Archive for freelance writer
How To Find A Freelance Writer: What To Expect
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For many businesses, setting out to find a freelance writer can be a tough task, especially as the internet is saturated with writers for hire. A search on Google or one of the many freelance hire sites throws long lists after list of writers, all claiming that they are the best fit for the job. How do you go about hiring the best professional freelance writer?
Hire a Writer: A Few Tips
Here are a few useful tips for making sure that you find a skilled writer with the ability to produce great content.
Price: Business is all about finding the best possible product at the lowest possible price, but that does not necessarily mean going for the cheapest option. If you find somebody writing articles for $5 a time, ask yourself why they are offering their services so cheap. Perhaps their language skills are not up to scratch or they intend to plagiarise the work of others.
An experienced, skilled freelance writer, with a good reputation and a proven track record, knows their worth and will price their work accordingly. They are professionals and it is rare to find one working for slave wages.
Samples: A pro writer will be delighted to provide you with a few samples of their work, letting you see if their skill, talent and style suit your particular needs, from web content to academic writing.
Website: Like any online business owner, a professional freelance writer should have a well-designed, informative website, allowing you to see exactly what they have to offer. Writers without websites are not necessarily bad writers, but a good website shows a higher level of professionalism and dedication.
References: A talented writer will be able to provide you with references from previous clients, allowing you to check the quality of their work. Many include testimonials on their website, which is fine, but you should check that any links genuinely lead to clients and are not fabrications. Most pro writers have a list of previous clients who will be delighted to write a reference.
Hire a Professional Writer: Things to Avoid
When you hire a professional writer, there are a few things that you should try to avoid, lest you risk losing a fine writer for avoidable reasons. Some of these bad habits stem from the freelance writing boards, where legions of inexperienced or untalented writers fight for every single position, promoting a culture of expendability.
Writing Samples: Try to avoid asking a writer to draft a sample from scratch, unless it is very short. If you ask a pro writer to write you an example on spec, they will simply smile and move on to the next client. Writers are not in the habit of giving their work away for nothing; there are too many unscrupulous sharks out there who will ask a number of writers for samples and gleefully receive a bundle of work for free.
Writers are not Employees: Try to remember that writer is not your employee but a professional in their own right. Too many people hire a writer and then assume that they are an employee, placing unreasonable demands upon their time, or speaking down to them.
The most common example is clients continually changing the job specifications and extracting more and more work for the agreed price. Another common issue is the tone you take with your writer; all writers have had a nightmare client who treats them with condescension and veiled insults. Your writer is a trained, experienced professional and should be treated as such.
Payment: If you have a batch of work, a writer isn’t going to hand it over and wait for payment; all writers have been stung by clients taking work and disappearing once payment is due. Some writers ask for all of the money upfront, others are happy to take a deposit of 50% and share the risk. For larger assignments, it is common for instalments to be paid once certain milestones are reached.
Communication: Creating a Partnership
The key to working with a freelance writer is communication, because by working together, you can really start to produce some excellent content that will really appeal to your audience. Writers are good at filling in the gaps and producing content based around any information you provide, but they still need some idea of what you actually want.
Some website owners, especially for article marketing and blogs, are happy to give the writer a list of general topics and let them loose. This is a good strategy, but it is unfair to then send the article back demanding umpteen changes because it didn’t fit with exactly what you wanted. Others like to give a structure to the writer and ask them to join it all together, which allows them to concentrate on generating voice and emotion.
Whichever method you use, using a freelance writer for hire is all about creating a working partnership, because a talented writer who knows your specifications is a great asset to your business.
Ultimately, you are paying for the unique voice and style of the writer, because only a few have the skill to imbue copywriting with life and emotion. Whether you want a light, flowing style or an informative tone, a good writer can use language to lure in the audience and convey your message.
Hopefully, this has helped you in your quest to find a writer. Feel free to contact me for a free discussion.
Keyboard Picture: Felipe Micaroni Lalli under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license
Professional Writers For Hire: Adapting To The Panda Algorithm
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The recent Google Panda algorithm changes threw the internet world into turmoil, as webmasters, marketers and content writers frantically tried to make sense of the new rankings. For many professional writers for hire, copywriting work dried up, because website owners were reluctant to spend money until they understood more about the update.
Now that things are settling down, most webmasters are refreshing their websites as they look to modify content and consolidate. Content writers are once again finding work, so it is useful to look at how copywriting has changed in the post-Panda world.
