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Don't just write to get Paid--Write because you LOVE it!

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by Tarkan, Jun 22, 2010.

  1. #1
    As someone with a lot of experience on the web, including writing articles for hundreds of websites, I must tell you that many young freelance writers on the internet have been caught up with "completing the job" rather than writing masterpieces.

    You get caught up in the numbers, and decide to write an article, takes maybe 30 minutes to 1 hour, and fill up the 500 words, and then look for a paycheck.

    Write quality content, read blogs about copywriting, read high quality website's articles and take notes on what is it that makes their articles interesting/readable.

    I see many blogs with tons of content, simply for the purpose of filling the site with content, but they are so uninteresting, you don't want to even click the link.

    Your articles need humor, they need research, they need work, they need to show interesting information; they need to be engaging. It must be professional.

    If your articles are not enticing people to comment (I agree this is pretty hard for low traffic sites), then there is room for improvement.

    Excellent articles with truly interesting information, get spread like wild-fire on social networks. Understand what the audience wants, and don't just write to get paid---write because you enjoy it.

    Am I being too idealistic???
     
    Tarkan, Jun 22, 2010 IP
  2. AdvancedNoob

    AdvancedNoob Guest

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    #2
    me too... i do it as a hobby :)
     
    AdvancedNoob, Jun 22, 2010 IP
  3. Tarkan

    Tarkan Peon

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    #3
    Yeah, if writing is a hobby for you that's great, hopefully you are working hard to produce high quality results.
     
    Tarkan, Jun 23, 2010 IP
  4. Kraven2

    Kraven2 Active Member

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    #4
    And then of course there is the matter of SEO pieces. Limiting yourself to a set of keywords and search phrases can be rather limiting and cramping your style.
    Don't get me wrong, I love writing and would be doing something else if I didn't, I have plenty of skills I can monetize but it is simply not as black and white as you put it.
     
    Kraven2, Jun 23, 2010 IP
  5. YMC

    YMC Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Good advice but will fall mostly on deaf ears around here.

    There's been so many threads like "how many articles can you write in an hour" that I stopped even visiting this area of the forums for a while. When supposedly top writers brag about how fast they can churn out words, it makes one wonder if there's anything worth reading out there.
     
    YMC, Jun 23, 2010 IP
  6. Tarkan

    Tarkan Peon

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    #6
    Exactly, you can't churn it out like a factory unless you are just sitting down and meditating on what you want to write. It's really difficult to be that creative all the time, unless you write BS. It especially sucks if your job requires you to write about a boring topic / keyword topic.
     
    Tarkan, Jun 23, 2010 IP
  7. Perry Rose

    Perry Rose Peon

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    #7
    Ahhhhhh, yes, if only others thought like that.

    Wait...scratch that. That would mean less work for the quality writers.

    Shut up, Tarkan! :)~

    Jan, jhmattern, a moderator here who, sadly to say, no longer posts here had some good comments on that.
     
    Perry Rose, Jun 23, 2010 IP
  8. riaviente

    riaviente Member

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    #8
    Yes. That's what I am doing. I have a full time job in a call center, but I come here to write. The main reason is not really the extra money. I do it because I love writing. Money is just secondary. Reading my finished articles make me happy and satisfied. Also, constant writing enhances your writing skills. :)
     
    riaviente, Jun 24, 2010 IP
  9. leojidda

    leojidda Member

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    #9
    hobby that can be income ? :)
     
    leojidda, Jun 24, 2010 IP
  10. omarabid

    omarabid Well-Known Member

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    #10
    Most of people don't have the option to love writing. They are here for the money because they need it, then they must do it. I know it's sad, but you they won't change.
     
    omarabid, Jun 24, 2010 IP
  11. dyadvisor

    dyadvisor Peon

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    #11
    Wow is this a messed up thinking thread, and it starts with the original poster. Only Kraven2 grasps the real concept. Tarkan I do not believe you are a professional writer, just by the nature of your OP and reaction. Getting lots of jobs, and writing lots of articles does not mean you are very good. You customers run a business, and you run a business. Although love of writing helps, but it has nothing to do with business. You are being paid to drive customers to your client's business period. The amount of new business your customer obtains is what you are worth.

