“When are you going to update your blog? Where are you Waldo?”

I’m here. I’m here! And jeez, it’s been a long time.

In the past year since we last spoke, I…

* Came out with the 2009 edition of Desperate Buyers Only. It’s got all new content, including an actual copy of a desperate product.

* Added another 4 e-books to my desperate e-book repertoire.

* Have written hundreds of web content articles. Hundreds! Most of them ghostwritten. Many of them centered around (get this) health and medical topics. I like writing health content. It almost made me want to become a doctor. Ha – NOT! It’s a noble occupation and all, but I’m not the college type.

In other words, I’m still making money with my words.

And in that time I’ve learned that any competent writer can thrive — even during a recession.

Not just survive. I said thrive. Live a comfy, cozy, ‘fly-to-the-French-Rivera-for-the-weekend’ type of thriving.

When I step away from this blog for an extended period of time, sometimes I am sitting on my duff, drinking wine and people watching at the French bistro downstairs. Sometimes I’m frolicking at the beach or doing the Disney World thing.

But most of the time I’m tinkering with success strategies. You know I have a hard time saying “Do this,” to my readers if I haven’t personally done it. It’s just not my style. So I’m constantly testing new money making ideas.

And the most important lesson I learned within the past few months is that, there is NO SUBSTITUTE for being able to research and write content fast.

If you can write fast, and you can write fairly well, you don’t have to be broke. Period!

At the absolute lowest end of the totem pole you can get $15 an article gigs like the positions at Demand Studios.

If you can write fast and follow their style guidelines, you can write seven articles a day and clear an easy $105 every single day. Right now, today they’ve got 50,210 articles waiting to be written. On every topic you can imagine, nonetheless. You make a guaranteed $100 a day and still have time to write your own e-books.

(If you don’t currently write for Demand Studios, and you’re interested, wait. I’m writing a report that’ll show you how to get hired, and earn $100-$150 a day. You get paid twice a week at DS, so if you’re currently caught in the recession shuffle, this is an easy-peasy way to keep your head comfortably above water.)

And if you think you’re too special for Demand Studios (we all are from time to time), you can get $25+ an article gigs from private clients who are literally waiting for good web content writers to show up. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to compete with the low ball writers who charge $1 per hundred words, unless you want to.

If you can write fast, you can create your own authority sites, and benefit from Adsense revenue and affiliate sales. Ten articles a day on a topic you absolutely love isn’t a stretch IF you can write fast.

There’s NO REASON to be a starving writer nowadays.

Not even during a recession. And I simply don’t subscribe to that notion that you’ve gotta pay some bullshit dues or have an English degree or chase some magazine editor to make money as a writer.

You don’t. Really.

If you have inside knowledge into the way things work, you just show up in the right places and do your part. Unfortunately (or fortunately) most people don’t have inside knowledge. And if they do have it, they don’t use it.

For example, if you have a copy of The Good and Fast Content Creation formula (which I currently include with Desperate Buyers Only), and you’re not using it, you’re missing out on an opportunity to possibly double your income.

Last month I cranked out close to 200 articles at 350-500 words a piece. A good bulk of the medical articles ranged from $35-$50 a pop. And by golly, I follow my own Good and Fast Content Creation Formula advice!

I’ve got my desperate e-books bringing in passive income. I’ve got web content clients that I write for. And if my entire online empire should collapse, I’ve got Demand Studios giving me $15 for an article that takes 20-30 minutes to write.

I’m not bored because I can write about whatever I want to write about at any given time, and it’s going to make me some money. And if I don’t feel like writing anything, I can live off my e-book income. This is a sweet time to have good writing skills!

Over the next few weeks I’ll be revealing some great stuff I’ve picked up over the past year. But in the mean time, heed my word. You will make a lot more money if you just get faster.

Stay tuned!

An author of desperate ebooks must always be prepared to channel their inner Sherlock Holmes.

Your eyes must be open – with glasses on. You must have the skills to interview complete strangers without the slightest hint of nosiness. You have to be able to put random clues together in order to see the big, achy picture.

The ability to pluck a desperate topic from a normal conversation can be compared to vacation time for some people in the work world. If you don’t use it, you lose it.

So come on and flex with me. Today’s post gives you some (more) mental exercises for finding desperate topics.

1) Your friends and family.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… friends and family make some of the best kindling wood for ebooks. Examine my own six degrees of separation.