Freelance Copywriters and Google Panda
Creating backlinks and traditional marketing are still important, but that is for the marketers and internet experts to discuss. From the viewpoint of a writer, I have noticed that a few things have changed, observations based upon my own experimentation and feedback/specifications from clients.
Death of the Content Farms:
Content farms such as Hubpages, Wisegeek and Ezine have taken a huge hit. It appears that Google is increasingly looking for sites built around specific niches rather than sprawling, spam-filled submission sites. Content farms still have a place, as a useful place for article marketing strategies, but they are not worth spending much time on for generating income.
Of course, if you already have a well-developed site built around a specific topic, you should benefit from clearer SERPs without the usual suspects occupying the top spots. However, Google has admitted that there are problems with scraped and duplicated sites outranking the original, an issue that they have promised to address.
For this reason, there is no harm in checking your work, making sure that it hasn’t been stolen, and slapping DMCA orders on any offenders. Your legal department or your copywriter should be able to help you with this.
Good Quality Writing:
This isn’t really a change, as good quality writing is always crucial to running a website and converting potential leads into sales. Google is trying to punish duplicate content, so the days of building an affiliate site and populating it with generic product descriptions from the manufacturer are over; you need to write unique descriptions. This also applies to quotes in general: Rupert Murdoch is able to get away with syndicated content spread across different sites, but you will be sent to the sandbox. It is better to paraphrase than use large block quotes.
Whilst I doubt that Google can directly assess the quality of writing without human intervention, it does use some indirect methods. In addition, with a greater emphasis on social sites and marketing, you want compelling copy that people will share and like, rather than keyword stuffed searchbot magnets.
Longer Articles:
For a while, most writers and marketers have started regarding 400 words as a minimum, rather than the traditional 250 word blog posts and sales pitches. There is no harm in adopting the new standard, possibly working back and seeing if you can lengthen any existing articles.
Bad Content:
As the content farms are finding out, bad content drags down your good content, because pages no longer standalone. If you have a lot of bad content on your site, it will need to be removed or reworked. However, try not to make things worse; if areas of your site have good backlinks pointing towards them, deleting them could be harmful, so it is better to rewrite and improve. If you source content from a lot of contributors or guest bloggers, you may want to make sure that they genuinely produce high quality, unique content.
Keywords:
Keywords and on-page SEO are still important, so you should make sure that you provide your content writer with a few good long-tailed terms. The search results also show that keyword-rich domain names have increased in importance, so that is another factor to throw into the mix if you run a portfolio of sites.
Hiring a Writer to Keep Up With the Changing Internet Landscape
So, these are a few of the observations from the viewpoint of a writer rather than an internet marketer or SEO consultant. It isn’t only the marketing folks that have had to adapt: we professional writers for hire have to keep up with the latest developments.
If you agree or disagree, please feel free to comment, as new information and viewpoints are always welcome in the aftermath of Panda.
Need A Professional Writer For Hire? Contact Martyn Shuttleworth for a Free Consultation.
Google Panda Picture: Search Ranking Optimisation under a Creative Commons Licence.
What is a Freelance Writer?
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Normally, I try to avoid writing the ‘Do you have what it takes to be a freelance writer’ posts, as they tend to ramble without saying anything specific. This is an exception, because the recent changes in the way that search engines rank articles have affected online income, especially for folks making money on content farms.
The Google Panda algorithm devastated internet marketing, and this has had an indirect effect on freelance writers. The problem is that the freelance writing market is tied to this: not only is there less copywriting work available, as webmasters try to work out what direction to take, but turbulent times invariably see a rise in the number of people claiming to be freelancers.
As people see their income plummet, many flock to the freelance writing job boards, desperate for extra cash. This tends to drive down prices and pushes the market into a state of flux, with every single job posting attracting countless applicants.
Are You Really A Freelance Writer?
I see many people on content farms proudly proclaiming that, because they write articles for content sites, they are freelance writers. This is a misrepresentation, because posting a few articles to Hubpages and Squidoo, or churning out content to Demand Media does not make you a freelance writer, by definition.
A freelance writer is a mercenary; a hired gun who completes work to order, and this requires a different skillset and mentality than article writing. There are some fine, talented writers who write on article sites, but freelance writing demands a different style and approach. You need to be able to write about practically any topic, to a deadline, and with passion, voice and flow.
Why is this important? Firstly, I am a miserable old sod and this misuse of the term is one of my particular pet hates. I spent a lot of time and expended a lot of effort in earning the right to call myself a freelance writer. Labeling yourself a freelance writer when you are not devalues the achievements of every freelancer on the planet.
