Writing

1 Comment Posted on fatherhood, People, Uncategorized, Writing

Experienced SEO Freelance Writer for Hire: $1 Per Word (Or for $100, See Your Own Writing Featured on My Site as a Guest Blogger)

If you are considering hiring an experienced and proven freelance writer for your next press release, or would simply like to be featured as a guest blogger on my site, consider my skill set and history.

Begin by clicking on the links below, to get a feel for recent work I have been hired to do for high end brands like Lexus and Primrose Schools; as well as other household names like XFINITY and Moe’s Southwest Grill.

Primrose Schools Executive Function Skills

Lexus Father and Son Road Trip

Toyota Family Road Trip to the Boonies

XFINITY Entertainment on the Go

Moe’s Meals on the Go

I would like to highlight my skill in writing and knack for engaging readers in original compositions, as is demonstrated on both my personal website, FamilyFriendlyDaddyBlog.com, and my previous corporate sponsored blog, The Dadabase on Parents.com. Through these websites combined, I have been able to create content which has allowed me to connect with thousands of readers across the world, garnering over two million hits within the past several years.  I am solely responsible for determining topics of interest, researching for validation, authoring, editing, managing and updating all material on the sites.

If you would like to hire me to write your next press release, based on what other companies have already hired me to do over the past year, this is my rate:

$1 per word; minimum 350 words.

Or, if you simply want to see your own work featured here on my blog, which obviously has healthy SEO, based on the fact I am approached weekly by companies and fellow writers who request to be featured on my platform, as I am currently featured as CreditDonkey’s Best Dad Blog 2017, you can simply hire me for that option as well. Based on what other companies have already hired me to do over the past year, this is my rate:  

$100 per post.

Here are some recent examples of other companies and bloggers who hired me for that option:

Trail4Runner.com

Chicago Metro Home Inspections

Museum Hack

Superior Honda

Brian Leach

Are you ready to get started? Send me an email at nickshell1983@hotmail.com. I look forward to working with you. I will close by sharing some of my resume with you:

Nicholas Shane Shell, B.A.

Freelance Writer on Family Friendly Daddy Blog Since September 2009

  • Create, design, and maintain all website content, consisting of over 2300 individual posts written since the website’s inception.
  • Prepares photo gallery using Fotor to incorporate several photo collages per post.
  • Applies SEO techniques to selectively tag content to increase visibility by Google and carefully crafts titles for posts to drive traffic to site and ultimately increase readership.
  • Website has garnished over 2.1 million hits and currently averages 16,000 hits per month.
  • Invited multiple times to special events sponsored by Lexus and General Motors to feature dozens of vehicles both locally and regionally.
  • On rotation to receive and review vehicles from a “Family Friendly” perspective from a variety of companies, including, Lexus, Toyota, Scion, Fiat, Buick, Chevrolet and Nissan.
  • Invited to serve as the official host for Annie’s Homegrown during a scheduled Google Hangout session.
  • Featured three times on Word Presses’ Freshly Pressed homepage within the span of a year.
  • Sought out and hired on a regular basis for my SEO skills
  • Awarded with Best Dad Blog 2017/Top Parenting Experts by CreditDonkey

www.Parents.com/dadabase created through www.Parents.com

Freelance Blogger, May 2011- June 2014

  • Recruited by chief editor, Michael Kress, of Parents magazine’s website to become the official daddy blogger for Parents.com based on the independent success of personal blog.
  • Developed creative concept, researched, wrote and edited content for each individual (400-word minimum) post while incorporating a minimum of two photos to accent the subject matter.
  • Personally promoted each post using social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.
  • Has had nearly one million hits since inception; averages 13,000 hits per month; most hits in one day: 9,900.
  • Coined the title of the blog The Dadabase.

EDUCATION

Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia

Bachelor of Fine Arts

May 2005

Major: English

Honors:  Dean’s List

TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION

Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee

Certificate of Achievement, December 2012

       Course: Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Learning System

Global English School, Bangkok, Thailand

ESL Instructor, June – July 2003 & June – July 2004

  • Instructed and prepared daily lesson plans covering a variety of subjects for approximately 25 elementary students.

1 Comment Posted on Spirituality, Storytelling, Uncategorized, Writing

I Will Die as the Most Open-Minded, Teachable Old Man You Know

Nearly 20 years ago, in May 1997, The Wallflowers released the final single from their most famous album, Bringing Down the Horse. That song, “The Difference”, has always intrigued and confused me.

The chorus is simply this:

“The only difference that I see is you are exactly the same as you used to be.”

How can the difference be that nothing has changed?

After two decades of attempting to unpack this riddle, I now believe it to mean this:

The narrator is saying that the other person was known for always evolving as a person. But now after seeing them again, the narrator has observed that person has finally reached a point of being… settled.

And that surprised the narrator. So the only difference he saw after all these years in between was that, finally, the other person remained the same since the last time he saw him.

Perhaps, there is some assumed irony in a possible role reversal: Now, the narrator has evolved as time had passed, yet the other person had not.

