Writing Articles For $$$ And My Brain

Discussion in 'Self Employment' started by Richard Paradon, May 7, 2015.

  1. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    The good ones post from experience too or at least take the time to do the right kind of research. Most new forums never make it past the first year or so because no one wants to join an empty forum, and the administrator gets discouraged, doing a lot of work for nothing. A lot of people aren't comfortable developing their topics, while they are perfectly comfortable joining in on a discussion already in progress so unless there are already discussions going on, no one will start one. These services can help a new forum get started. Another common tactic, which I have used in every forum that I have started, is to open a half dozen fake accounts and talk to myself until actual people finally join in. Then the alter egos can fade away. So yeah, it wouldn't make any sense to have a forum full of people who are paid for posting because, then, it might use forum software, but it wouldn't be a forum. Although I know a couple of people who have started forums in sellable niches, paid people to get them going, then sold the forums at a profit, after which they probably died because the paid members weren't there anymore. Every couple of months, I get an offer to buy this forum but I don't even respond so I don't know what they're offering.

    A similar thing that my wife and I have both done, as part of our search engine optimization services, might be considered spamming, except that we did it in such a way that no one viewed it that way. While most forum spammers will join a forum, then immediately post links to whatever site they were being paid to promote. That was our job too, but we did it differently. Rather than posting a link that would simply be removed by the first moderator who came along, we would join the forum and post to the topics that were there, becoming part of the forum, and contributing useful content to its threads, but keeping an eye open for an opportunity to drop the link in a place and time when it was on-topic and not seen as spam. Generally, those links would remain, but our clients would have to realize what they were paying us for and appreciate that we were giving them a link that would remain rather than a spam link that would be removed within hours or days.

    The problem was that, among our clients, we had a couple of law firms, an insurance company, and a sign maker, as well as clients who were promoting websites focused on various types of sports, such as football. Because of this, of course, we had to learn enough about these things, for which we had little or no experience, and largely no interest, in order to be able to participate as an actual member of these forums. At one time, I was a member of a half dozen football forums, trying to pretend that I gave a damn about the sport, despite the fact that I have never watched an entire football game in my life.

    When we were doing this as a part of our living, we found it best to remain a part of these forums so that the next time we got a football client, we wouldn't have to go through the buildup before we could drop our link. So, every week or so I'd drop in and make a couple of posts.

    As a forum administrator, I don't mind someone promoting a site as long as they take the time to contribute some useful content to the forum, as well, and it's best if they don't run away once they've dropped their link.

    As for content writing, a huge portion of the market is dominated by people from India, who not only don't write in English as a first language but are also likely to spin content, changing enough words in an article they wrote for someone else so that it doesn't get caught in a plagiarism filter, essentially selling the same article to multiple people.

    Because of this, there is a huge gap in the amount of money that someone can earn from content writing. Most of the online content marketing companies have Indian writers who will supply content for next to nothing, and when a client indicates that he is willing to pay more for better content, as I have done a few times, what they receive is the same stuff they could have gotten for far less, with the marketing company making a larger profit. While there are a lot of content marketing sites that are looking for content writers, the amount of money that the writer can make is very little, so the usual product is trash.

    However, there is a huge demand for quality writing. When you consider that pretty much every company in the world is online today, you've got to realize that most of these are not owned by people who want to spend their time writing content for their site, nor do they employ staff who do that. Several sites have blogs, and these blogs are rarely maintained by the business owners or their staff. Most of that stuff is outsourced, and quality writing can command a quality price. The problem is getting into the market, and persuading potential clients that you are not going to give them something written by someone who doesn't even speak English and that you won't be selling the same content to someone else. The ones who make the most money from their writing are in business for themselves and have probably spent a significant amount of time building up their reputations and business.

    We have a few sites in this genre listed in our SEO Content Writing category at Aviva, including a couple of the India-based ones, as well as some of the better quality services.

    Note how I snuck in a link.
     
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  2. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    @Ken Anderson Thanks for all that info. That explains a lot about forums I didn't know. I knew on some of the forums I was on, that some were writing about things they knew little or nothing about. Why would anyone claim to have a life altering nerve disorder? That baffled me. Now I know. On one forum, a guy claiming to be a retired Pharmacist, claimed he had formulated a herbal mix that had helped many. He had several responding how they had tried it and it was unbelievable. The few I knew to be real sufferers that did try it and found it to be nothing, were moderated closely and anything they posted negative was removed as personal attacks. Now what was going on is a lot clearer.
     
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    Last edited: Nov 28, 2019
  3. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    I learned a few years back that writing non fiction books often consisted of merely researching past books on the subject and then putting them together in new ways. If the timing was right, you had a best seller!
    The most comprehensive book I have on nutrition and health was copywrited (?) copywrote (?) copywritten oh pooh, in the 1970's. It is HUGE. But I am not sure it was popular. A lot of books on the same subject have followed with information that could have come right from that book.
    Today there are new books with new information about health and nutrition that is actually quite old. It is back IN again. Maybe rewritten, but new.
     
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  4. Ed Marsh

    Ed Marsh Very Well-Known Member
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    Good morning to all-
    I do enjoy doing research for my writing, but to be honest, I rarely use internet sources for anything other than reference and as a way to find a real source I could contact and speak with. It is so very easy for horribly inaccurate and harmful "information" to be posted to internet sites, and there is very little if any quality control and accuracy checking. My sources are real people I speak with or exchange personal emails with-I will use material in print or online IF I know the source as reliable.
    My writing is sold to print and online magazines, and much of my work is done on monthly specific topic column assignments. My editors know me, and they know what kind of work I do, so I usually don't have much trouble getting my work published and paid for.
    But anyone who plans on making a living at writing magazine articles- there are easier ways to starve to death. Magazine writing is a good source of disposable income, but it's not a good way to make a living. And book writing? .
    I've done a number of books on different topics, but since I don't write about sex, violence, or other popular but shaky topics, I haven't made much at all on books.
    But writing for print and online publications is a very good way to keep the little grey cells working and also make a few bucks- and that's a pretty good thing, I think.

    you all be safe and keep well- Ed
     
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  5. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    Seems like you enjoy it and long as it doesn't hurt anyone then why not. Good for you.
     
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  6. Ed Marsh

    Ed Marsh Very Well-Known Member
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    Good morning to all-

    Nope, what I do doesn't hurt anyone, and i do enjoy it.
    I will always try to do meaningful, positive work as long as I can do it to an acceptable level.
    If I ever get to the point where life is nothing but sitting around and complaining about others, I'd just as soon be out of life at that point.

    you all be safe and keep well- Ed
     
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  7. Marie Mallery

    Marie Mallery Veteran Member
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    Good point Ed.
     
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  8. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    My mother had a large collection of nutritional books from as far back as before I was even born. Can you tell me which nutrition book you are referring to that was HUGE and from the 70’s , @Mary Stetler ?
    I agree with you about the rewritten thing, and especially now with online books like Kindle. I see several books for a topic I am looking for, and they will say the same thing in the description of the book, but show a different author, so they have just been copied and rewritten and a totally new book.
     
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  9. Mary Stetler

    Mary Stetler Veteran Member
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    This one is Staying Healthy with Nutrition by Elson M Haas. It is a fabulous book. I am not impressed by anything else he did, though. Actually, upon checking, it was copywritten in '92, not '72:rolleyes:
     
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