At the close of this series of freebies, I want to offer you some inspiration.  The following free reports have played a large part in motivating me to dream big in my entrepreneurial endeavors.  So, take some time before the end of the year, grab a cup of coffee, and read through these stories – then dream BIG for 2013!

Inspiring Blogging Story Manifestos

• 18 Months, 2 Blogs, 6 Figures – In this amazing e-book, Corbett Barr shares about his success in a candid, honest way.  He is honest and upfront about the work involved in building his success – and he even shares tips for the rest of us on how to make our blogs a success!  Very inspirational.  His blog, Think Traffic, is a must follow.

• 279 Days to Overnight Success – Chris Guillebeau is one of those probloggers that is making it big.  In this manifesto, he shares his story and writes about how he achieved the success that he has.  Prepare to be inspired!

•  How Blogelina Made $30,000 In Our First Year -I never dreamed THIS big, but God had other plans…

A Couple of Extra Freebies

• The Launch Coach library – Get insight from a pro on how to make money through your blog – by selling your products!  Learn to think bigger than you ever thought possible – and see how achievable it is – with the workbooks offered here.

• From Planning to Learning – A free e-course offered by Blogussion.com (another must follow blog), this resource gives you concrete information that you can start applying to your blog today.

• Blog Checklist: Is Your Blog One the Right Track? – Take an honest look at your blog and make sure you’re on your way to success!

Finally, Join Your Own Clan of Bloggers – For Free!

Blogging is a lot of work and takes a lot of effort – you don’t have to do it by yourself!  Join your own small band of bloggers and get the support and help that you and your blog need!

Stay tuned for more to come from CafeBlogelina in the New Year!

In need of some content for your blog this holiday season?  Keep reading for today’s freebie!

With the busyness of the next couple of weeks upon us, it’s hard to stay in blogging mode and create content for your blog.  It’s always best to keep blog posts going up regularly, even when you’re taking a break from blogging.

If you really want to take a break from blogging and not have to think about it, plan to have some posts scheduled.

A great way that I’ve found to help me get started with content creation is to use PLR Content as my base.  For more on what exactly PLR content is, see this page.

Free PLR Content To Try!

• Free Parent PLR Package

• Free Health PLR Article Bundle

• Free Finance Article Bundle

• Free Craft Bundle
  Free Mom Bundle

• More Free Mom PLR

• Free Travel PLR Bundle

• Free PLR Bundles

• More Free PLR Articles

Free PLR Guide

• How to Create Unique Content with PLR

Tips On How To Use PLR

• Don’t use PLR content as is.  It’s already been used (with permission, obviously) on other blogs or websites so use the PLR as a BASE or first draft for your own posts.
• PLR Content provides some great ideas for topics.  And with the framework of the post already written and the main points made, it’s easy to rewrite it to fit your own voice and readership.
• Use PLR Content as a “guest post”.  If you feel uncomfortable claiming the PLR content as your own, consider posting it as a guest post written by someone else.
• Look for content that will actually help your readers and fits your niche. 

We have one more freebie tomorrow – so stay tuned!

Part of successful blogging is being prepared ahead of time – having the right resources already in place for when the time of need comes makes blogging a whole lot less stressful!

That being said…

I know it’s a little hard to think about tax season right now, but one of the biggest questions I get from bloggers is “Where do I even start in knowing how to handle my taxes?”

Before you head off to pay a CPA to figure your taxes for you, check out these resources!

7 Free Guides to Help With Your Tax Questions

• Beginner’s Tax Guide for the Self-Employed
• 5 Great Tips for Your 2012 Taxes
• Estimate your 2012 tax refund with TaxCaster
• Filing 2012 Taxes: Your Go-To Guide
• Important Tax Dates
• Top Five Ways to Avoid a Tax Audit
• Top 8 Year-End Tax Tips

If you’re looking for another resource on taxes specifically for blogging, I would check out Nikki’s e-book, Tax Talk and Tips For Bloggers – it’s only $4.99 and could save you a lot of headache!