My mom’s in sales. My dad is in the restaurant business. My step-dad is a retired cop. My step-mom is a former runway model. My step-mom’s father owns a landscape company.

I’m familiar with the occupations of nearly every mom (and some dad’s) of the kids in my daughter’s class. They include several UN workers, a translator, an artist, an attorney, a stay-at-home dad/IT professional, etc.

Traveling around the world I’ve met a stay-at-home mom who’s a stock picking genius… a video producer… a musician selling his own CDs… a chef… a professional photographer… a former horse trainer… a children’s clothing shop owner… and the list goes on.

Do you think out of that rather limited list that you could find a desperate topic somewhere?

Of course you could!

And my secret to success really isn’t a secret at all.

I like people. All kinds of people. And I like listening to people tell me their stories.

Not only do you find desperate topics that way, you also get to learn about their friends and family. And the cycle starts all over again.

2) Associations.

Whenever I have an interest, I join an association.

I love to travel. So I’ve joined two associations specifically for professionals in the travel industry.

My goal is to know what woes the workers of the travel industry. And the easiest way to get the inside scoop (without being in the travel industry) is to participate in their trade groups.

I read their newsletters. I buy their research reports. I lurk on their message boards. (Message boards that are reserved for paying members only.)

It can be a costly venture. Some associations cost hundreds of dollars to join.

But the intimate knowledge you’ll walk away with can easily be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

3) Blog comments.

Besides leaving my own words of wisdom, I’m a big fan of reading through blog comments for desperate topics.

Sometimes people ask questions. Sometimes they mention their unfulfilled requests or nagging problems. At times they even out right say what they want.

Of course not every blog comment is worth its weight gold. You still have to do your research to make sure it matches the desperate topics criteria. But they’re certainly a good starting point.

Your Assignment for the Week–

Using one of the above mentioned resources, find just one desperate topic that has been measured against the DBO criteria.

Put it in your idea folder.

When you’re finished working on existing projects, pull out that idea and get busy on it.

A few days ago I mentioned in my blog post that I’d started teaching my daughter to read when she was 3-years old. Now at the age of 5, she’s reading books for 7-year olds without having to point to the words.

Around two months ago I began teaching her how to write and send letters to her grandparents. (Snail mail letters, not e-mail.)

Then two weeks ago I decided to up the ante a little bit, and she started writing a story called The Underwater Sea Man.

That story is now 5 pages long – (5 pages of handwriting practice paper… the ones with the big lines).

Initially she was excited about writing the story. But on the first day when she realized she’d have to sound out a lot of words that she didn’t know, she wanted to give up.

Instead I helped her along. And yesterday as she finished reading everything that she’d written so far, she SQUEALED with delight.

She said – and I quote verbatim:

“Mommy I’m so-o-o-o proud of myself!”

Plans for the second and third Underwater Sea Man book are already in the works. All hail the active imagination!

You Can’t Shove – but You Can Show

As a parent I feel as though I’d be doing a great disservice to the fruits of my labor if I didn’t expose her to the writing world.

Writing – after all – is much more than ebooks. Being able to write well opens doors in so many different ways.

For example, when my grandmother got placed into a shoddy nursing home, I wrote an epic complaint letter to the governor of New York. Someone from his staff replied personally – within days. The problems were rectified almost immediately.

And even though I did horribly on my SATs, and barely made it out of high school, I still eeked my way into New York University. It was an homage to my writing because I cracked that entrance essay out of the park. (Although I never ended up graduating from NYU.)

That’s why when my daughter began asking what I was doing on the computer, I broke down the publishing process into bite-sized morsels that she could understand.

I explained how and why people buy my ebooks. We talked about writing stories that painted a magical picture for the reader. (Which is how The Underwater Sea Man was born.) I even showed her how to check my orders for the day.

My goal is to help her mentally grasp the Empire State Building sized power that mere lines and curves on a page can wield.

If she becomes a writer – awesome.

If she doesn’t become a writer – awesome.

The gifts bestowed now can never be taken away. They will be given sunlight and water and they will grow. And they will benefit her in ways I can’t even fathom right now.

So while you’re helping others with your words of wisdom, don’t forget to plant the seeds of writing possibility into the younger ones around you.

You can’t just be somebody who writes.

Be a parent who shows the excitement of reading and writing.