Now that Examiner has shut down, what will we do?

Oh man, here we go again. Another one bites the dust, right? I know that's what all my writer buddies are thinking. That's especially true of those of us who have been through this all before. Chin up! There are good things about the shut down. There are also alternatives.

My daughter would never forgive me if I didn't mention that she is co-owner of a writing website that is still very much alive and quite successful. There are opportunities to blog, write articles or do just about anything you did on Examiner and more. Contact Lyn Lomasi or her partner Richard Rowell at Write W.AV.E. Media. She's also recovering content from Examiner.com for quite a few writers who don't have time to do it themselves. She can do it for you too!

Do you have your own website or blog? If so, this is a great time to transition to writing exclusively for yourself and/or private clients. Doing so is much more profitable than writing for someone else, anyway. If you don't have a website or blog of your own, why not use the opportunity to start one up? It can be done for free on Weebly.com or any number of other venues. And no worries if you don't know HTML. Weebly is point and click. So user friendly!

On a personal note, I will miss Examiner.com. They gave me many years of income, exposure and great opportunities. However, I must admit that I was getting to a point where I was conflicted about whether to place my work on my own blogs or on Examiner, since both have the same topics. And sometimes sharing was difficult due to the way their site is set up. I'm not bad-mouthing them, though. As I said, I greatly appreciate what they've done for me. It is what it is and I have no bad feelings toward them.

So, now, here I am, able to focus entirely on blogging, which I love to do. It's very freeing for me. Down the road, I may or may not go back to seeking out private clients. I may even look for another website to write for. But you know, I'm in forced retirement right now, so the blogs are a great fit. I have no deadlines or clients to worry about. I do things my way without interference. And if I'm not well that day, there's no one to answer to but myself.