In addition, I have seen the work of some of the people on the content sites advertising themselves as freelance writer, and it is atrocious. This is one of the reasons why many businesses think that freelance writers are only worth a couple of dollars per article.
The other reason is that it creates a false illusion. As anybody who has made the leap from writing on content farms to freelancing will tell you, it is a huge, huge leap in quality, unless you are happy earning a couple of dollars per hour. Writing for clients is a different level and requires you to be at the top of your game: if your Hubpages article is a little scrappy, nobody really cares. If the work for your client is riddled with mistakes, you won’t be paid. How’s that for pressure?
Pressure Is A Great Teacher
Most people need to learn very quickly. To be a professional freelance writer, you need to have excellent grammar, spelling, punctuation, and language: that much is obvious. However, you also have to learn to master the hidden arts of writing, such as how to use emotion and voice. A hired writer needs to know how to write for different audiences, for you could be creating articles for teenagers one week and business reports for middle-aged executives the next.
If you want to be a pro writer, you must be able to master different styles and personalities. For example, it is easy to write a rant, as anger is the easiest emotion, but can you adopt sadness, impulsiveness, or joy? Can you write the long, flowing sentences required for travel writing, showing the joys of far off places and helping the reader imagine that they are feasting on new cultures and experiences? Can you chop your sentences for effect, creating buy it now urgency?
Become A Pro Writer
It seems like I have spent an entire article putting you off becoming a freelancer, but it is not all doom and gloom. Learning to freelance is a very, very steep learning curve, and most people do not make it. However, for those who stay the course, the advantage is that you become very good, very quickly: your writing will improve, as the threat of not being paid is an excellent incentive for self-improvement.
This is one of the reasons why I never bothered with the endless stream of ‘How to Be a Freelancer’ books, as you will learn far more quickly by making your own mistakes, with the added bonus that your style and soul will be your own, rather than crushed to fit some generic, tired template.
Ultimately, your personality is what will make you a freelance writer, so cherish it and never lose it.
What Do The Latest Google Algorithm Changes Mean to Freelance Writers?
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Currently, the world of internet marketing is in a state of mass panic as the latest Google algorithm changes, designed to punish content farms, affect the search engine rankings. Stories of huge drops in page views dominate marketing and SEO forums across the world, as webmasters complain that Google has it wrong and is incorrectly punishing quality content. Naturally, everything is speculative and things may well change as the process settles down, but with livelihoods at stake, the paranoia levels are high.
Even on well-respected sites such as Hubpages, writers and marketers are reporting significant drops in page views, often as much as 50%, and this threatens to wipe out income for many affiliate marketers and writers. It seems that Google has decided to attack the love-in with some of the article sites, downgrading those it perceives as having too much spammy or scraped content.
For myself, income from advertising and affiliate links to Amazon, are secondary; I like the extra payment every month, but my main business is as a hired gun, producing quality content for others.
However, the picture is not that simple and Google algorithm changes can indirectly affect freelance writers. Our fortunes are largely tied to the fortunes of marketers, the lifeblood of the internet, because much of our business stems from that source.
Freelance Writing and the Double Edged Blade of Google
For freelance writers, the changes could be a double-edged sword. The good news is that, if Google is finally delivering on its promise to promote quality content, then good writing will come at a premium and online businesses will happily pay decent money to hire a professional writer. They know that they will receive an excellent return on their investment if their high quality content rises up the rankings.
The downside is that we could see an influx of disenchanted marketers online. Many will see their earnings collapse and decide that the only way to survive is to work as freelance writers, flooding the freelance writing sites and tendering ridiculously low bids.
A similar influx happened a couple of years ago, when oDesk advertised on Good Morning America, with the net result that hundreds of recently unemployed people flooded the site. Freelance writing rates plummeted as desperate people were prepared to work for food.
Will Quality Freelance Writing Rise to the Top?
This trend eventually righted as clients slowly began to realize that, if you pay a couple of bucks for an article, the chances are that you will receive badly written, rehashed crap spun from other sources.
There will always be bottom-feeders who will take advantage and offer 50 cents per article (I have seen that many times), but most clients do want good content, and a skilled professional writer is not going to offer that for free.
Freelance writing demands a different set of skills from writing a few articles online. Apart from the obvious traits, such as the ability to work to deadlines, you cannot pick and choose your topics and you sometimes have to be able to read the client’s mind. Having a computer fitted with Microsoft Office does not make you a freelance writer – it takes a lot more than that.
