hyperlink and maybe take in more of the blog whilst on that page.

The mystery shop blog

http://mysteryshopperblog.blogspot.co.uk/

This is another new blog and is designed to help sell my new Kindle book-




It has titles like "See how a quick 2 hour mystery shop can be profitable" and "Find out how I earned money with a shopping trip to a local coastal town" which again are designed to get people to read through. If they then like the content, it may trigger a sale of the book.

I'll report back on here how the sales of these products go through and the response to the blogs with these new titles.

I'm starting to resurface back into the world after the eye operation

-110

I'm starting to resurface back into the world after the eye operation and the recovery period. After the operation and the recovery period I've been finding that even the simplest of tasks leaves me tired - until today.

I've re-started my gigs in fiverr, with the hope that they bring in some income that I re-spend on fiverr itself. There's a vast array of items that I can see myself spending credit on, and some others that are interesting as well-

• I will ghostwrite, proofread and edit your ebooks and kindle books
• I will write a 500 word introduction for your book or ebook
• I will illustrate your book
• I will design a Sensational Book or Kindle eBook Cover
• I will advertise your book or bookish product on my book blog
• I will add PERMANENT Facebook likes
• I will post PERMANENT Amazon review 
• I will write about your site in my Real Estate Site

There's a wide array of things to be ordered on Fiverr, and probably a whole host of other things that I haven't even come across yet.

During my time on the Fiverr website I've done a few Gigs that I've been really interested in, and I'll share a bit of detail with you on the latest one. I have explained how the website works on recent past blog posts, so I won't go into too much detail there. And also to say that I won't be giving updates on every Fiverr Gig I conduct but in the early days it's been quite interesting.

The below blog link is a sponsored link through Fiverr, where the producers of the product wanted more exposure for their products and to create some back links for their Etsy shop-

http://inofftheblogpost.blogspot.com/2015/09/so-your-child-wants-to-be-footballer.html

The products themselves are great, but it was thinking about how to frame them into the context of who is reading my blog on football, and who is likely to buy the products when they've read the blog. I worked on the different angles available to me and then decided hat they aspirational aspect was probably the best way to go, as it is still too early to go heavy on the Christmas theme.

In all, I'm very pleased with the way it went and the fact that I'm resurfacing onto online life, if not the real world quite yet.

The products can be found at -

https://www.etsy.com/listing/247211206/personalized-christmas-stocking-custom?ref=shop_home_active_3

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBusyElfWorkshop?ref=hdr_shop_menu

homeestates

Fiverr

Seller

I am a writer - I write all the time. I have several blogs, have written three books (so far) and I just love writing. I will write positive reviews or articles or mention you in my blogs in clear English. I'm new to Fiverr but I'm incredibly passionate about what it can empower.

A different way of presenting my work

-95

The internet, especially social media, seems to be full of headlines or strap lines such as-

You won't believe what happened next…

See what happened when…

Who would have thought what could…

And I like the fact that people have realised the world is more interesting with words. As someone who writes a lot, I think that simple, interesting stories can transform other parts of the internet, and the world around us. And it's got me thinking about how I present things such as my photography and Kindle books to the world. Adding my own story to the photographs or the books gives some context, some background and some interest to what I present.

I can now see photography as a story. "See what happened when one photographer…" is a far more interesting piece than just uploading photos to social media - no matter how good the photos are.

Presenting my books with the context behind them of how I ended up writing them will mean more to potential readers than telling them it's good or great or interesting or any other description I could come up with.

So, off the back of this enlightened thinking today, I'm looking at re-writing the blurb on Amazon for my two current books and adding to the introductions for both. I think that anyone browsing through Amazon and coming across my books would be more interested in whi ive written them than a synopsis of what the books are about.

So here goes. I write them because-

I'm sick of dealing with estate agents that aren't very good at their jobs.

I think I can do better.

I want to help people to help themselves.

I think that there is a better way than how houses are currently bought and sold.

I think that consumers should know more about the process.

Watch this space, and I'll update you on my progress.