Category: Lifestyle

If you make a living from blogging, then you’re already winning at life. However, it’s not all sunshine and smiles in the world of professional blogging, as you still need to deal with some unavoidable administrative tasks.

Paying tax is at the top of this list of annoying yet essential obligations, so what can bloggers do to prepare so that this process goes as smoothly as possible?

Estimate tax in advance

There’s nothing worse than getting to the point of filing a tax return only to find that you’ve got to pay a lot more than you’d anticipated.

This is where it makes sense to use an estimated tax calculator for quarterly deductibles and thus know how much you need to set aside to cover your next tax bill, as well as factoring in the business expenses which you can shave off this total alongside standard deductions.

As with all aspects of paying tax as a blogger, the earlier you make preparations like this, the better. And online tools make it a breeze to estimate tax ahead of time.

Keep your invoices & receipts

Paperwork is useful to cling onto in whatever freelance role you fulfill, so if you write blogs for third party clients, it’s sensible to issue invoices efficiently and track your financial documents carefully.

Likewise when you pay for goods and services that are partly or wholly for business use, hang onto the receipts. These will let you claim them as expenses and deduct them from the tax you owe.

Open a business bank account

Another option for reducing complexity and confusion when preparing to pay taxes as a blogger is to set up a separate bank account that you only use for your business transactions.

If all of your incomings and outgoings related to your blogging come from one account, and are not mixed in with personal money matters, it’s so much simpler.

Get an accountant

Having an accountant to handle your tax affairs for you might seem like a luxury that you don’t need as a blogger, but the reality is that this could be the single best decision you make.

Even in an age when you can file your returns online, letting a certified, qualified and experienced accountant take the reins will mean that you don’t have to worry about making mistakes or stressing over all of the complicated parts of this process.

Provide accurate information

It should go without saying, but filing your taxes as a blogger is only achievable if you have all the right information to hand. This applies whether you are handling the filing yourself or working with an accountant.

You’ll not only need all the invoices and receipts mentioned earlier, but also things like your social security number, alongside things like a W-2 form if you also had a full or part time position with a separate employer during the taxable period.

Add key dates to your calendar

Another excellent tip for bloggers who are worried about the implications of having to pay tax is to put important dates and deadlines into your professional calendar, and implement a system of alerts that makes you aware when they have into view on the horizon.

It might not be an enjoyable prospect to always have tax-related elements on your schedule, but it’s the only way to develop good habits.

Don’t leave it until it’s too late

As discussed above, the sooner you start preparing to pay tax as a blogger, the easier it will be to get through the process unscathed.

Only those who procrastinate will find that they are losing their minds with stress as important deadlines loom. So if you take only one thing away from this article, let it be this piece of advice.

When you are purchasing expensive items it always helps to know that they are protected by a good insurance policy from damage or theft. Four simple but effective ways you can ensure the protection of your valuable items are: Get tenant or home insurance, choose your policies carefully (consider coverage limits), if you work from home or have business items at home get business insurance, and buy separate insurance for luxury goods that are not covered by the tenant or home insurance. Choose insurance for peace of mind.

Tenant or Home Insurance

The simplest way to protect yourself against the destruction or loss of your possessions is to buy tenant or home insurance, depending on whether you rent or own your home. If the worst happens and you are robbed, or experience a flood, fire, or any other factor that can lead to damage or loss of your personal property, it can make all the difference when you have a good insurance policy that can cover the damages.

Most tenant or homeowner insurance policies include content coverage. This is the repair or replacement value of the items that have been lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed. To avoid the worry of lost or damaged property, visit https://apollocover.com/magazine/what-insurance-protects-the-things-you-own/ to get a quote and buy your insurance online in under five minutes. There are several significant advantages to having a home or tenant’s insurance policy, including coverage of potential legal fees and temporary accommodation in the event you have to leave your home for a period. 

Legal Liability

If you, for instance, leave the stove on and cause a fire, or leave the bath running and cause a flood, and the adjacent apartments are also damaged, tenant’s insurance will cover potential legal fees or damage awards if your neighbors sue you for property damage.