Google Algorithm Changes – We Await the Outcome
For now, we will have to wait and see what happens – this latest algorithm change from Google could well be a double edged-sword. I retain some optimism, as huge Google changes often take a while to settle down as the software engineers tweak their algorithm. I also believe that quality writing does rise to the top so, unless Google completely messes up, those of us who aim to produce quality will be successful in the long term.
Keep up with the latest developments on Sunforged’s Blog: Search and Marketing News
Freelance Writing, Diversity, and Overcoming the Writing Doldrums
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A Becalmed Freelance Writer Will Lose Focus
Many people have asked me why I prefer being a freelance writing ‘Jack of All Trades’ rather than picking a speciality and sticking with it. Conventional wisdom dictates that a writer working exclusively in a specific field can start to charge three figure sums for an hour’s work, yet many freelance writers choose not to follow this path and prefer to remain general writers.
I think that the reason is that it is very easy, as a freelance writer, to fall into a rut and start to lose motivation and focus. As with any profession, doing the same thing, day after day, can make life mundane and start to suck the enjoyment out of writing for a living.
The Romance of Freelance Writing
There is a certain romance attached to freelance writing, and many people give up lucrative careers because they want a fresh challenge. For some, they want to work from home and avoid tortuous daily commutes, or they fall in love with the idea of moulding words and shaping language.
As is often the case when converting a hobby into a profession, the dream rarely matches the reality and freelance writing has its doldrums, drawn out periods where writing the same type of articles, over and over again, can be mentally draining. In the more extreme cases, many would-be writers soon return to the 9-5 (as opposed to the 9-midnight that most writers work), sick and tired of writing endless articles about industrial fastenings or the latest health fad.
In other cases, writers start to mentally switch off, like many workers on production lines, and start to produce stale, tired copy. This is fine if you are throwing together copy for an article directory or one of the content mills, but it is unacceptable if you are writing for a client – they hire you because of your unique voice, style, and flow.
The Cost of Developing Freelance Writing Expertise
Sticking with one field magnifies this problem and it is easy to lose your edge when you are writing about the same subject, ad infinitum. Of course, some people are fascinated by a topic and will happily write tens of thousands of words about it, whilst other expert writers have such intense focus that they can write emotive sales letters or make the most mundane topics interesting; this is why they charge big money and they deserve every penny.
Personally, this is not a route I chose because I like the challenge of facing something different every day. One day, I may be editing an academic paper about aquaculture, the next I could be starting a ghost-written book about Islamic science. This variety that keeps me fresh and also helps me to develop and grow as a writer, as I constantly experiment with new styles, designed to appeal to a different audience. I love the challenge of learning something new and expanding my knowledge into unexplored areas.
A Change Brings Focus
If you are struggling to stick to the plan as a freelance writer, maybe this is the sort of change that will help you last the course. Challenging yourself and trying new things is a great way to rediscover your muse and inject the energy back into your writing, bringing life and rhythm to your copy. Naturally, some fields require training or experience, with technical and academic writing the two obvious candidates, but you can still look to extend your reach and look for the assignments that force you to do something a little different.
Instead of working to a formula, use words in new ways or experiment with different emotions and voice. This will also help you to avoid the worst enemy of the freelance writing, the Ogre of Procrastination, a beast that will kill you through apathy. A good writer knows when their work is not up to scratch and will find ways to combat that, taking the laptop outside and working in the sun, or exploring a new niche and looking for assignments within that field.
Freelance Writing as a Vocation
Ultimately, freelance writing is not the carefree, joyous existence that many people believe; it involves hard work, long hours, an expanding waistline, and severe caffeine abuse. Despite this, it is a way of life, a vocation rather than a job. However, like most vocations, you need passion over everything else, because without this you will fall out of love with writing for a living.
If you find that your passion is draining and you are going stale, try something new – it certainly won’t hurt to try!
Hire a Freelance Sales Writer – Sales Success vs Spamming
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This is an example of a cut and paste sales letter
Trying to hire a freelance sales writer for your sales campaigns can be a little more difficult than you would think, because writing good sales copy needs a high level of expertise. Too many sales writers dutifully buy e-books from the latest sales writing guru, thinking that this will be the key to success, but the majority of these books recycle the same tired information, encouraging writers to fill templates rather than write individualized, high-impact sales copy.
