Entries from February 2008 ↓

So, you’re a great writer.

Maybe even a terrific writer.

Probably even a better writer than I am.

But for some reason, you can’t seem to make any money doing it.  You go on, day by day, pounding away quality content on your keyboard, but you can’t seem to catch a break.  No one wants to hire you to write articles for their web sites, or your blog hovers at just a few readers.  Why is this?  Isn’t content king, when it comes to Internet writing?

Yes.  Content is King.  If you don’t write good content, no one will want to read it.  And as you know, readers means money, whether you’re writing content for someone else or for yourself.

But content isn’t alone in its role as making money.  Content may be king, but marketing is the queen of Internet writing.

So, how do you market your Internet writing?  The answer to that question is going to vary a little bit based on the type of Internet writing that you do.  However, there are several proven tactics that can help you get started on the right path. 

Tactic #1:  Use Web Site Marketing 

Create a web site or blog profiling yourself and your writing.  This technique is more reactive marketing, as opposed to proactive, but it is absolutely essential, especially if you are trying to land Internet writing contracts.  Keep this blog or web site professional.  Don’t put too much personal information and don’t treat it as a diary.  That might be fine for some other types of blogs, but you want to project an image of professionalism here.  Angela Booth has some further advice for building your web presence as a writer.

Tactic #2:  Sell Yourself

This tactic has worked well for me in the past.  When I was trying to find clients for my writing, I would search for web sites that had content or product related to the topic I wanted to write about.  I would then email the webmasters a sample article or two, along with a brief paragraph about the value that my writing would add to their site, and about how I could drive traffic to their web site using Search Engine Optimization.  I would close the e-mail asking for a sale.  In some cases, if I could see that the web site was run by a specific individual and they listed contact information, I might even give them a follow-up call in a couple of days to see if they got the e-mail, and if they had any questions.  This technique relies a lot on your personal charisma and sales ability, and you have to get used to being rejected a lot before you get some gigs from this technique.  However, I discovered 3 of my top 5 longest-lasting clients this way.

Tactic #3:  Leverage Your Existing Client Base

Success in Internet writing, as it is in many areas, is often more about who you know than what you know.  Once you have done some Internet writing for a given client and that client is happy with the work, you can use that client to help spread the word.  You might, after doing a few writing jobs for the client, ask if they would provide a link back to your portfolio web site.  You might ask them to be certain to let their peers and other business contacts know about your availability. 

The downside to this tactic is that, unless you’re an Internet writing phenom, this won’t happen by itself.  You usually have to ask someone for a recommendation.  Unfortunately, the opposite is also true:  if you screw up work for a client, it is likely that the news will spread like wildfire.  To avoid this, there are only two things you can do:  1)  don’t screw up, and 2) try to do damage control when you do screw up.

Tactic #4:  Use Article Directories

Most article directory web sites will provide you with a link back to your web site from within the article’s byline.  In other cases, the link will take you to an “About Me” type of a page on the article directory’s web site.  Put some time and energy into your “About Me” pages on article directory web sites in order to maximize their marketing potential.  But be careful here:  some article web sites stipulate that you are not to provide personal contact information or try to promote your own site in any way other than providing a link.

There you have it.  If you can master these 4 simple techniques, you will greatly increase your ability to market your Internet writing.

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Search engine optimization, or ”SEO” for short, is the method by which you increase your web site traffic from search engines by using natural search results for your specific keywords.  SEO is the method by which a webmaster can get their site ranked higher (or closer to the front page) in a search engine.  If you would like to see SEO in action, do the following:

• Open the Google.com search page. 
• type the words “dungeons and dragons blog” in the search box, and click the “Google Search” button.
• On the first page of listings, (often right around #4 or so) you will see The DMs Blog at DnDReviews.com come up:

That’s my D&D blog.  I have search engine optimized that site so that it will rank high for the keywords, “dungeons and dragons blog.”  I get around 20-30 visits to The DMs Blog every week based on that particular search.

There are other SEO-related topics, so many in fact that there are entire web sites devoted to SEO.  In fact, SEO is quickly becoming a profession in its own right, with people whose only job is to make web sites rank higher in search engines.

Why do you need to understand SEO?

In terms of Internet writing, SEO refers to the placement and saturation of specific keywords within an article.  I won’t go into the details about how to do that here, but suffice it to say that SEO is as much an art as it is a science.  I am hoping to get a post up about SEO and Internet writing in the next couple of weeks, but for now you should consider checking out Yaro Starak’s Top 8 Search Engine Optimization Techniques.  Much of the advice there is aimed at website SEO, rather than the writing component of SEO, but it is a valuable read nevertheless.

If you can master SEO techniques in your Internet writing, your writing will increase in value.  If, for example, you can write your article in such a way as to place a client’s web site on the first page or two of Google search results for a given keyword, you offer more to that client than someone who can just write an article on a given topic.  Mastering SEO makes you more marketable as an Internet writer.  Mastering SEO will give you a leg up on your competition, and make you more money from your Internet writing.

photo credit: gordonwatts

Almost everyone I talk to these days, when I tell them that I am blogging, asks me, “You making any money on that?”  While Darren Rowse may have moved on from calling himself a “Blogger” to calling himself a “publisher,” there are still many people who instantly think “money” when they hear the word “blog.”