I feel this way about the high school version of myself. I went to school with the same 183 people for 13 years, yet I’ve been out of school for nearly 18 years.

The people I grew up with have a memory of what I was like back in the 1990s, yet there is a good chance the 2017 version of me is much different; for better or worse.

While it is very important to reach a point of stability in life, I feel it’s just as important to find ways to positively evolve despite that comfort zone.

The day I stop evolving as a human being is the day I stop being relevant. So always expect me to be in some kind of new transition that I am sorting out. Always expect a constant character arc with me. If you don’t see me going through some kind of new phase of change and growth and maturity, that’s when you should be worried about me.

It’s fundamentally important to me to be relevant, because I interpret being relevant as being alive. I feel connected to the world when I can share my current personal evolution with anyone in my society who will listen.

I suppose I will always need, and find, an audience. It’s not that I crave attention- it’s that I crave intellectual exchange and the personal growth that comes from it.

A trait of emotional intelligence is that a person embraces change instead of fears it- and is always learning, instead of thinking they already know everything.

Granted, I am not the epitome of the adage, “Don’t be so open-minded that your brains fall out.” Obviously I do not personally adopt any new ideas that are inconsistent with my moral code. Yet at the same time, I have no desire to judge other people when their personal beliefs don’t match mine. (That’s another sign of emotional intelligence.)

There’s a stereotype about men in particular, that as we get old, we get set in our ways; close-minded to new ideas. But I want the entire world to know now, that will never be me.

No, it’s not my destiny. No, I won’t ultimately became the very person I fear.

Here’s what sets me apart from me for that stubborn old man:

I find my identity in exploring new ideas. I find strength in seeing life in ways I hadn’t before. This is what has always worked for me.

So for me to become set in my ways, it’s heresy against my values.

If there’s going to be any irony with this concept, it’s that I am close-minded to being close-minded.

I will die as the most open-minded, teachable old man you know.

 

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How I Got My First 1,000 YouTube Subscribers: My Sneaky 5 Step Formula (Based on Kindness and Capitalism; Quantity and Quality)

This month I celebrate reaching that magical (and marketable) milestone of 1,000 YouTube subscribers. What is interesting is that just a year ago in February 2016, I only had a little over 100 subscribers. This nearly 800% increase happened because of a specific 5 step formula I figured out and began applying. And today, I shall share it with you:

1.      Make 3 videos every day for a month; about whatever random topic that interests you. Every that 30 day period, see which particular video is outshining the rest in regards to views and comments. That video topic is now your specialty.

2.      Make 3 videos every day, from now on, mainly on that specialty topic, which is now your shtick. People will begin assuming you are somewhat of an expert on that subject, and from there, your true followers will naturally latch on to your work.

3.      Reply to all comments you receive on your videos; which forms a bond with the people spending their time to watch your videos. For the negative comments, sincerely thank them for spending time to watch your video and spending energy to comment on it, which ultimately draws more attention to the video, which ultimately makes the video seem more interesting and attractive to other potential watchers.

4.      Start making videos in direct response to the most relevant comments you receive. That shows your subscribers (and potential subscribers) that you are personal and involved; and therefor a passionate expert on that specialty topic. Read their screen name and quote their comment at the beginning of the video, then simply reply publicly to their comment; which will often encourage more comments.

5.      Always be honest and direct, yet positive. People naturally follow confident people, yet they also value vulnerability; which reinforces the personal quality of your video channel.

As for me, my “specialty topic” is helping younger men psychologically deal with hair loss. Believe me, I was as surprised as you are to learn that I could become an expert on that topic.

Like the prophet Jonah, I ran from the truth at first. I kept making videos that I enjoyed making (and that honestly, required more time and talent), yet no one was watching.

I realized I had to respect the free market. People were coming to my channel for encouragement about losing their hair. I simply learned to capitalize on that, in kindness, pouring my creative passion into what other people care about, not necessarily what I care about.

In a way, “quantity over quality” was working me. Instead of focusing on the quality of my videos with editing and music and moving fonts, I transferred the concept of quality into my personal interactions with my viewers; not the videos themselves. But since I now have nearly 1,000 videos along with those 1,000 subscribers, I by default am able to incorporate both quantity and quality.

While casual viewers will occasionally accuse me of being “obsessed” because I make 3 videos every day, my faithful subscribers appreciate my dedication- after all, my subscribers are the ones that matter. Perhaps they are the ones obsessed with the topic- I know this and therefore use that to my advantage, by not only catering to their desire but also attempting to help cure them, as well.

Granted, hair loss videos are not your shtick. You have to discover what random topic that people will assume you are an expert on.

Now, get to work. Begin with the first step…

How I Got My First 1,000 YouTube Subscribers: My Sneaky 5 Step Formula (Based on Kindness and Capitalism; Quantity and Quality)

Leave a comment Posted on Storytelling, Uncategorized, Writing

YouTubers: 7 Tips for Handling Trolls and Hecklers (Stock Response Included)

YouTubers: 7 Tips for Handling Trolls and Hecklers (Stock Response Included)

As of this week, I hit the 500 mark for my number of subscribers. To me, that’s a big deal and it’s something I’m very proud of. However, getting here means dealing with a steady stream of trolls and hecklers along the way.