If you want to make sure that your sales campaign thrives and justifies your investment, you need to think laterally and find a sales writer with creativity and passion. Otherwise, your carefully coordinated campaign will sink without trace, as potential clients associate your business with spamming.
What is a Freelance Writer?
The problem with freelance writing is that too many people think that owning a word processor and being able to type make you a writer. This is simply not true – I own a set of spanners but this does not make me a car mechanic. Taking shortcuts and buying books that encourage writers to stick to templates sucks out creativity and encourages dull, lifeless copy.
Words are very complex things, difficult beasts to tame and use properly. Stringing a few words together is easy, but infusing them with emotion is a difficult craft, something that only a professional writer has the ability to do. Online communication is faceless and your website or email campaigns are your interface with customers, providing your only chance to impress.
This is reason why you need to pay a decent rate for a writer, because they are skilled professionals who will become an asset to your business. Importantly, if you are starting an email campaign, a good writer will make sure that your sales letters won’t be marked as spam.
Freelance Writing and the Lessons of Telesales
Let us compare your sales email or sales page to a telesales call. I am sure that you have all had many calls from salespeople, the vast majority of whom are obviously reading from a prepared script, dutifully reciting words in a vain attempt at making a sale.
These people very rarely make sales, and are the writing equivalent of an ‘enthusiastic amateur.’ They can string words together but there is no impact or emotion behind it and, not only do you lose the sale, but you risk insulting the potential client, who will put you on their mental blacklist of companies to avoid.
Very occasionally, you receive a telesales call from a pro, somebody who uses sales talk to pin you down, using emotion and showing you how their product can help you. Even if you don’t buy their product, you can’t help but be grudgingly impressed, and a professional, talented salesperson, in full flow, can be an irresistible force.
A talented sales writer is of the same mentality – they can use emotive language, infusing prose with hidden meanings and depths that slowly but surely persuade the customer to buy. They don’t force you to make a choice, but they let you think that you arrived at the decision yourself, and that is the subtle, but crucial difference, the difference between organizing a successful email campaign and spamming.
Too many writers buy books about ‘How to Write Sizzling Sales Copy’ and, ultimately, use the same ‘cookie-cutter’ templates to create sales copy that looks same as every other sales letter landing in your inbox.
As a modified example of what I am talking about:
Dear Friend
You might be wondering by now how much this TERRIFIC sales letter package is going to cost you.
I HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU!!!
For a limited time, you can reap the benefits of a personalized sales page for only $300. That’s right…a sales page for the INCREDIBLE PRICE of only $300 for a limited time only.
You had better act NOW, because we will be raising the price of this STUPENDOUS package to $500 in a few short days. You can SAVE $200 BY making your decision NOW!!!
Remember, as part of our QUALITY ASSURANCE GUARANTEE, you have 60 days to request a refund if you are not happy with your purchase, for any reason.
Click our Buy it Now button to purchase, NOW, ANYTIME, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Throw in a few fake testimonials about how it changed your life and you have a sales email or sales page.
So, here is a little tip if you are swayed by sales writers offering to produce these squeeze pages:
They DON’T WORK…Potential clients don’t see a FANTASTIC OFFER; they see a SPAMMER.
Personalized Sales Copy
These tired squeeze pages no longer work and have a negative effect on your success rate. Internet users are blind to this sensationalist language and associate you with spamming.
By contrast, a good writer can scratch write you a sales page based around your product and target audience rather than copy-pasting somebody else’s work and changing a few words here and there. I have known clients pay a few hundred dollars for one of these pages – nice work if you can get it! As a freelance writer, I must admit that the chance to make money from copying ands pasting is tempting, but I like to keep a little professional pride.
So, you many ask, where is the counter example, an example of good, emotive writing. You have reached the bottom of the page, haven’t you…?
Hire a Proper Freelance Writer
CV Writing :: Using a Freelance Writer for Your Curriculum Vitae
Posted by: | CommentsIn the face of a mounting economic crisis, CV writing is becoming a very important talent. As employers shed jobs and unemployment levels rise, desperate job-seekers are chasing a decreasing number of vacancies. In the face of such fierce competition, having a clear and concise curriculum vitae is crucial, because it will set you apart from the pack, as a professional who pays attention to detail. Without a professional CV, the chances are that your application will end up on the rejection pile, without even being read.
Many people try to play the numbers game, and send out literally hundreds of job applications, hoping that one will succeed. Such hard work is commendable, but it is important to work smart and focus your efforts. Every application that you send out should be the best it possibly can be; otherwise, you will have merely wasted everybody’s time and effort. The question is, how do you create the perfect CV?
