The Single Biggest Way Professionals, Businesses and Freelancers Hinder Their Success
No one goes into business, or starts a career with the goal of failing. Everyone starts with the best of intentions, works hard, and does the best they can possibly do. But, you need to also remember that nothing ever stays the same. Everyone is always looking for a better/faster/more efficient way of doing things. Failing to keep up with these changes, as well as what’s going on in your industry, can literally degrade the quality of work you do as well as the service you provide.
Don’t see it? Take SEO, or search engine optimization, for example. Say Google changes its algorithm, which determines how it organizes and presents search results. If you don’t keep up on what these changes are, you can’t adapt your methodologies and techniques accordingly. This means you are unable to do your job, and may even cause your clients to suffer terrible penalties by the search engines.
As a writer who provides a large amount of SEO copy and articles for marketing, I am passionate about the SEO industry and associated news. However, I also need to keep up on what’s going on in the writing industry as well as the areas my clients are involved in.
Is this time consuming and take a lot of work? You bet it does, but it I owe it to my clients. I wouldn’t feel right about doing my job and having others pay me otherwise.
You can find the latest news and information just about anywhere. Belonging to the right groups is often a good start. For me, I find Twitter keeps me up on all the important news bits and information in terms of writing and SEO. I am a huge user of Google Alerts and Social Media searches and monitoring. Lastly, I have an extensive RSS reader that pulls feeds from some of the most influential blogs and bloggers in these industries.
Of course, there’s other benefits to this as well. I’ve become well-versed in many different areas, which satisfies my information obsession. The amount of unexpected things I’ve learned and had the pleasure to do has been amazing. It is these things that really make this ‘job’ the absolute best I’ve ever had.
It has also allowed me to get in contact with and become great friends with great people from all industries and walks of life. There is always a good conversation or debate somewhere. When I’m having a down day, or an extremely stressful moment, or am having one of those ‘OMG what am I doing moments’, I always have support and the backing I need to succeed. I hope that I can do as much for them.
If you are not keeping up with your industry, you are doing yourself and your career just as much of a disservice as you are your clients.
An In-Depth Look At Morals, Values and Business
I had originally planned to write a post on the single biggest mistake anyone in business makes, but I had a very pleasant surprise yesterday. A fellow Twitterpeep and a passionate SEOer known as Suthnautr (David Curtis in the real world) posted a response to my post “Do Morals and Values Affect Your Writing?”
He took it quite a bit further than I did, and frankly, did an excellent job. I fully agree with his points and wanted to share that with you as well. In reality, I think this is something that everyone should consider whether you get a paperroute or are starting with a fortune 500 company. Without further delay, his guest post/response:
Having studied philosophy, morals and ethics a bit I believe that I owe it to people to tell them the truth.
There is more than one way to tell the truth, however. If a little girl’s cat runs away and gets run over (and I know because I have seen it get run over) I won’t tell her the truth – I’ll tell her that most cats that run away get found by nice families and are given a new place to live. Technology needs its own truth – if I were explaining technology to a tribe living in a jungle led by a medicine man with rattles and a string of animal claws who didn’t understand it, the truth I would describe would be something quite different from how I’d word it on my Web site meant for more technically experienced and educated people. I have taught basic computer to people for years – and I know for a fact that these same people often can’t figure out how to set the clocks on their microwaves, VCR’s, etc – you know the old joke from www.internethelpdesk.com (no longer around, I’m afraid), where the tech refers to them all as just “Serious 12 O’Clock Blinkers”.
There are PLENTY of them around – a whole LOT of them around – and a whole LOAD of them are business owners and executives. Special considerations have to be made explaining things to them, because someone told them once (and they will NOT let it go) that there is just one thing and one thing alone that’s important – (when it’s not and hasn’t been for ten years) and if you don’t agree with that, then you’re, well, just no “good”. So if they can’t be educated, you still owe it to them to help them because they’re so ignorant and mis-informed that for their own good you have to take them on as clients because if you don’t, they are going to get ripped off big time.
Morality and ethics are a bit different from “truth” – and maybe more akin to philosophy – where perceptions of reality are shifted based upon whichever philosophy you adhere to (Whether you know it or not – we all view the world through the veil of some kind of philosophy or another). Sometimes I have to help shift someone’s philosophy slightly to let them see an advantage in something I’m proposing.