Temporary Accommodation

In the event of a flood, it can take a full month to repair all of the damages to your home. Your home or tenant insurance policy will cover the costs of a hotel room or other accommodation, such as Airbnb.

Personal Property Loss

Tenant’s insurance will compensate you for the replacement value of any stolen goods in the event of a break-in.

Car Break-Ins

Most tenant’s insurance policies cover your personal property both inside and outside of the home. For instance, if your car is parked outside your house and someone smashes the windows and takes your phone from inside the car, the insurance can pay for a replacement.

However, some policies expressly exclude thefts outside of the home or only cover theft of personal property from a vehicle when the car is parked in the driveway or garage. It is best to thoroughly read your tenant’s insurance policy and talk to an expert if you have any doubts about whether or not you are covered in specific scenarios.

Remember that tenant’s insurance will not pay for any damage to your car, such as the broken window. Car damage is the business of car insurance. Another example is if someone steals your car,  your tenant’s insurance policy can cover the losses of items that were in the car, but not the car itself.

Choose Your Policy Carefully

You should read your home or tenant’s insurance policy thoroughly and make sure you know what your policy covers and where the holes are.

Policy Coverage Limit

Make sure your policy coverage limit is high enough. It is highly recommended that you take inventory of your belongings to calculate a rough value for them. This will help you decide how much your home or tenant’s insurance policy should cover. Beyond the policy’s coverage limit, of for instance $10,000, expenses come out of your pocket. A worst-case scenario would be losing or experiencing damage to all your personal property only to realize the replacement value is beyond your policy limit.

Identity Document Theft

Identity theft is generally not covered by a tenant’s insurance policy. Say your passport, driver’s license or other identifying documents are stolen from your car, your basic home or tenant’s insurance probably will not cover services such as credit monitoring and replacement identity document fees that result from the theft.

Open Peril and Named Peril Policies

Open peril policies, also known as all perils policies, cover you for any situation that damages or results in the loss of your personal property, unless the policy expressly excludes it. For instance, your policy may say it covers you for everything except damage as a result of a flood, in which case you must pay a premium in the form of a separate policy or rider to cover flood damage costs.

Named peril policies, by contrast, cover you only for incidents specifically named in the policy. It is vital to read your tenant or home insurance policy thoroughly so you know what is and is not covered. This will allow you to make an informed decision on what additional insurance you may wish to purchase.

Business Insurance

If you run a business from home or keep your small business computer or other expensive work equipment at home, you should consider getting business insurance. Business equipment is generally not covered by the contents portion of your tenant or homeowner insurance, as this covers personal property, and your work equipment can be deemed a business asset.

Separate Insurance For Luxury Goods

Another potential gap in your tenant or home insurance is coverage for your luxury goods. Valuable items like very expensive bags, a designer watch, or fine art will require separate insurance policies. Due to their high value, they are a specific target of theft, meaning the insurer has a higher risk of having to pay out, as these items are more likely to be stolen.

Choose A Policy That Suits Your Needs

This has been a brief and simple guide to choosing the right insurance policies to protect your expensive items. When investing in valuable personal property, business equipment, or luxury goods, you want the peace of mind of knowing they are protected against theft, loss, damage or destruction. 

By choosing to purchase tenant or home insurance, business insurance and special insurance policies for your luxury items you are making the sensible, logical and most financially-sound decision. Just remember to read your policy thoroughly, ensure it covers an amount at least equal to the value of your items, make sure you know what is and is not covered, and fill any gaps in the policy with additional coverage.

First things first- Blogging is a serious business! If you are a successful blogger, you can hope to rake in thousands of dollars by publishing branded and sponsored content on your blog.

Bloggers, much like influencers are opinion leaders that consumers follow and look up to when it comes to getting advice. 

Everyone that looks to get into this highly adventurous and profitable domain of blogging has that one question- how do I increase Organic Web Traffic for my Blogging Site?