CV Writing and Common Mistakes
Many people download a CV template to help them to construct the perfect curriculum vitae, and this is often good enough. However, in many cases, these are out of date, or are too generalised to generate the necessary impact. Ultimately, if you use the same generic resume as everybody else, then you are not asking questions of the employer or challenging them to find out more about you.
Employers have to spend a lot of time wading through job applications and will skim through CVs, looking for the slightest excuse to discard any that do not make the grade. A spelling mistake or a poor layout will jeopardise your chances of making the cut and receiving an invite to interview. The most common mistake with resumes, including those written with a CV template, is that they are too long. If your applicable skills and experience do not leap out of the page, and are buried beneath reams of irrelevance, then your application will fail.
CV Writing and a Professional Freelance Writer
The easiest way to work smart is to hire a professional freelance writer for your CV writing. They know how to use language to create a focused, high-impact resume, one which will grab the attention of the reader and encourage them to explore your application in more detail. When sent with a strong, professionally written cover letter, your CV will help you to build an exceptional application, one that stands out from the crowd.
Busy Human Resources managers become bored after reading the same, generic CV template time after time, and something different will pique their interest and encourage them to ask you for an interview. Using a professional CV writer will pay dividends and help you to take one step closer to that elusive job.
Hire a Professional Freelance Writer for Your CV Writing
If you want to hire a professional freelance writer to create a resume for you, please feel free to contact me and I will help you to create a personalised CV that will crackle. CV writing is an art, and using a professional is the key to success.
Using a Professional Freelance Writer: The Article Bubble Bursts
Posted by: | CommentsAn increasing number of companies are starting to understand the importance of using high quality website content and articles. Instead of paying cheap freelance writers to churn out spun copy for their marketing, they want to use a professional freelance writer to produce meaningful, unique content.
This is nothing new, and many marketers and writers have known about this trend for a long time. However, I want to expand upon this point, because this move towards producing informative content ties in with what the search engines are doing to clean out the Adsense optimized content plaguing the internet.
I read a post by respected online guru, Grizzly, today and this supports what most marketers and writers have suspected for over a year; Google is going on the offensive and is looking to clean up the net. Google advertisers pay good money for prime adverts locations, and expect their adverts to be shown on useful, targeted content. Instead, their Adwords are often displayed on a content-thin blog with the sole intent of making customers click on adverts, just so that they can escape the empty content and keyword soup.
Great News for Professional Freelance Writers
As a professional freelance writer I am, naturally, very pleased about this news, although I am probably at odds with a few of the marketing-oriented people. From my point of view, anything that gets rid of the article mills paying mediocre freelance writers a couple of dollars to churn out content spun from Wikipedia or Ezine is a good thing. Simple supply and demand will now mean that experienced professionals receive a level of pay that matches their talent, without the disgraceful rates paid on many freelance sites becoming a stick to beat down rates and fuel a race to the bottom.
The interesting point in Grizz’s post is that most of the marketing experts are advocating building one or two informative, authoritative sites, instead of throwing up 20 blogs with minimal content, all set up with the purpose of funneling people towards Adsense traps. Foresighted companies are developing well laid out, content rich sites, and are cleverly using article marketing to attract direct referrals, rather than scatter tripe around the net in the vain hope of building a few backlinks.
Freelance Writing: Research and Increased Productivity
Less time spent wading through respun rubbish might mean that this freelance writer can actually have the occasional day off!
As an online writer, much of my work involves a lot of research, and being able to navigate search engines, without the same, automatically spun content dominating the search-engine rankings, is going to increase my productivity immensely.
There is still a need for good SEO practices and, as a writer, I still have to understand the basics of online marketing, such as keywords and backlinks. However, I am confident that this move towards quality will mean that I can spend more time writing and less time leaving comments on blogs that I have little interest in reading (Much like this one, I hear you say!)
As with many things, this move is nothing new and SEO is moving back towards old-school marketers, who are ethical and prefer to help online businesses grow organically, rather than follow the latest fad. The knowledgeable Peter Hoggan, at Escocian, is a great believer in Ethical SEO Services, and I have no problem giving his organization an organic link; I like what he has to say.
