Every once in a while in the world of online writing, you come across a kindred spirit. You meet someone that for whatever reason, spurs you on to bigger and better things. If you are really lucky, that person turns out to be a pretty fine human being to boot. My good buddy Randy over at Barefoot Scribbles is just such a dude. I dare say that it is hard to imagine how anyone could be unaware of his blog by now, but if you have not checked it out, click that pretty link above and give him a visit.

You can thank me later.

What is so cool about Barefoot Scribbles is that you can learn something about online writing while laughing your arse off. His writings are always chock full of great advice, while still entertaining as hell. He is what I aspire to be – A writer that keeps people coming back for more, if only to find out what he is up to.

On a personal note, this guy has always had an open door policy with me. From the first day I met him in Associated Content’s forums, he has made himself available to help. That is rare in the cynical world of web writing. I hope that I have been that same thing for others, and followed his honorable lead.

If you have a budding online writing career, I would highly suggest that you head on over and subscribe (after subscribing here of course) and dive into his huge amount of content. You will find more advice than you will ever need on virtually any subject you can think of where writing is concerned.

Thanks Randy for being a friend and mentor as well.

Article writing is a very complicated way to make a living. Your money is limited by how many article ideas you can generate. There are a million ways to get article ideas, however. The thing is, most article ideas will never actually generate any page views. How do you generate article ideas while still making sure they are articles that will be viewed and generate income?

This article will help you figure that out. Here are a few ideas for how to generate money makers, based on my own experience and the advice of others greater than I:

1. Use Google Trends - Google Trends is a great resource to know what is hot. It is a list of the hottest search trends on Google. If it is hot on Google, you can be relatively sure it is hot everywhere. The thing about using Google trends is that it is often being used by thousands if not millions of other online writers. How do you bypass that?

Simply by finding your slant. Here is a tip. Find a hot Google Trends story. Now find another one on the list that is related. How can you mix the two together? For example:

Free Money is a hot trend. (always)

Playing Games is a hot trend. (always)

Why not do an article about how to get free money playing games? (yes, you can do that believe it or not)

Google Trends is valuable.

2. Sign Up at Wordtracker.com – This is one of the coolest little tools on the Internet. You put in a search term and it sends you back hot article titles. Honestly, this is the coolest thing ever and worth your time. Give it whirl. You will be glad you did. This tool is my favorite thing. Just punch in ideas and get free information. Free is always good.

3. Sign up for Problogger.com’s email updates – While you may or may not be a blogger, this guy always puts out information that can really help with article ideas. The email updates are very non-invasive, and they always are worthwhile. I take the time to read everything that comes from him, and it has made a huge difference.

4. Keep a journal of article ideas on your person 24 hours a day. Seriously. I have a pen and pad beside my bed. I never leave to even go to the store without it. If you do not write it down, you will never ever remember it tomorrow. Write it down!

5. Watch the local news – If you need ammunition, then the news will give you all the article ideas you can think of. Foodie writers have it made. They can simply turn on the Food Network or Emeril and have tons of ideas. Us writers that write on boring stuff have the same resources if we think in that way. Think outside the box and use those 5000 channels your satellite service provides.

I hope that this will at least get you juiced up and ready for some great writing. Be sure and subscribe to the blog, and I will see you tomorrow!