    Now a skilled person only takes in business to fill the gaps. He or She picks the business that can afford to pay. He or she shows that business how their talent delivers. You write fine, but seem to mention words like paycheck, versus ability. What Kraven is pointing out, I believe, is taking your writing talents like a business. Learning the SEO skills that prove to yourself and client that what you deliver will provide website traffic not filler. How do you get your client listed #1 out of 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 other pages, so internet searches will find your client? That is when you become a professional. It is also the time period of phasing in creativity to carefully worth with your exact SEO skills to produce interesting content. Then you no longer worry about paychecks.

    So Omarbid is correctly stating the facts for 95% of the writers. They have to do it, love or not, because money is the end result. Please show me how I am wrong, as I do not know all the answers. I only know how to put desiring people in the top 5% of content writers, and am still learning. Seeking for concepts that I may have missed is a constant journey.

    -------------------------------------thanks for your posting, but please realize this is not the real option, or the option most people can afford to take--------------------------------------------
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2010
    dyadvisor, Jun 24, 2010 IP
  12. Perry Rose

    Perry Rose Peon

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    #12
    Messed up thinking?

    Show where this is messed up thinking? Or, are you seeing things again that aren't there?

    Stop posting crap, just to make yourself look intelligent.





    However, in your all-too typical senseless rambling:


    First off, SEO is NOT guaranteed.

    Very few writers know anything about SEO. What they DO know is how to spin words that a webmasters' visitors like reading.

    THAT is a writer's job.

    Knowing SEO is just another layer of icing on the cake.

    And, the world does not revolve around search engines.

    Tell that to all of the sites that get tens of thousands of daily hits. Just about all big websites get their traffic via advertising and word of mouth. They get very few visitors from search engines, anyway.

    Really? Huh.

    I guess many such talented writers, like, say, me (although I do know all there is to know about SEO), Carol Tice and the old mod here, jhmattern, and countless others are not pros.


    lol No you don't.


    Okay, that statement NOW tops all of the other stupid statements you have made since you joined this forum.


    And...people do NOT have to continue to be writers simply because they need the money.

    That's a good way to churn out poor articles, because they...have to do it.

    Tarkan also got it dead on when he said, "Write because you LOVE it!"
     
    Perry Rose, Jun 24, 2010 IP
  13. dyadvisor

    dyadvisor Peon

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    #13
    Perry You are more of a missing brain idiot than EVEN I though you were. That is why you will never be successful. Your pile of books are not worth burning, and your articles are only worth beer money.

    You backed off the challenge before ---say for a food for child benefit organization, to place your beer talents against me or any of at least 3-5 people currently mastering skills you could never reach.

    My SEO writing skills are proven. I have the financial rewards and customers to back them. I can guarantee SEO placement BEFORE writing an article in writing to a client before even starting. There is no need to worry from paycheck to paycheck.

    Nor do I need a worthless website like perryrose.ca to promote e-juice cigarettes, to try to buy another beer.

    People on this forum need to make a living. However they are only fooling themselves on techniques. For $5 or $10 a customer should not expect high results. However when the client is a professional expecting guaranteed traffic, only 5% can properly write, so the SEO traffic over delivers visitors to their website.

    So please, stop comparing myself to you, with your constant whining and drooling. I am a free teacher to the learners. You are the king of the beer writers. I doubt many would disagree, except the person that has over 3,000 times tried to ruin forum posts. That is not something I participate in.

    Admit it, your an egoistic burned out cop, who has nothing left but to display vulgarity, insults, and meaningless trash. Not on just this forum, but on at least 3 others. Want me to print some of the rude comments you gave people there?------discussion ended--------
     
    dyadvisor, Jun 24, 2010 IP
  14. atreides

    atreides Peon

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    #14
    ****************************************************************************************

    If i may contribute my two pence worth....

    SEO Writing & Content Writing doesn't necessarily imply that one is a writer.
    The former two is a science, that requires a firm grasp of the concept coupled with repeated practice to elevate one's skill set

    A writer, or rather writing, on the other hand, is an art. Chances are, you're born with it. Some do have the tenacity to learn it, but generally, the combination of linguistic prowess, creativity, understanding of the human psyche, the flair with thought process, etc, is a god-given talent.