If you are a blogger that wants to rank your blog articles on Google’s first page (for your keywords), you should be interested in what we have to say. 

In this resource article, we are going to list down five SEO tips that can help bloggers improve their blog traffic. We take help from leading SEO experts and professionals at Digitrio. 

Search Engine Optimization for Bloggers and Blogging Website

You are not a brand that has an endless budget to run PPC and AdWords to drive traffic. A blogger needs steady organic search traffic. Brands engage bloggers and blogs for paid partnerships (reviews, listicles, sponsored content, guest posting, etc.) only when they see the following- 

1. High organic traffic from a specific region where the brand sells or markets its products
2. The number of ranking keywords that the blogging site has on SEO tools like AHREFS
3. SEO Metrics like DA, DR, UR, PR, Spam Score, etc. that the blog site enjoys
4. Quality of content that is available on the blogger’s website (long format)
5. Social media following that the blogger and blogging website enjoys

If you are a blogger looking to run a profitable blog, you need to focus on what brands and SEO agencies are looking for. While you might have ideas and push your own creative intellect into the mix, you might also want to factor in elements that will deliver financial ROIs. 

List of 5 SEO Tips for Bloggers to Help Improve Blog Traffic

1. Niche, high-quality link building- 

If you want the metrics of your blog to increase, you need to aggressively pursue guest posting and link building. According to experts, every internal article you publish on the blog needs to be supported by at least five link building articles. If any of the articles start ranking, you need to push the same to the top of the SERPs through link building. This helps in SEO metrics. 

2. Evergreen and SEO-optimized content- 

There are trending keywords and then there are evergreen content pieces. Trending keywords can help you garner traffic, but for brief periods. On the other hand, if you start ranking for evergreen keywords, you will be enjoying organic traffic for a very long time. Make sure to follow the 75%-25% rule between evergreen and trending when creating content for the blog. 

3. Informative, helpful, and educative content- 

The heart and soul of a successful blog are content. At the end of the day, your content needs to resonate with your audiences/readers. They need to find it useful, informative, and educative in nature. If reading your content helps them make a decision, you are successful. Great content also helps in improving on-page timings (dwell time) and boosts SEO metrics significantly. 

4. Technical SEO and On-Page optimizations- 

There are millions of blogging sites all competing for the same set of readers and keywords. One of the filters that Google and other search engine use to show tops sites on search rankings is technical optimizations. In other words, how fast are the web pages of your blog loading? Or, do you have an SSL certificate installed to boost security? These are elements to focus on. 

5. Follow latest Google updates and analytics- 

By simply looking at your site’s Google Analytics and Google Search Console, you will be able to get tons of data on what you are doing well, and which areas you need to focus on. Google rolls out updates quite often and this affects the ranking, metrics, and performance of the blogging sites. Make sure that you are following reputed journals in this regard. 

The Final Takeaway

If you want to ensure long-term success for your blog, stay away from any Black Hat or Grey Hat SEO strategies and tactics. While the initial results will take some time, you need to be patient about building a blog that has solid foundations. If you have any more questions on how to build an SEO-optimized blog or want us to connect you with an agency that can help, please reach out to me in the comments section below. 

Being an entrepreneur can seem like a dream come true. You get to be your own boss working a job you love and building a business for your future. It can be like that, of course, it can, but the entrepreneur’s life is not all roses.

If you are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, you need to think seriously about what it will mean for you, your life, and your finances, and in order to do that, you need the full picture of what it means to be an entrepreneur.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few key things that no one ever tells you about becoming an entrepreneur.

You are your business

Of course, if you grow a successful business, it will be bigger than you in that you will have employees and branding experts, and all kinds of people working to make the company what it is. However, from the second you seal the deal on that company formation, your business will be a reflection on your and vice versa. People will judge you on how well your business is doing, which suppliers you use, how ethical your buying policy is, and a million other things besides. Your company’s failures will be your failures and vice versa.

Of course, your company’s successes will also be your successes so it is not all doom and gloom!