It could be that you have been blogging for a while because you enjoy writing about a specific topic.  Maybe you’ve wondered, recently, if you can make money doing it.  You could be at the other end of the spectrum:  maybe you are new to blogging, and want to blog solely for the purpose of making money.  However it is that you got here, and no matter what your background is in relationship to blogging, if you’ve never made money online using blogs there are a handful of basic principles you need to follow:

1. Traffic is Key.  The amount of money you make online using blogs is directly proportionate to the number of eyes that see your blog on a daily basis.  20 or 30 sets of eyeballs isn’t going to do it;  in most cases, 200 or 300 sets of eyeballs isn’t going to do it, either.  You need thousands of eyeballs zeroing in on your blog to make money.
2. Content is King.  I’ve said it before.  You’ve heard it before.  Good content is indeed the “holy grail” of blogging.  Good content is what separates your blog from all of the other millions of blogs out there, and good content is what will keep people coming back again and again.
3. Knowledge is Crucial.  There are a bunch of different ways to make money online using blogs, but not all of them will work for your blog.  You’ve got to be familiar with the different types of monetization strategies available, from context ads to direct advertising to affiliate programs.  You’ve got to know your options well enough that you can try them all out, and see which ones perform best.
4. Patience is a Necessity.  The cold hard truth is that making money online using blogs takes time. Most bloggers quit blogging, or at least quit trying to make money online using their blog, within just a few months, long before there is any real potential there to make money.  It can take six months, a year, or even more for a blog to begin making money.  It can take significantly longer than that for the amount of money a blog makes to become a reliable source of income. However, if you can stick with it blogging through those lean seasons early on, you are more likely to reap fat rewards in the long run.

The question of whether or not to use a pen name for your Internet writing depends, in part, on several factors, including:

• The type of Internet writing you do
• The topic of your Internet writing
• How you intend to use your Internet writing.

Let’s break each of these down, shall we?

The type of Internet Writing you do

Are you writing fiction or nonfiction?  Are you writing personal stories, or are you writing how-to articles?  The type of writing you do directly affects whether or not you will want to use a pen name.  For example, If you are writing a blog about parenting and want to be able to tell stories about and post pictures of your children, you should probably consider using a pen name.  An excellent example of this is The Pioneer Woman.  This blog is extremely popular, but the writer gives away no identifying information whatsoever about her or her family.  She doesn’t even tell what state she lives in.  This allows her the freedom to post pictures of her husband (”The Marlboro Man”) and her family in anonymity.

 Even fiction vs. nonfiction matters in this question.  Many, if not most, novelists choose to use a pen name.  This is true of many authors, from Stephen King to Anne Rice.  Using a pen name in fiction has been a longstanding tradition.  For this reason, you might consider using a pen name if you are writing fiction.

The topic of your Internet writing

Even Anne Rice used a pseudonym when she wrote Erotica.  The same is true for Nora Roberts.  If your topic is controversial, you might consider using a pseudonym so that you are not personally affected in a direct way by the possible negative reaction to your topic.  Take for example my friend and fellow blogger Thomas Carlyle.  Thomas runs a successful blog about historical topics.  He tends to take controversial positions on some issues, and so to keep his career safe he has set up a pseudonym for himself.

Another reason to use a pseudonym might be that you are writing on a topic that is specific to one gender.  For example, if you are writing about pregnancy and are a man, you might choose to use a female pen name so as to avoid having your credibility called into question based on your gender.  I have done this in the past, although today I prefer to stamp my own name on my writing, knowing that I may lose some more close-minded readers.

How you intend to use your Internet writing

Some of the most lucrative Internet writing gigs that I have had have been ghostwriting.  This means that, essentially, I will never be able to get credit for the writing.  I can’t list it on a resume, and I can’t include the writing in my portfolio.  About the best I can do is to ask the client if I can give out their contact information as a reference, which about half of my ghostwriting clients decline.  That sort of Internet writing is strictly gun-for-hire type work, and the benefits I get from it are almost always solely financial.

On the other hand, take this blog.  This blog hasn’t made me any money (yet!)  But making money isn’t the focus of this blog.  This blog is simply here so that I can make connections with other Internet writers, so that we can learn from one another and encourage one another.  Those are personal human relationships, and I don’t think I’d be as comfortable using a pen name in this case.  If I’m going to connect with you, I want it to be the real me connecting with the real you.

You and I have the best job in the world.

Why do I say that?  Because every time I submit work to a client, I know that I am providing that client with something meaningful; something of value.  Not everyone can do what you and I do.  The ability to produce well-written, accurate, readable content that is also Search Engine Optimized is a talent that few people have.

Let’s think for a minute about your average web site.  Let’s take The Drudge Report as an example.  Matt Drudge had made millions of dollars on his web site, yet he only rarely produces any content himself.  While Drudge did break the Monica Lewinsky story, the vast majority of the information on Matt’s site is content produced by others (news web sites, in this case).  Matt Drudge isn’t a writer; but without writers, he would still be a struggling beat photographer for a local paper.

photo credit: desi.italy

You see, a web site rises and falls on the content that it provides to its visitors.  While there certainly are other models of content (such as videos, games, and social networking) the most successful web sites over time have been those that have good content. 

You and I have helped to make that happen.  That, my friends, is a good feeling.  The feeling that you are needed.  The feeling that your life and your work have value. 

Every time I visit the web site of my biggest and oldest client, I feel proud.  I know that she has gotten to where she is at, at least in part, because of me.  I’m OK with the fact that I use a pen name on her web site, and can never tell you who I really am.  It doesn’t matter.  I can still look at it and say, I made this.  This is pretty cool.