In general a lot of Web copywriting in the past has relied on print advertising scenarios and solutions (fear tactics, keep up with the Jones’, jump on the bandwagon, be the first in the neighborhood etc. etc.) or whatever else made sales happen as expected. More recently the “Imagine that…” scenario seems to have worked well… but now the Web copywriting model is more of a “dialogue with the people, and do it genuinely, they’ll find you out if you don’t” (with which I agree). But the fact is that in all I do, I personally believe in my true heart of hearts that what I do now, right now, is the right thing or I wouldn’t be doing it. Tomorrow I may learn differently and change – but keeping up with what works today is the best way to do things.
As far as (finite) money goes, making money is a game of musical chairs (visit my site http://www.buildingcapital.us ) to see why someone MUST lose even if everyone did everything exactly right – and everyone was a CPA keeping every rule and doing everything by the book. My job is to get the money that’s out there. Someone has got to get it, I do my job better than most, and I owe it to my family, my wife and my kids to get it first – by convincing those who will get ripped off if they hire someone else that I’m the right man for the job, even if I have to say I agree with his idea that we must do something I know no longer works.
The economy is full of artful and successful con-artists and rip-offs who truly do not care whom they hurt. The economy is such that some will always make it and some will always go bankrupt – and my job, my number one job, my obligation and moral duty, is to do whatever it takes to make sure that the guy living in the tribe in the jungle (whether it be filled with trees or tall office buildings, whether that non-technical guy has a title like chief or CEO, CFO or is just some citizen operating a small to medium family owned business) is to make sure he doesn’t do worse (out of ignorance) by hiring someone not as good as me at performing the services I perform or by hiring someone who is promising the world and is going to rip him or her off for quadruple what I would charge. It is also my duty to lead him in the right direction if the job is beyond me and he needs someone better. I will NOT screw him up just to make money.
My personal morality and ethics play a major role in writing, all the time.
(Image provided by MacieKlew)
Do Your Morals And Values Affect Your Writing?
Ghostwriting -- Is it morally right? If so, when is it and when isn't it?
Celebrities such as 50Cent, Barak Obama, and Britney Spears recently revealed they hired writers and others to add content to social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Guy Kawasaki furthered this debate when he spoke at a conference about having other employees update his Twitter account as well as using Twitterhawk and CoTweet to promote Alltop.
Twitterhawk brings up the issue of spamming. In my opinion, having someone else run your account for you is no different. I can understand that these people are busy. I can even see them avoiding these types of platforms purely for safety reasons. After all, you never realize what you have revealed to the public until it’s too late. However, I honestly feel that if you are going to brand these things as personal rather than as a general business thing, having someone else do all the work defeats the purpose.
Ghostwriting is not a new idea. It’s a popular form of writing that happens all the time, and it has been around for years. I would estimate that 95% of all the writing I do is under someone else’s name.
Is it morally wrong? No, but it depends on several variables. What image is that person projecting? What points are they trying to make? Today’s world is all about transparency and honesty, and if you haven’t got that, you are going to be left behind..
If someone offered the right amount of money, would I write content for a celebrity to send out on Twitter or Facebook?
I would like to say no, but I’m not sure. It would really depend on how the material was being presented. If it was no secret that writers were supplying the information or if there were a few personal posts or tweets in between and others knew. I could live with that.
When would I refuse a writing project?
Adult content pays a lot of money. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot more than any other topic, generally speaking of course. Would I take these projects? Anyone who looks at my copywriting services page knows I won’t take adult content. I also won’t take anything that could wind me up in jail.
I’m no prude and I even enjoy the odd romance novel (ok, ok, more than just the odd one…Ok, fine, pretty much any of them that gives an image of Fabio on the cover. If he’s wearing chainmail and swinging a sword, all the better.) I just would never feel right about writing them myself. Also, in my opinion, there is a big difference between a romance novel and all-out porn.
I have nothing against the porn industry. I mean, if you are involved either in the production or on the buying side, that’s fine. It’s completely your choice. It just isn’t something I choose to be involved in.
For me, it’s all about morals and respect. Think about this: you’re in the middle of writing some smutty article and you look up to see your kid standing right there…yeah. It just isn’t going to happen.