It’s tough in the beginning

We’ve all heard stories of entrepreneurs who have hit the ground running and managed to turn their little idea into a multi-million dollar business in no time at all, but for most entrepreneurs, it is not like that. Most entrepreneurs will have a string of failures behind them before they hit on the business idea that helps them achieve success and build their fortunes, and there’s nothing wrong with that, Failures often teach us how to bounce back and be better, so you should not let the thought of failure put you off, but you should bear in mind that the road to successful entrepreneurship is often a rocky one.

You don’t call all the shots

As the founder and CEO of your own company, you could be forgiven for thinking that you’ll be the one calling all the shots, but the reality is a little different. Although you will have the ultimate say on how your business operates, your real boss, your customers are the ones who are really in control.

If you want to make money and grow a successful business then you need to remember that the customer is king. Pleasing them may mean doing things a little differently to how you thought you would, and chances are you won’t always be happy with that, but it is a sacrifice you will sometimes have to make.

You won’t necessarily be rich

Many people become entrepreneurs because they think it is the best way to get rich, and sure, building your own business can lead to untold wealth but there are many more business owners who are pulling in a modest salary and working long hours to achieve that. In many cases, the main benefit of being an entrepreneur is being your own boss and any money that you make is the icing on the top of the cake.

You will miss having a paycheck

Yes, when you’re an entrepreneur, you can pay yourself a salary but in the early days, you probably won’t have much profit to pay yourself from, and any profit you do have may be best reinvested in your business to help it grow. So, you will miss having a regular paycheck more than you might think and you may struggle financially for a while, But if you’re determined to succeed, it will be all worth it in the end.

You will need to work a lot

Okay, so this is pretty much common knowledge, but many people think that once their business is up and running, they can stop working such crazy hours and start enjoying life on the golf course or cocktails on the beach.

The hard fact is that many business owners will not be able to retire at 40 and enjoy a life of leisure, they will be required to be around for their business as much as possible for as long as possible. They will need to work hard to ensure that no one drops the ball and everything is done correctly.

Yes, the lucky few will make their millions and retire young, but for the average entrepreneur, retirement is going to be long in the future.

Now that you know more about what it really means to be an entrepreneur, you can make the right decision for your life and your future.

The crypto industry keeps expanding at a brisk pace worldwide. Investors no longer seem to be so intimidated by downturns and drops in exchange rates: a rising number of institutional players pay their attention to cryptos as a very promising investment. A certain industry maturity has contributed to this: many serious players have changed their minds in the last few years. That is why digital asset mining has also begun to attract special attention. 

Crypto Mining

I would like to shed light on cryptocurrency mining. Of course, unless you want to mine Bitcoin, you should pay attention to the king of altcoins — Ethereum. We will speak about this cryptocurrency in terms of Ethereum mining pools — we will try to find the best mining pools for Ethereum.

On the one hand, preparations for the transition to PoS are in full swing, which can hurt the existing pattern of the mining market. On the other hand, the new revolutionary solutions are fueling even more interest in the already most popular digital asset after bitcoin.

Therefore, when a potential miner starts asking more specific questions, it is necessary to state that cryptocurrency mining is simply the most profitable. And to understand how to organize the business in the best way, it is worth deciding how to work better — alone or in a team? The article will answer this question and review some of the best ETH mining pools for different miners in 2022.

Reward Distribution

In general, you don’t need to know much theory to figure out how to earn the most. It’s simple: whoever finds the next block first gets the reward. And the more equipment you use, the faster you mine.

Usually, after you understand the basics, you no longer agree that “it is profitable to work alone in mining Ether.” It becomes obvious that even having N number of Asics (which appeared for Ethereum not so long ago), it is impossible to compete with the top mining pools. Just go to https://miningpoolstats.stream/ethereum and estimate the capacity of each of the top 20. The hashes there are completely different from those of the singles. Accordingly, such pools have a much better chance of mining a new block.