Hire a Freelance Writer – Get Ahead
As you can imagine, this news will take a long time to filter through the system, and many companies will continue to throw large volumes of mud at the wall in the vain hope that some sticks. Conversely, forward thinking companies can now concentrate on producing quality, using marketing techniques developed long before the internet appeared on the horizon. The article marketing bubble is about to collapse, and you have a chance to get ahead of the competition.
Web Copywriting – The Advantages of Using a Freelance Copywriter
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Article mills are the bane of the internet, fueling the low wage, low quality web copywriting culture
Search engines, the driving force behind internet habits, are moving towards promoting high quality web copywriting. Rather than reward businesses that flood the internet with sub-standard articles, the search engines are adapting their algorithms to promote high-quality content and rid the internet of the spammers and empty articles.
Because marketers became fixated upon generating backlinks, to the detriment of providing quality web content, businesses used cheap freelance writers to produce countless keyword dense articles, often written in barely passable English. Internet users are sick and tired of trying to find useful information online, only to be confronted by empty content sourced from the notorious article mills. They want to find what they need, quickly and efficiently, without navigating seas of thinly disguised sales copy and painfully poor articles.
The big search engines are aware of this, and they know that consumer power can make or break their market position; they must adapt or die. The same applies to any business with an online marketing strategy; they must start to produce quality content or be left behind in the sandbox as the competition forges ahead.
Instead of going for the cheapest option, now is the time to use a professional freelance copywriter, who will be able to guide you through the transition. In hard economic times, as the advertisers focus on quality rather than saturation, the businesses producing quality will be the survivors when the internet content bubble finally bursts.
Investing in a Freelance Copywriter for Web Copywriting
Many business owners are happy to pay professional marketers and web designers good rates to promote their business, but are strangely reluctant to pay fees for a professional writer. They shop in the bargain basement and try to find freelance writers for a few dollars an hour, yet expect high-quality content. In the vast majority of cases, this approach fails. Content is king, and racing to the bottom reflects badly on your business.
The fast moving nature of the online world means that you only have a few seconds to impress potential clients and, if you confront them with poorly written content, written in poor English and with no direction to the writing, consumers will click the back button on their browser. The high rates that you paid for a marketing consultant have been wasted, all because you tried to save a few dollars. A freelance copywriter knows how to use subtle language to close the deal and entice consumers to spend time browsing your site and seeing what you have to offer.
A professional freelance copywriter will work alongside your marketers and is fully aware of the SEO techniques required to reach out to clients. A pro writer can take keywords and blend them seamlessly into flowing paragraphs and elegant prose. Search engines love high quality web copywriting and, by using a freelance writer as part of your marketing team, you can outperform other businesses still stuck in the old mentality of quantity over quality.
Your highly paid SEO marketing consultant love talented web copywriters, because it makes their life much easier. High quality, natural web content is much easier to promote than keyword soup and, if they are paid by the hour, this will also impact on your bottom line, saving you money. A marketing consultant given good content can concentrate on what they do best; helping your site climb the search engine rankings, rewarding your policy of hiring the best writer that you can find.
A Freelance Writer is a Deal Closer
Internet users are becoming very sophisticated and wary of the many fraudulent websites and products plaguing the internet. Amongst other things, they look at the quality of your website as a benchmark of quality, using it to gauge your product, professionalism, and customer service.
Marketers go out and find potential clients; a talented web designer uses eye-catching, slick designs to convince then to stay; and high quality content, written by a professional freelance copywriter, closes the deal. Using this trirumvate is the key to success, built upon the tried and tested sales techniques that existed long before the dawn of internet shopping.
As an example, I recently browsed the internet to look for some new door fittings, and was disgusted by the sheer amount of poor quality articles online, thinly disguised sales pitches that consisted of a couple of paragraphs written in poor, broken English.
Do these businesses seriously think that I am going to visit their site if they cannot be bothered to act professionally? By trying to save money, they lost a sale, all because they tried to write their own content or hired an enthusiastic amateur.
Web Copywriting – The Flexibility and Professionalism of a Freelance Copywriter
An experienced, skilled web copywriter is a professional with years of training and experience, so you are not going to find one for a few dollars an hour. In the same way, you will not find an accountant, marketer, lawyer, or mechanic for that rate. These professionals are fully aware of their value and set their prices accordingly.
So, why do businesses begrudge paying freelance writers a decent rate? They have been swayed by the article mills and content submission sites, and believe that you really can find a writer for cents. Sadly, in most cases, they end up with poorly written content, with little power, passion, or authority behind the copy or, in the worst cases, plagiarized content copied from other sites.
