Sometimes I answer questions on Yahoo! Answers. Does anyone else do this? I think I get a lot out of it. Some of what I get out of doing this includes:

• I get the opportunity to think more in depth about topics I’ve already researched.
• I get to connect with other people who are interested in the same things that I’m interested in.
• I get to help others in the online community which always feels good.
• I get to share links (as long as they’re appropriate).
• I get to be a part of a site that I think is really useful.

Some of my recent answers to questions on Yahoo! Answers include:

• When did becoming earth friendly go mainstream?
• Is there any known scam lottery business? (My answer was a “best answer” here.)
• Is an underwater research agency a good business? (Also a “best answer”)

Incidentally, I’ve also started using LinkedIn’s Question/Answer section. Does anyone use this? Do you like it?

Tags: answer questions, kathryn vercillo, smartchick, Yahoo Answers

Just a quick note to point out that a couple of the answers that I provided to questions on Yahoo Answers were chosen as the ‘best answer’ for their question.

The two most recent ones were:

• A question about the benefits of employee monitoring. There are pros and cons to monitoring your employees as a manager or business owner. When done correctly, there can be a lot of benefits. I discussed those in this answer and hopefully answered that question thoroughly.
• A question about the technology of productivity. There are so many different tools that you can use to be productive in your office or home office. Having the right technology really helps you out with productivity. However, you also have to be self-motivated enough to stay on task to be productive. That was the gist of my answer to this question.

Has anyone else answered questions on Yahoo lately?

Tags: answer questions, kathryn vercillo, productivity, questions, Yahoo, Yahoo Answers

I recently answered a question on Yahoo! Answers that had to do with Twitter. I’m interested by Twitter despite the fact that I have something of a love/hate relationship with the social networking site. I’m intrigued by how it is being used by different types of people.

Recently I’ve been reading a lot of articles online by people who believe that Twitter can improve their writing. It’s an interesting idea and goes to show that technology tools can be used in different ways to achieve different ends by different people.

The question that I answered on Yahoo! Answers was a simple question about the difference between ReTweets and Replies. Most Twitter users can easily tell you that a ReTweet is a re-post of someone else’s Twitter information whereas a reply is a response to what someone has written.

Only a couple of us bothered to respond to this Yahoo! Answer and my response, being thorough, was chosen as the best answer there.

Tags: answer question, kathryn vercillo, q&a, questions, reply, retweet, Social Networking, twitter, Yahoo Answers

I spend a lot of time online. When I say a lot, I mean more than the average person. On any given day, I probably find myself online for a minimum of ten hours. Sometimes quite a bit more. This is due to the fact that I work online as well as play online.

Because I spend so much time online, I’ve had to learn a lot about being safe online. I know about every aspect of this from protecting myself from identity theft online to being aware of crazy online predators. And I also know a lot about online scams.

Perhaps that’s why I was able to successfully and thoroughly answer this question on Yahoo! Answers about avoiding scams when doing online shopping. I hope the tips that I gave were useful not only to the asker who chose my answer as the best one but also to others who stumble across the question.

Tags: answer question, internet, online scams, online shopping, scams, smart shopping, Yahoo Answers

I really adore creative things of all kinds and particularly love learning about how technology has advanced the ability of individuals to be more creative. For example, I love that there are so many people now making their own videos thanks to the popularity of YouTube – it’s a form of creative expression that the average person wasn’t engagin in twenty years ago and I think it’s great.

Another thing that I think is great is the availability of online storefronts like Zazzle. These are places where you can upload your own creative designs and easily turn them into T-shirts and coffee mugs and other items for use or for sale. This allows people to be flexible in their creativity and also to be productive with it.

I really like Zazzle and the sites that are like it so I’ve been trying to spread the word about it. I wrote a piece about Zazzle on this blog not that long ago. And I also answered a Yahoo! Answers questions about Zazzle which covered the basics of what it is and how useful it is. That answer was chosen as a best answer for the question.

Tags: art, creativity, design, kathryn vercillo, online design, questions, store, Yahoo Answers, zazzle

I recently wrote an article about child prodigies which was really fun and interesting to research. There are truly some amazing kids out there! Since I was researching this topic anyway, I decided to see if there were any Yahoo! Answers questions related to it. I like to be able to share knowledge about the things that I’m researching if I can.