But there are some peculiarities concerning mining pools for people with little equipment. It is worth paying attention to the conditional position in a given top and the algorithm for awarding rewards. If PPLNS is used, weaker farms may be left without any reward. In this scheme, only shares transferred over a certain period before the block’s closing are considered. And if that interval is very short, you may not be able to find any blocks. It means that you will be left without a reward.

In general, however, it is fair to say that most market entrants should choose the pool with the highest hash rate and the number of mining crypto-assets. To that end, let’s describe a few of the top 10 pools currently on the market. There will also be some small caveats, but about that below.

Best Pools for ETH Mining in 2021

1. Ethermine

For industry old-timers, it needs no introduction. Ethermine‘s the largest pool at the moment and has a worldwide presence. Its servers are situated in the USA, Canada, China, Russia, etc.

Ethereum mining on Ethermine can be done completely anonymously, appealing to many users, with a relatively low commission and instant payment speed. The only disadvantage is the minimum withdrawal threshold of 0.1 ETH. The award scheme here is PPLNS. For convenience, you can control the process through the official application. 

2. Sparkpool

It is a Chinese giant and the second largest mining pool globally. Sparkpool is characterized by smooth operation and stable payments. It stores assets on a cloud wallet, which increases security. While you sleep, the mining benefiting you goes on. 

The site has interesting theoretical material and guru experience, mostly in English or Chinese. Whoever knows these languages will find a ton of useful information. There is also a mobile app for easy management.

3. Binance Pool

 Binance seems to cover all areas of the crypto industry. The advanced project did not ignore PoW, organizing its pool. The interface is intuitive, even for a beginner. There are no restrictions on the withdrawal amount (funds are withdrawn the next morning directly to the exchange). Transfers within the platform are free. The pool uses a PPS+ reward distribution scheme, which benefits not-so-powerful farms.

Now Binance pool is in the top 10 largest pools in the world. It continues to grow rapidly and allows everyone to earn. The commission here is only 0.5%!

4. Nanopool

If we talk about time-tested mining associations, Nanopool is one of the first among them. This platform allows the industry representatives to work steadily for many years, rewarding them for the provided capacities.

Here you can withdraw your earned assets at least several times a day. The pool’s servers are also located all over the Earth, ensuring uninterrupted work. The commission is only 1%. Nanopool is among the top 10 most powerful pools in the world. The implemented system of rewards is PPLNS. This project also has an extensive knowledge base allowing everyone to learn something new about the world of mining.

The Key to Success 

Those who went into mining a few years ago, believing in this branch of business, have now amassed quite impressive capitals. Every year, the entry threshold is getting higher and requires more and more preparation. It is extremely unwise to spend huge sums on equipment without basic knowledge and receive minimal profit. That’s why it’s worth elaborating on some subtleties and general principles that will help a beginner earn good money, saving a lot of time and nerves.

Conclusion

Mining Ether in 2021 in pools is still profitable. Even without ASICs, it is possible to profit from GPU-farm significantly. Of course, dependence on the ETH exchange rate is unavoidable, but time has already proved that Ether will lead by leaps and bounds and give a serious fight to Bitcoin. Not believing in Ethereum now is like not believing in digital crypto technologies in general.

For a successful and profitable work on the market, there are many mining pools from giants like Binance and independent projects, which specialize only in this kind of earning and also, by the way, have already become market giants. Pay attention mainly to the hash rate and the number of miners, but do not forget about other characteristics. Among them are the pool commissions, the scheme of distribution of rewards, and the minimum withdrawal amount of Ethereum.

Having read this article about Ethereum mining pools, you can choose a pool to work with on your own. And finally: keep in mind that mining ETH on CPUs is not profitable now. The cost of equipment and electricity indicates it. So GPU is the right solution for mining Ether, which is already obvious to many people.

A transmission line switching (TLS) system is a key part of the electric grid. It allows for two or more transmission lines to be connected together, which increases the amount of power that can be sent through the grid. TLS systems are used to transfer power between different regions of the country, and to connect different types of power generation facilities. Many different types of TLS systems are used, but all of them share some common features and functions. Though,  the specifics of how a TLS system works can vary from one system to another.  This article will provide you with the basic knowledge you should have about transmission line switching.