Freelance copywriters are hired guns, able to refresh marketing campaigns and imbuing them with life and honesty. Professional; freelance writers understand the world of internet marketing and can integrate seamlessly into your team, providing valuable insights and ideas on how to reach a wider audience. Most of all, they make sure that your web copywriting compels and projects your core values and integrity.
The question isn’t about whether you can afford to hire a freelance copywriter for your web copywriting. The question is can you afford not to?
Internet Article Marketing Strategy – Unleashing the True Power of Article Directories
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Internet Article Submission is the Stairway to Success
Most businesses working online have heard of article directories, such as Ezine, and are aware that a good internet article marketing strategy must incorporate the potential of these sites. The idea behind article directories is elegant in its simplicity; you submit articles, and others are free to use them and distribute them around the internet, on the condition that they include backlinks to your site.
Article directories are well known by webmasters and marketers, who understand that a high-quality article site gives good quality backlinks and instant kudos with Google. Many of these flood the sites with spun content, hoping to gain an advantage in the search engine rankings.
Internet Article Marketing Strategy and Backlinks – An Unhealthy Fixation
Many of these marketers outsource work, use article-spinning software, or hire cheap freelance writers to generate content. This attitude is fine if you are chasing Adsense and affiliate sales, where you might get away with broken English and stilted, non-natural writing. However, this paradigm has leached over into mainstream marketing, and there is now a prevailing attitude that it is not worth paying a professional writer to submit quality content to article sites.
I have seen many articles, on Ezine, where the business owner has tried to hack some copy together, or has outsourced the work to the notorious article mills. They then sit back, waiting for the clients to roll in, and are surprised when this approach fails. The problem with this plan is that they became fixated on one aspect of article marketing, backlinking, and failed to understand the true power of using article directories as part of an internet article marketing strategy.
Basing Your Internet Article Marketing Strategy around Quality
Stepping away from online marketing for a while, think about what type of strategy you use in the real world. Most businesses, if they want to generate good business, focus their efforts on producing high-quality brochures and postcards, and delivering them to targeted areas.
Moving back online, that is the same type of approach that you should adopt with your internet article marketing campaign and you should see your articles as more than a cheap source of backlinks. Articles can actually form the backbone of your marketing strategy and drive high-quality traffic to your website. Using article submission directories as glorified link-farms misses the potential of two other marketing methods; direct referrals and organic growth.
The Power of Direct Referrals and your Internet Article Marketing Strategy
Sites such as Ezine, with its very stringent quality controls and human editors, are loved by the search engines. As a result, an SEO optimized Ezine article will often appear higher on search-engine rankings than your actual site. If you use them alongside informational sites, such as Hubpages, you will be able to dominate Google search results for targeted keywords.
As a result of this search engine impact, potential clients are likely to land there first and, if your articles are filled with empty-content, they are not going to click on the link. If you want to use article to their fullest potential, you need to treat them as if they were content on your own site; they are often the point of first contact and you must make an instant impression.
Making the Internet Work for You – Organic Links Keep on Giving
If you do your keyword research and manage to get your Ezine article onto the front pages of the search engines, then there is one other benefit of using a professionally written article. If the article is well written, then others are likely to pick it up and use it, which will include the carefully embedded links to your site. Apart from giving you a little more Google love, through organic backlink growth, this also increases your reach and the chance of direct referrals.
With a powerfully written, informative article, others are going to do the marketing for you, by distributing your links around the internet. This is the true power of article marketing sites, not the vague idea of building a few backlinks. There are other ways of building Google backlink love, and using article-marketing sites purely for this purpose is missing out on their true power. With a good, high-quality article, the backlinks will multiply, without any extra effort or expense.
Using a Professional Writer as the Foundation of your Internet Marketing Strategy
If you look at many of the article sites, you will see that many of the articles are merely sales pitches, consisting of two or three hundred words of clumsy language. Most people do not understand the art of writing web content and articles, which requires the careful touch of a master craftsman.
if you intend to sell something online, then going for the cheap option is a non-starter; you might think that you have a great deal by finding a reasonably competent writer, who will throw out articles at $5 a time. If this does not increase sales conversions, or the articles migrate into the Google sandbox, then you have thrown that money away.
A professional writer has the ability to write an article, seemingly about an unrelated subject, but use layered content and language to guide the reader gently down to the link at the bottom. Article sites invariably include your link at the bottom of the page, so you have to make sure that the content is well written and informative, enticing the reader down to the final paragraph and the all-important link.