Indeed, there was a question over at Yahoo! Answers asking if people knew what the age limit was for someone to be considered a prodigy. The question seemed to hint at a misunderstanding by the asker who thought that a “child prodigy” and a “prodigy” where different things which they aren’t.

I answered this question, hopefully clearing up that misunderstanding, and provided information about the age determinants that help to define a child prodigy. My answer was chosen as the best answer for this topic.

Tags: child prodigy, children, kathryn vercillo, prodigies, smart kids, Yahoo Answers

I’ve been busy answering questions over at Yahoo! Answers again. One of my favorite things about being a web writer is the diversity of the topics that I get a chance to learn about and become an expert in. The fact that two of my Yahoo! Answers were recently chosen as “best answers” even though they are from widely different topic areas is a testament to the fact that web writers really get to know their stuff across a diverse range of interest areas.

On the one hand, I answered a question about which is the best city to live in. I’m certain that no one is surprised that I argued for San Francisco since we all know that this city has my heart. But I tried to be thorough in my answer so that others could see why I feel that way. This answer came from the hands-on personal experience of living here as well as the research I’ve done about the area since I write about it so frequently. I also made sure to cover the highlights of other great cities and to emphasize that ultimately the answer to this question is a really personal one.

The other topic I answered a question about was completely different. Someone asked how to pay for shipping. I think I answered that completely but also went on to try to explain some of the pros and cons of shopping when it comes to shipping fees as well as to offer tips for reducing shipping costs. I figured that people looking into shipping anything would want that money-saving information!

So hopefully that was helpful.

Tags: advice, answers, cities, how to, kathryn vercillo, Personal Finance, questions, Travel, Yahoo Answers

I’ve got another “best answer” over at Yahoo! Answers and I’d love it if you’d check it out. The question this time was about whether online shopping or mall shopping is better. My response was basically that it depends what you’re looking for in terms of your shopping experience but I tried to give a comprehensive overview of the pros and cons of online shopping in comparison with shopping at the mall.

I definitely think that online shopping is usually the better way for me to go personally. I really don’t like malls much. I feel like everything looks the same and it’s overpriced. However, I do like other in-store shopping like thrift store shopping and boutique store shopping. If I want to get the experience of browsing, I’d rather go to one of those places than shop online. But if I want to get a decent deal or to buy something in the most convenient way then online shopping is where it’s at for me.

What about you? Do you like online shopping? Would you rather go to a mall or some other type of store? Share your thoughts …

Tags: money, online shopping, Personal Finance, saving money, shopping, spending money, Yahoo Answers

I’m always happy when an answer that I offered to someone on the Yahoo! Answers site is chosen as the “best answer” for that topic. I put a lot of thought into the answers that I give over on that site because I want to get the chance to really share what I have learned from my research as a freelance writer.

My most recent answer on the site to be chosen as a “best answer” was in response to a question about spring cleaning. Someone asked for a breakdown on how to approach spring cleaning and I responded with a set of methods that make spring cleaning simple.

Glad to see that the asker of the question thought that my response was useful!

Tags: cleaning tips, declutter, kathryn vercillo, organizing, smartchick, spring cleaning, Yahoo Answers

I’ve been busy answering questions over on Yahoo Answers. I think it’s a great way to connect with other people, share information about the things that I’m knowledgeable about and explore my thoughts on different topics. And apparently I’m not half-bad at giving advice because three of my recent Yahoo Answers were chosen as the “best answer” in their respective topics.

Take a look:

• I provided a detailed answer to a question about where to travel in the West or Southwest for Spring Break. Mostly I suggested cities in Arizona because the asker was really interested in doing photography on the trip and Arizona is such a beautiful state. However, I did note that there are several other great spring break destinations in that area.
• I gave a resounding yes answer to the question on whether yoga as anger management is a good idea. I believe that yoga is a great tool for stress reduction and for getting to know yourself which are two definite keys for reducing the feelings of anger in your life.
• I offered what I hope was helpful advice to someone seeking to find a way to get over a breakup without turning to friends. Basically what I said is that there are several things that you can do to get over a break up including finding things you enjoy to occupy your time. However, I pointed out that friends can really be a great support system in times like this and that the key is to choose the right friends for that support.

So I write about a lot of different things but I try to make sure that I know what I’m talking about before giving advice on any of them. I do my research, think it through and try to provide a complete answer to the question before me.

Tags: advice, break up, kathryn vercillo, questions, Relationships, spring break, writing, Yahoo Answers, yoga