    Writers can become content writers, or SEO writers if they wish. But the converse, is almost impossible.

    So, in essence, if you're a writer, you have nothing to worry other than learning that SEO crap.
    But if you're just a mechanical content/SEO technician (writer, if you insist), work hard, my boy. Work hard.
     
    atreides, Jun 25, 2010 IP
  15. YMC

    YMC Well-Known Member

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    #15
    Now that the children are done showing off, so glad to see someone back on topic.

    Gotta say, I'm disappointed with how many are saying writing is simply a way to earn money. My advice to all of you is to find another profession.

    I have no illusions that on the web as is just about everywhere, the written word is a commodity for sale. But, so many here simply see it as a fast way to earn a buck. Too many web writers are more concerned about the mechanics of SEO and not the art of writing. Sure SEO makes it a bit of a guessing game but at the end of the day it's still an art form.

    Guess the OP and I are in the minority. I love what I do. I get to string together words to create something worthwhile, to help small business owners learn more about their own business and to share their pride and joy with the world. SEO, keywords and all that jazz are just part of the song and dance. Even when writing generic essay-style content or filler, I take a great deal of pleasure from the creation itself.

    I think it's sad so many here are only writing for the money. If I needed to hire a writer, I'd hire none of you - there's no passion, you all sound like drones punching the clock to get a paycheck. I like money as much as the next girl but I'd be looking hard for another source of income if I felt as so many of you do.

    "Do what you love and love what you do." comes through in your work and keeps you more happy too.
     
    YMC, Jun 25, 2010 IP
  16. contentboss

    contentboss Peon

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    #16
    some might say that's a little harsh, YMC, after all, there are people on here that are disabled, or handicapped to an extent that writing is pretty much all they can do to make a living.

    All power to them, I say, whatever their motivations - at least they are trying to make it, rather than relying on handouts.

    Doesn't matter how crazy keen you are on lion-taming, if you are quadriplegic, you *probably ain't gonna make it in that particular field*
     
    contentboss, Jun 25, 2010 IP
  17. Kraven2

    Kraven2 Active Member

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    #17
    Ehm, no thanks. Besides the fact that I like writing, I am earning way to much from it combined with SEO. I am not all about the money, but I am about making a living, doing what I am good at. In other words: good business, not greedy business.

    I dare say that true SEO writing IS an art of its own. Just to many people out there, who think it just a guessing game. Let me state right here and now, there is no guessing about it.
     
    Kraven2, Jun 25, 2010 IP
  18. dyadvisor

    dyadvisor Peon

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    #18
    To me SEO is an exact science, and that is clearly shown in my learning manual. If fact proper SEO requires more time to fine tune, than it does to write the article. Most people do not understand that SEO simply means driving free traffic to the website. Now taking SEO as a science requires making sure each of the keywords and power words are not overly competitive, yet very interchangealbe. Those able to master this, are able to drive visitors to their website or their customer's guaranteed. In fact, In my case I can predict the success of traffic flow of interchangeable search terms before a word is written. Now when writing, I still have to consider my SEO methods, but I have freedom to express myself, even using similes, metaphors, to keep it enjoyable AND FUN. I loved my work for reasons of learning the intricate science of SEO, natural creativity, love of writing, and knowing that my professional clients were willing to pay big bucks for articles using my methods. Frequent snatching by blogs, expressed they loved them too. YMC, most people cannot combine the two parts. If you know how I could have been more happy and financially rewarded, please let me know.

    Maybe I am missing a technique I could teach others---------------------------------
     
    dyadvisor, Jun 25, 2010 IP
  19. Ujackelushe

    Ujackelushe Peon

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    #19
    Personally, I feel writing merely to generate "content" requires a tested and proven method which becomes horribly boring after a while. I enjoy writing more as an "art" as in writing that inspires and evokes emotion in my readers.
     
    Ujackelushe, Jun 25, 2010 IP
    YMC likes this.
  20. shakingspear

    shakingspear Peon

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    #20
    I don’t think you’re idealistic, but perhaps reminiscent of a time before everyone had access to a platform that allows people to view their writing. The internet has convinced thousands of people that they are good writers and that they can make a living from it. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.
     
    shakingspear, Jun 25, 2010 IP