Freedly

How To Communicate Effectively

I am surprised by the responses to my recent announcement about making a break from freedom.

Some people thought I had killed the Freedly project. Others told me they had not got involved because they did not understand what I was trying to do with Freedly, so they could not see the relevance. Obviously, I need to learn how to communicate effectively.

As you can see from this, the Freedly project is not dead.

There, I hope that is clear enough. If you want some help to find your financial freedom, which is what Freedly is all about, then ask me. You can comment here, ask questions in the forum, ask on Facebook or Google+, or chat to me in the pub if that suits you better.

Freedly is not dead, but I am taking a break from promoting it. Though clearly, the fact I have published this indicates that it is not a complete break.

I feel the least I can do is to communicate my intentions. The only reason I include some thoughts about freedom of speech is to support the notion that effective communication is important. I should have chosen Effective Communication as a main category, but my stupid desire to go overboard on the subject of Freedom got in the way. I will change the Freedom Of Speech references before I relaunch the services.

Many people shy away from publishing websites, or even individual articles, because they do not believe they have the communication skills to manage the task. I believe that if you can talk, you can write. The writing process is well within the capability of most people, but what to write about can be an issue. A huge part of Freedly is to address this issue.

For those people who already know what they want, then I can help you build a website, or some other online presence so that you can earn money from it. That is a subject for another day, though effective communication skills will always be important. For now I will stick to explaining how to make a start for those people who cannot decide what to write about.

How To Communicate Effectively About Anything

What if you want to write, but have no inspiration for topics to write about?

That is a cornerstone of Freedly, though the most difficult to organize. I will supply topics for you to write about, together with the context.

Context is vital in online marketing. If you are promoting shoe sales, what you write will be totally different from promoting a shoe repair service. Both might satisfy your overwhelming interest in shoes, but the context dictates your approach.

The context of this article is totally different between my situation, and someone selling online writing courses, or running a communications workshop. I know that visitors to Freedly are interested in how to communicate effectively, but I do not know why. The forum is a great help here, because a good question will always explain why it is being asked.

If you are looking for opportunities to write for profit, then you could start by answering questions in the forum. Or, I might ask you to write an article about getting the point across on this website or one of my client’s sites.

There are endless opportunities for writing, but if you want to be effective, there is one golden rule. Just do it.

Yes, you only learn to communicate effectively by doing it. You write. You get responses. You respond in turn, building specific expertise on whatever topic, but also building expertise in communications. The forums are a great starting point because you are addressing a specific need, and need only to think of how best to answer a specific question. Communicating ideas in articles can be more challenging, but there is a tried and tested way to go.

Just answer three or four questions on a particular topic, then generate an article that incorporates your answers. There is no doubt that, within a few days of starting, you can be earning money from articles, even if you have never written one before.

That is one important aspect of the service I provide at Freedly. I hope I have communicated it to you effectively. At over 600 words, it is hardly efficient – but that was not the question!

How Far Will You Travel For Freedom?

The technical side of running a website is a real freedom-killer for many people.

But I love it, so I get the double benefit of writing about things that interest me, and tinkering behind the scenes, finding new ways to break improve my websites.

Whilst rummaging around for information on a technical issue I was intrigued by a message that the website owner had “quit his job and gone gypsy.” The “Follow his travels” button was hard to resist for a freedom seeker such as I. I’m glad I didn’t resist the chance to find out about Driving Inertia.

What a brilliant way to live your life.

I will not give too much away. Please just browse around the website, starting with Driving Inertia’s free competition to help find your freedom.

Please remember to come back here and share your opinions. Better still, share your own outrageously daring bid for freedom.

Which Is Wrong – The Answer Or Your Question?

I have run Internet forums for many years on a variety of topics.

I know this is one of the best ways to learn about most subjects. Certainly, it is the best way to learn about ourselves, and how we can improve our skills and use them to improve our lives.

But many hours get wasted in forums because someone asks a question, and none of the answers is right.

Invariably, the answer is not right because the question was wrong.

I know that sounds like nonsense, but a large percentage of questions are very difficult to answer. The biggest stumbling block is when it is not clear what the question really means, or why the questioner is asking it.

I am compiling guidelines to improve the forums, so here is a draft. Please ask questions about it in the Using Freedly forum.

Using Freedly Forums – How To Ask A Good Question

Ask in the right place

Spend a few moments to familiarize yourself with the topics covered in each forum. There is a list of forums down the right hand side of most forum pages, and you can also see them in the Forum Categories List

Use a meaningful question title

You start your question with a simple one line question, then add your explanation and additional information. Before you click the Ask question button, go back to check your opening question. Is it exactly what you want to ask? Is it short and to the point? If not, change it, or start again with a simpler question.

Is it a single question?

Do not ask questions that have more than one topic. If you have more than one question about a topic, ask more than one question.

Try to use good English

This is not school. You do not get penalized for bad spelling or bad grammar. However, if you do not make an effort to use a spell checker, or to read your question out loud to make it sensible, then people will ignore you. Or they may misunderstand you and give an answer that does not mean anything to you.

What do you want to do/know.

Start your question with what you want to achieve/learn, then follow it up with things you have tried so far. E.g. I want to earn $100 per day online, so I built a website about photography to earn money with AdSense.

Describe clearly what the problem is

You started with what you wanted to do, so continue with what is stopping you. E.g. I have read all Google’s information about AdSense, and several websites that recommend trying different layouts, colors and positions, but the maximum I have ever got is $2 per day, with a total of $20 per month.

Describe exactly what is wrong, not your guesses about how to fix it.

If you have a choice of options, it is OK to ask “Is it better to do X or Y” but in most cases, just stick to the facts, and let people answer in there own way.

Describe failed attempts to find a solution

I always recommend that you search for your question before you ask it. If you do this, say so, and say why the results did not help you.

Be clear on questions and meanings

If you do not understand the meaning of something, that is not a real practical question. Be careful how you ask for an explanation, and be sure to give it a personal context. If you want to know the meaning of a technical term, try a dictionary first.

Never say please or urgent

Though it may be polite in conversation, putting please in your question is just a waste of forum title space. Marking something as urgent is rude.

I will compile some examples of good and bad questions so that you can see these guidelines in a practical way.

Until all guidelines are complete, I will leave the comment boxes open here, though I would prefer you to ask questions and share opinions in the Using Freedly forum.

Money Talks – So Start Telling Me Where To Find You

There is a section here called Freedom Of Speech.

I feared it might be a distraction, but I’m certain it is too important to ignore.

If you just want to improve your wealth then “stop talking, start earning” looks like a better option. Much better than all this Free Speech waffle.

And you’d be right to think that. If you are confident to take what you know, improve it, and earn from it, then get on with it. The tools to help you do this faster will be here soon, but in the meantime, just ask for help in the forums.

But what if you cannot do that? What if you are afraid to start writing a website, or what if you fear you will never learn how to communicate? These are very real fears that stop people everyday. The fear of failure stops them seeking their dreams.
See how to get money talking to you