Nikki Thomas

Freelance writer specializing in home improvement, WordPress, and personal finance.

Welcome

Thanks for visiting!

I'm a professional freelance writer and virtual assistant. I have more than a decade of hands-on experience running a home improvement business and share expert advice about being your own boss and managing a small business.

My main area of expertise is home improvement and self-employment, but I also write about WordPress, personal finance, travel, and relationships.

My writing has been featured on WordPress.com, The Good Men Project, The Dollar Stretcher, and Parachute by MapQuest.

You can also find me blogging at WordsByNikki.com.

If you're interested in my services, please check out my portfolio below and email me at nikki(at)wordsbynikki(dot)com.

WordPress

Wordpress.Com •

When Should You Hire a Content Writer for Your Company Blog?

When it comes to creating content for your company blog, you have several options: you can do it yourself, delegate it to a current employee, or hire a content writer. Hiring someone new has many advantages, especially as your business grows and you find yourself busier with other tasks. However, before you take the plunge and hire a writer, you’ll want to consider a few things. There are many benefits to hiring a writer for your company blog or social media. Still, it’s a good idea to know wha
Wordpress.Com •

How to Set Up the Perfect Home Office for Maximum Productivity

For a serious blogger or online business owner, having a home office is a dream — you avoid a stressful commute, your schedule is more flexible, and you can save money on things like gas and work attire. That said, if your home office isn’t set up thoughtfully, you may find it difficult to be productive. Consider the following tips to create an office space that keeps you organized, eliminates distractions, and maximizes focus and productivity. The first step to creating your own office is fi
Wordpress.Com •

How to Find Bloggers in Your Industry and Expand Your Network

Are you wondering how to find bloggers in your industry who are looking to communicate, network, and collaborate? In today’s world, website owners can really benefit by connecting with others in their space and working together strategically. Ultimately, finding blogger friends is similar to finding friends in real life. You have to start by looking in the places where you, as a blogger, spend a lot of your time — because that’s where other bloggers spend their time. Here are nine tips on where
Wordpress.Com •

Add Disqus to WordPress and Increase Your Visitor Engagement

There are dozens of commenting plugins out there, but Disqus’s unique engagement features and robust analytics capabilities separate it from the pack. That’s why it’s used by the likes of CNN, Rolling Stone, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, and many others. Learn how you can add Disqus to WordPress and take advantage of the same features that these world-class publications rely on to engage with their readers. Website owners looking to build online communities will be pleased by Disqus’s intuitive int
Wordpress.Com •

How to Build a Tagging System with WordPress.com

Learning how to build a tagging system will help organize the content on your website, make it easier for readers to navigate, and help people in the WordPress.com community find your blog. If you’re not sure what tags are, how they’re used, or how to build a tagging system, here’s some guidance to get you started. Tags are terms that describe specific topics in a blog post. They’re similar to categories but are more specific to the topic at hand. For example, if you have a category called “bak
Wordpress.Com •

6 Clever Ways to Use Video on Your Site

Video content is on the rise. According to Impact, users each spend about 67 minutes streaming video content every day. You can take advantage of this trend by adding video to your website, allowing customers to connect with you in new, personal ways. To captivate customers and earn their business, here’s a list of creative ways to use video on your site. Potential customers might view your “About Me” page to get a better sense of who you are, and why they should give you their business. Placi
Wordpress.Com •

3 Best WordPress Plugins for Restaurants

As a restaurant owner, you’ve worked hard to build your business — and your website. Now, you want to make it easy for your customers to find you, make reservations, and browse your menu. Here are three of the best WordPress plugins for restaurants to keep your customers coming back and to help ensure your online presence is up to par. The free Restaurant Reservations plugin adds a reservation system to your site, making it easy for diners to book a table with the click of a button. With this p
Wordpress.Com •

When and Why to Use Website Redirects

Have you recently moved your content from one URL to another? If so, then one of the most important things you need to be using is website redirects. Here’s an introduction to what redirects are, why you need them, and the different types you’ll come across. What are website redirects, and why do you need them? Websites and URLs evolve over time for several reasons. This happens when you reorganize and update a site and when you change domains. If someone visits one of your old pages that have
Wordpress.Com •

301 Redirect Plugin Tutorial

Whether you’re changing domains or upgrading your site, a WordPress.com 301 redirect plugin can funnel your online visitors to the right place and help you maintain the page rank you’ve worked so hard to reach. Here’s a guide to setting up a WordPress.com 301 redirect plugin, which also explains why doing so is essential. Why are 301 redirects so important? As a business owner, you can attract new customers with your content and products at your website domain. So, if you decide that you’re c

Personal Finance

Travel

Parachute by Mapquest •

4 Ways to Make Your Road Trip Fun for the Kids and Easier on You

I love road trips with my family because it means seeing different areas, driving for miles at a time, and spending quality time together. But after a while of sitting in a car, it can become quite uncomfortable and dull. The kids start to get restless, everyone's bored, and your patience is running out. Here are a few ways we manage to not only survive the long family trips but make them fun and create some family traditions along the way.
Parachute by Mapquest •

Train Like an Olympian in the Baltimore-Washington Metro Area

No matter what type of athlete you are, Maryland is an excellent state to train and prepare yourself to become the best at your sport. Some of the most accomplished Olympians were born here and utilized many of our facilities every day to successfully prepared themselves for their demanding Olympics careers. Even though we can't all be Olympians, we can still train like them and here are three places you can do that in the Baltimore-Washington Metro Area.
Parachute by Mapquest •

Where to Get Gluten-free Goodies in the Baltimore Metro Area

It's easy to go to your local grocery store these days and grab a gluten-free snack of some kind, but sometimes you just want to sit down and enjoy a meal or a treat out. This can be difficult and might require you make a few phone calls before you settle on a place. So if you're traveling around Maryland, I've found three locations in the Baltimore metro area where you can come on in and get your gluten free treat or meal.

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