If you’re currently making – or you plan to be making at some point – an income from your blog, here is one piece of advice that I think is really important to start implementing as soon as possible.

Keep your business/blogging funds separate from your personal finances.

Why?

Well, first, it keeps budgeting much simpler.  It’s easy to see what your blog is actually earning and what it’s costing you.  Yes, you may have to borrow money initially from your personal finance to fun your blogging ventures – BUT, keeping track of whether your blog is actually being profitable is much easier if you keep the funds in two different places.

Secondly, it makes taxes a lot easier.  When your finances are separated – business from personal – it’s a lot easier to see how things went at the end of the year.

And, today, I have another great reason to open a separate account for your blog – $50 cash!

Your Blog Gets $50 From ING!

Open a fee-free checking account for your blog with ING and you’ll get $50 to add to your blogging income!  Follow the steps outlined by ING (and they’re not hard) and you’ll see $50 deposited in your blogging checking account.

So, not only will you be keeping your finances less confusing, you’ll also be making a little money!

I’ve personally worked with ING and they really are amazing to work with – everything is online, easy to track, and their service is exceptional!

Head over to sign up for your free ING checking account today!

Looking For Tools To Help With Your Finances?

I recommend checking out Quicken (you can save $10 right now) – and definitely using TurboTax for the quickly approaching tax season!

Questions?

Ask away in the comments below!

One of the hardest things about blogging is staying organized.  These gals have put together some amazing – and in a lot of cases, really cute! – printables to help you keep your blogging going smoothly.

16+ Free Blogging Printables

• 2013 Blog Planners – these both functional AND pretty!
• Blog Post Planner – know what’s coming up and keep on track!
• Blog Goals Checklist – scroll to the bottom of this post for the link!
• Organize Your Blog With ThePeacefulMom.com - here you get printables AND a video to show you how to use them!
• Weekly Blogging Schedule – TOO cute, too – and a great idea so you don’t have to keep printing these over and over!
• Blog Post Planner – I like how this is all on one page so you can see your whole week at a glance!
• My Blog Topics – Keep all those great ideas organized!
• Printable Blog Planner – This has space for keeping track of different areas of blogging!
• 60+ Planning Pages – See how a real pro keeps track of it all!
• Homemade Blog Planner – Okay, this freebies is a thing of true beauty!
• Blogging: Simplified – Need I say more?
• 5 Free Printables – A great one for keeping track of your sponsors, too!
• Blog Ideas Printable – Sometimes writing on pretty paper is the best way to start getting new ideas!
• Daily Blog Planner – The most unique daily planner I’ve seen yet!
• Blog Planner on Etsy – Okay, this one isn’t free, but it was too cute not include.  Maybe a last minute Christmas gift request?
• Blog Planner Sheets – Another very cute option!

What’s Missing From the List Above?

Let me know in the comments below!

This freebie involves more free blogging advice!

This time, it comes in the form of a free audiobook…

Free Blogging Audiobook Download!

Audiobooks is offering a free 7-day trial of their online service.  I like their site because you can actually download the audiobooks to your device – rather than having to stream them from their website.  This way, if you’re somewhere you don’t have internet access, you can still listen to your books.

Now, the best news I have is that they have available two of the most important books I’ve read in my blogging career – and with the free trial, you can get one of them for free!

Two Books Every Blogger Needs To Read:

• ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse, THE go-to guy for profitable blogging! (the Kindle version of this amazing e-book retails for $13.74 on Amazon)  Darren also offers some amazing e-books, too – like 31 Days To A Better Blog and Problogger’s Guide To Your First Week of Blogging.
  

• Purple Cow: Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable by Seth Godin (this Kindle version is $17.99 on Amazon)

More on the freebie from Audiobooks:

They do, of course, offer THOUSANDS of other options besides the above, too!

Also, just so you know… This is what their site says about canceling your account:

• “No commitments – cancel anytime, hassle free.” -Right on the free offer sign-up page

So, if you get your free trial and you don’t think you’ll use the service again, just cancel it!