However, I feel very confident in how I deal with them. I feel that my 7 step formula allows me to remain in a positive position of authority and victory, as opposed to oppression and victimization. Today I would like to share my tips with you, assuming you’re looking for the best way to handle trolls and hecklers.

Here are my 7 tips, which I apply on a regular basis:

1- Don’t allow yourself to be offended. Keep in mind that only you can give another person the ability and power over you to offend you. The moment you allow yourself to be offended by anything anyone says, you automatically lose and the troll or heckler wins. Remember that responding with undeniable sarcasm makes you appear to be defending yourself while being emotionally wounded.

This is a video I made about that:

2- Be consistent in following up on every comment they leave for you; which if done correctly, keeps them from being motivated to continue trolling or heckling.

3- In your comment response to their attempt at insulting you, thank them for spending the exact amount of time to watch your video. (Ex. “Thank you for spending 4 minutes and 53 minutes of your time today to watch my video. That means a lot to me.”) This helps the troll or heckler to acknowledge that despite their destructive criticism, they ultimately made a choice to spend a designated amount of their time to watch a video that they ultimately did not enjoy.

4- Next in your comment, acknowledge that the comment they left ultimately helps draw in new potential viewers of the video, since videos that already have comments tend to seem more intriguing than those without. As they say, “Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd.”

5- The next thing to mention in the comment response is to assuming they are a subscriber to your channel. Thank them for their continued support, which actually generates income for you as a YouTuber.

6- Next, if this is their 2nd or 3rd time to troll or heckle you, assign them a consistent, responsible role on your channel. For example, I had a kid who kept mocking my thumbnails for each video, in a suggestive, 1996 Adam Sandler sort of way. I complimented him on his creative talents, asking him to make a funny caption for each new video I make. He stopped after the first assignment and has yet to leave any kind of comment since.

7- Lastly, let them know they are “welcome here” on your YouTube channel. (It is assumed that many of the people of have time, energy, and creativity to troll or heckle you are likely lost teenage boys looking for a place to belong.)

In closing, I will leave you with a stock response that you can begin using for any new troll or heckler in the future. I suggest just sticking with the script; don’t go into details with them as to why. That’s because If they fully recognize that you are attempting to outsmart them, they will take it as a victory against you. Being subtle, unemotional, and factual in your approach is the key:

 “Thanks for watching my video today. You spent (exact number of minutes and seconds of the length of the video) of your time today to support me. Not only does your comment draw more attention to this particular video, therefore possibly bringing in more traffic, but you also helped contribute to my income as well. Thanks so much for being one of my (number of subscribers you have) subscribers. Please feel free to continue leaving comments on each of my videos. It really helps me out. Here on my YouTube channel, you have a place to belong. Please know that you are welcome here.”

I hope you found this blog post helpful and useful. Let me know how it goes!

Also, I made a video version of this blog post if you would like to see it:

2 Comments Posted on People, Uncategorized, Writing

Sponsored Post: XFINITY’s Share App Lets You Stream Live from Smartphone to TV

DISCLOSURE LANGUAGE

XFINITY partnered with bloggers such as me for this program. As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about any product mentioned in these posts. XFINITY believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. XFINITY’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

Sponsored Post: XFINITY’s Share App Lets You Stream Live from Smartphone to TV

In my third and final post of my XFINITY series, I am spotlighting XFINITY’s new share app.

While there are other photo sharing apps out there, XFINITY’s share app is the only one that allows you to share the image to the biggest screen in your house: your TV, of course.

Sponsored Post: XFINITY’s Share App Lets You Stream Live from Smartphone to TV

You can also share photos from your phone and then save them in the app on your TV. Therefore, you can easily relive your summer beach vacation on the biggest screen in your house; not simply a computer or laptop screen.

I find myself taking so many pictures but never really looking through them after I take them. They’re just stuck in my phone unless they were specially chosen to be featured on Instagram or Facebook.

But with XFINITY’s share app, think of all the events you can now better appreciate viewing as a family; whether it’s your child’s soccer game, your nephew’s graduation, or even simply a beautiful sunset. Now you can see the finer details of that memory.

Because XFINITY’s share app is able to stream live, you could live stream an event for everyone back home if they are unable to see the event in person.

For example, this coming weekend for Father’s Day, I am taking both my own dad as well as my son to the Monster Jam monster truck show in downtown Nashville. Meanwhile, my mom, wife, and 7 week-old daughter will be home. By using XFINITY’s share app, we could share with them back home what’s going on at the truck show.

Like I mentioned, XFINITY’s share app is the only share app currently out there that allows you to help your family share their experiences via live stream on your TV.

Thanks for learning about XFINITY’s share app today!

Sponsored Post: XFINITY’s Share App Lets You Stream Live from Smartphone to TV