I had trouble writing for a women’s lingerie company. Still not something I write with my kid around, but my opinion on lingerie is that it’s all about building self-confidence in the women who wear it; it has nothing to do with guys.
What about you? Do your morals and values enter into your writing? Does it dictate what you write about something, or what subjects you take on?
(image for today’s post taken by striatic)
Secrets of Successful Freelance Writers
This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of the top online colleges. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com. Holly taught elementary for two years before becoming interested in writing full time for a variety of online publications with venues in education and nursing. She has a special interest in writing and journalism and spends much of her time writing.
A successful freelance writing career takes a lot of time, energy, and effort to cultivate. Although it is not the easiest field to break into, it is far from impossible. Getting started on the right foot is the most important thing when it comes to being successful as a freelancer. What follows is a brief list of best practices used by professional freelance writers that will ultimately yield results if practiced regularly.
Learn a Variety of Styles
With the internet, it has never been easier to learn a wide variety of styles and techniques employed by successful writers. There are many places dedicated to web copy writing, article writing, and eBook writing. So many avenues for getting your writing out there exist that it’s really up to you as a writer as to how and where you want to focus your abilities.
Get Organized
It is of paramount importance that you get yourself organized as a professional freelancer. Whether it’s using to-do lists, sophisticated electronic productivity software, or using post-its, you must find a method that works for you and stick with it. Organization, especially when the projects begin to roll in, can make or break your career.
Produce Prolifically
When you are first getting started, you will need to work hard on creating a large catalog of work to have at your disposal. Examine what is popular each day and try to create one article based on that topic. Besides that, work on carving out your niche and develop articles and stories based on your area of expertise.
Maintain Your Own Blog or Site
If you maintain your own blog or website, you are in control of what is published. You can begin to make a name for yourself by regularly creating posts and articles and then publishing them for readers. Use social networking tools and get the word out. You are in control, so take the reins and take charge of your destiny and your reputation as a writer.
Actively Seek Out Work
Whether it’s writing copy for a local business advertisement or creating “Top Five” articles for bloggers, try to always have a project in the pipeline. Treat each one with the dignity and respect it deserves, whether it pays you five dollars or five-hundred. This will help to ensure that you are giving all of your writing endeavors the time and attention they deserve.
Everyone’s a Critic — How to Deal with It
Netta from WordWebbing.com wrote an excellent post on how writers are their own worst critics and how to deal with it. I am guilty as charged. I am have always been a harsh critic of myself. In fact, I’m harder on myself than I would ever consider being on anyone else. (Instead of treating others how you want to be treated, maybe writers should reverse that?)
Writers suffer from the same ailment as musicians, artists, actors, and actresses — our work is under intense scrutiny from the client right from the beginning. Then, every single person who reads what you have written will further critique the content, concept, and technical aspects of the piece. Will they like it? Not like it? Part of it? Is it enough? What do you do when someone shares their thoughts and opinions?
Be Open Minded
Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it. The important thing is that you keep your mind open enough to truly hear and understand opposing views and ideas. Instead of thinking of it as criticism, look at it as the ideal opportunity to discover how others think and learn from it and expand your horizons. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with any of it.
Consider The Source
Keep in mind that everyone has an opinion regardless of whether that person knows anything about the subject or not. Just because he or she chooses to share it doesn’t mean it should automatically determine your choices and decisions. When you receive positive or negative criticism, take from it what you can and let it go. This doesn’t hold true in all situations. If your customer makes some criticisms of your work, you don’t necessarily have to translate this into your other work, but do as they ask and keep that feedback for future use.
Don’t Take It Personal
This is likely the most common reason for conflict between critics/editors and writers. When someone provides feedback, it is nothing more than an opinion about your work that may or may not contain helpful information to make it even better. Even though it can be a tough thing to swallow, it isn’t a personal attack. In fact, the other person wouldn’t say anything unless they wanted to see the piece improve. Hence, this is a good thing.
It doesn’t matter if you are looking at a Rembrandt painting, watching a Shakespearian play, or reading Robert Browning, all of them have withstood criticisms. We are subject to it eventually. It’s what we choose to do with these criticisms that make the difference.
What do you do? How do you deal with criticism?