Get Your Free Audiobook Now!

What Blogging Resource Have Helped YOU?

I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!

If you’re wanting to get set up selling online, one of the easiest ways that I’ve found to do this is using 1ShoppingCart.com.  They offer some great tools – and make the whole process really simple.  Plus, they handle on the money-collecting for you!

If you’re blogging for profit, one of the best ways to earn money is to develop some sort of product or service to sell.  Whether you put together an e-book or some other online resource – or use your blog to sell physical products, selling something that you have created can be one of the best ways to make money through blogging!

Set Up Your Own Online Store FREE For 30 Days!

If you have something to sell online, but just aren’t sure how to get started doing it, I recommend testing out the 1ShoppingCart.com service.  If you don’t like what you see, you just call them before your trial is up and you won’t be charged a thing.

Don’t put off getting started with online selling any longer – you could just be putting off seeing that income you’re dreaming of!

Questions?

If you have any questions about what to sell – or get started selling – or… leave them in the comments below!  As I have time, I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can (if you can keep your questions brief and to the point, this will help me get you quicker answers!).  Then, too, stay tuned for your free trial offer of CafeBlogelina when it goes live – we’ll have some handy information for selling online in there, too.

P.S. If you’re comfortable enough with blogging – and you’re on WordPress – I also highly recommend using the eStore and eAffiliate plugins.

Some of the links in this post will contain my affiliate links.

I apologize for the delay in posting these next few freebies.  Due to both the tragedy that happened in CT on Friday (those grieving in this awful thing both directly and indirectly are in my prayers) and some difficulties in our own lives these past couple of days, my attention has been focused elsewhere from blogging.  Thank you so much for your patience in bearing with me!

Today’s freebie is tied to yesterday’s, in a way…  More Free Personal Blogging Advice!

Join Us For A FREE Online Webinar – Top 10 Blogging Mistakes (And of course, how to avoid them)

I know that things are very busy right now with the holidays coming up, but this coming Tuesday, December 18th, I would like to give you a taste of what some of the regular chat sessions we’ll be holding for CafeBlogelina members in the future will look like.

From 10-11pm EST on Tuesday, December 18th, we’ll be looking at 10 of the Top Mistakes that Bloggers make.  At the beginning of the class, we’ll walk through some thoughts on how to avoid those mistakes – and then at the end of the class, we’ll open up the discussion for YOUR specific questions.

In the future, these online blogging classes will only be open to members of CafeBlogelina – so now is your chance to check out this great resource.  Personal attention to YOUR blogging needs can be hard to come by so be sure to join in!

To Get Into The Class, Please RSVP Below:

1. Leave a link to your blog below
2. Make sure you are signed up for CafeBlogelina updates to receive access information for the class

Also, if you can’t make the class on Tuesday, I will be sending out notes on what we talk about to those signed up for CafeBlogelina updates.

NOTE: If you can think of even one person to share this resource with before Tuesday, we’d love to have your help in getting the word out!  Please tweet, share, or post about any part of this series.  And, if there’s something in particular that you think could help your readers even more, please don’t hesitate to ask me!

Today’s freebie involves two things – free blogging advice AND free content for your blog!

Here’s how it works…

Get Answers To YOUR Blogging Questions

What are your questions about blogging right now?  What help do you need?

Today (and I may be crazy for doing this), I’m offering to answer those questions – in the form of an interview post for your blog!

In the comments below, ask 2-3 blogging questions that you have.  Be sure to link to your blog in the comment and leave your correct email address.  I’ll take those questions and answer them in an interview post – which you can then take and post on your blog (sharing some great blogging info with your readers, too)!

This interview offer will close tonight, December 13th, at 11:59pm PST.

Leave your questions and I’ll be working on putting those interview posts together throughout the rest of the month – kick off the new year of blogging with some new info!

BONUS: When you post the interview on your blog, I’ll also feature a link to your blog in the FAQ’s section of the CafeBlogelina site!

So, you’ll get answers AND traffic…

I look forward to hearing from you!