What Is Transmission Line Switching?

Transmission line switching is the process of transferring electrical power between two or more points on a transmission system by means of switches. The switches can be either air or oil-filled circuit breakers. TLS is used to ensure the continuity of service and to prevent system overloads. It is also used to transfer power from one line to another or to isolate a faulted circuit. This can be done either manually or automatically, depending on the type of system.

How Transmission Line Switching Works 

The switches in a transmission line switching system are opened and closed by an electric current. When the switch is open, the current flows through the switch contacts and the gap between the contacts. When the switch is closed, the current flows through the switch body and the contacts are shorted together.

The switches in a transmission line switching system can be opened and closed either mechanically or electrically. Mechanical switches are opened and closed by hand, while electrical switches are opened and closed by an electric motor.  The transmission switching system must be designed to handle the current that will flow through the switch contacts when they are open. The transmission line switching system can be used to connect or disconnect two transmission lines, or it can be used to connect one transmission line to another transmission line. When the transmission line switching system is used to connect two transmission lines, it is called a transmission tie switch.

A transmission line switching system can be used to connect one transmission line to another transmission line in two different ways. The first way is called a series connection, and the second way is called a parallel connection. In a series connection, the current from the transmission line that is connected to the switch will flow through the other transmission line. In a parallel connection, the current from the transmission line that is connected to the switch will flow through the other transmission line and the other transmission line will act as a short circuit. The transmission line switching system must be designed to handle the voltage that will be present on the transmission lines when they are connected. The transmission line switching system can be used to connect two transmission lines that have the same voltage, or it can be used to connect two transmission lines that have different voltages.

How Does  It Relates To Other Technologies

Transmission line switching is used in conjunction with other technologies, most notably transmission towers and transmission lines. By using transmission line switching, users can selectively choose which transmission lines to use and which transmission towers to utilize in order to optimize signal strength and quality. Additionally, transmission line switching can help reduce latency and packet loss. It can also help prevent congestion on the network.

That said, note that there’s a difference between a transmission line and a distribution line. A transmission line is a high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) power line used to transfer electricity over long distances. A distribution line, on the other hand, is a low-voltage electrical line that distributes electricity from a transmission line or substation to consumers.

Types Of Transmission Line Switching

There are three types of transmission line switching: mechanical, solid-state, and hybrid.

Mechanical Switching

This uses a physical switch to change the path of the power. It is typically used in low-voltage applications because it is cheap and reliable. However, it can be slow and is susceptible to wear and tear.

Solid State Switching

This uses electronic components to change the path of the power. It is typically used in high-voltage applications because it is fast and reliable. However, it can be expensive and is susceptible to damage from electrical surges.

Hybrid Switching

This uses a combination of mechanical and solid-state switches. It is faster than mechanical switching and more reliable than solid-state switching. However, it is more expensive than either type of switch.

What Is A Switch?

A switch is a device that interrupts the flow of electricity through a circuit. Switches are located on transmission towers and substations. It can be opened or closed to control the flow of current. Switches are used in transmission line switching to create a path for the electricity to travel from one power line to another. It is important to note that switches do not create electricity; they only direct it.

How Do Switches Work?

Switches work by interrupting the flow of electricity through a circuit. When the switch is in the open position, current flows freely through the circuit. When the switch is in the closed position, the current is blocked from flowing through the circuit. This allows for the electricity to be redirected from one power line to another.

How Are Switches Controlled?

Switches are controlled by a switch operator. The switch operator can open or close the switch to direct the flow of current. Switches can also be remotely controlled using a computer. They are often operated from a control room located at a substation.

Transmission line switching is an important process for ensuring power reliability and security. By understanding the basics of this process, you can be better prepared to ensure your transmission lines are properly switched when necessary. In addition,  you can be more informed about the potential implications of transmission line switching on your local power grid.  There is a lot to consider when it comes to transmission line switching, but with a basic understanding of the process, you can be more prepared for whatever comes your way.