Words on the Page

6 Ways to Get More from Your Marketing

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Cruel and Beautiful World by Grouplove Want the highest return on your marketing investment? A recent survey of Chief Marketing Officers at Fortune 1000 companies showed that in-person meetings and events delivered the highest return on investment than any other marketing effort. One place to find a concentration of potential clients is the conference.That’s the…

Oh, My Aching…

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Nothing again — getting the car back today Want the highest return on your marketing investment? A recent survey of Chief Marketing Officers at Fortune 1000 companies showed that in-person meetings and events delivered the highest return on investment than any other marketing effort. One place to find a concentration of potential clients is…

All Things Green and Otherwise

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Nothing. Car is in the shop. 🙂 Slieve League, County Donegal What a nice week it’s been! I connected with not one, but three new clients, and I completed a draft and provided another client with an outline. I have yet to actually speak with the third client, but given the…

4 Places to Spend Your Marketing Budget

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Today’s Cross by Frightened Rabbit New Self-Study Course: Learn how to market and gain clients by attending conferences! Limited-time offer on the 8 Steps to Conference Marketing Success e-course — plus a one-month membership to the 5 Buck Forum! Click here to get started now. I don’t know about you, but it usually takes me…

Marketing Down a One-way Street Going Up

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Almost Famous by Eminem Special Announcement: Learn how to market and gain clients by attending conferences! Limited-time offer on the 8 Steps to Conference Marketing Success e-course — plus a one-month membership to the 5 Buck Forum! Click here to get started now. I need a few fewer weekends that leave me feeling more spent…

How to Totally Suck at Marketing

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Eyes Wide Open by Gotye Special Announcement: Learn how to market and gain clients by attending conferences! Limited-time offer on the 8 Steps to Conference Marketing Success e-course — plus a one-month membership to the 5 Buck Forum! Click here to get started now. Interesting day yesterday — interesting in that train-wreck…

Marketing Rule of Seven: Revisited

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Blue Eyes by Middle Brother It’s been a slow start to the week. I’ve had plenty of time to focus on some marketing, and so far this week I’ve had more responses from potential clients than I had in all of February, what with those 51 LOIs. Pretty cool when their…

5 Marketing Myths That Are Killing Your Writing Business

Posted on by lwidmer

What I’m reading: Setting Free the Bears by John Irving What’s on the iPod: Life by The Avett Brothers March has come in like a lamb. Okay, here it’s more like a cold lamb looking for a scarf, but it’s been mild. Hopefully that will change come Wednesday when we’re expecting what could be a…

Monthly Assessment: February 2013

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Beg, Steal or Borrow by Ray LaMontagne & the Pariah Dogs Rabbit! Happy March. May it be coming in like a lamb for you wherever you are. For those of you new to the blog (welcome!), it’s that time once again to put a little accountability into our actions or lack…

Writers & Promotion at the Hands of Strangers

Posted on by lwidmer

What’s on the iPod: Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright Great news: new low pricing on my ebook, Marketing 365! Loaded with daily strategies that will kick-start your marketing program–just $4.95. Click on the link to the right to get started right now. We’re nearly finished with February — is that possible? Before we wave goodbye to…

Paula

This is precisely why I don't click links people send me about great articles they saw on Huffington Post. I refuse to patronize a site that I know doesn't pay the vast majority of its writers.

I do know of one writer who's a paid HuffPo staffer. I like her as a person, but no longer click the links she tweets to her stories. If they can pay her, they can pay all of their writers.

Writers Worth Month can't get here soon enough.

(See how I did that, Lori? You started with Day, I kept saying Week. You started calling it Week, now I'm calling it Month. Slick, huh?)

Lori

Really slick, Hendrickson. 😉

Actually, you did manage to persuade me to make last year's celebration a month long. 🙂 It's tiring, but it's worth it if one person decides to expect more.

I don't click on HuffPo links, either. Nor will I visit eHow, Demand, or any sites that won't pay writers well, or at all.

Paula

Yeah, it goes without saying that the only way I'd click a content mill's link would be by accident.

Cathy Miller

I know we've had this discussion before, but if the bloggers/writers would stop doing it for free, the site would either have to change its policy or sink.

However, it was pretty funny to observe the interviewer's demeanor when he started spinning his feel good (?) stories. I was waiting for her to shout, Whatever, Dude. 🙂

Michael

The other day on I received a new posting in a group I belong too on my LinkedIN profile. It was from a website called Ghostbloggers.net.

Me being the skeptic I am, I had to review it further if only for my own curiosity. I looked at the site and there is a section for writers and bloggers to contribute work which then gets sold to people/businesses looking for content.

The site acts as a distribution site on a writers behalf. I was mortified.

After digging a little deeper, I discovered that the writer only gets paid $3.50/100 words and only gets payment to their PayPal accounts after hitting the minimum payout of $25.00 According to the site, 550 words can net about $19.00US

I'm very outspoken so I had to say something to this gentleman about the site. Here is what I wrote:

"Please don't take offense to this but in my opinion, this site undermines the value of good writing, freelance writers and the industry as a whole. This is merely a content-mill with a middle man. Writing isn't a product that can be boxed up and sold in a store.

How did you arrive at the $3.50/100 word payout? And a minimum cash out value of $25? That's ridiculous. Any self respecting writer, whether they are just starting out or have years of experience would not sign up for this.

I will NOT be visiting, endorsing or using your site at any time, now or in the future.
Good Luck with your site."

Too bad my comment was deleted.

Even though I am not a fulltime freelance writer, I value the craft and the business of writing. I value the writers who are out there working and maintaining a level of professional integrity that allows newbie writers like me to be paid fairly.

Sometimes I can be quite the idealist but I think too many people take writing and writers for granted. While everyone can write, not everyone can write well.

I'm not a perfect writer but I will not pan handle on sites like this just to get paid. Beggars can be choosers if you choose wisely.

Devon Ellington

Building on what Michael said, those sites — and the writers who work for them — hurt ALL of us who are busting our butts to make a living, because people just getting used to the idea of hiring writers think we should work for a pittance or "exposure".

Then, of course, they get crap in return, and wonder why they should have to pay at all. Where, if they hired a pro at a reasonable rate, they'd get quality first time out.

Lori

Michael, I'm sorry your comment was deleted, too. Says something about the person running the place, doesn't it?

Utterly ridiculous offer. That's not a place serious writers should ever give their work to. Unfortunately, there are a lot of non-serious writers out there. What really frustrates me though? Seeing writers climb over each other to "win" this type of job. What the hell are they thinking?

Devon, having been replaced by a writer who agreed to $25 a blog post, I know exactly what happens to those clients. In fact, that one came back begging me to work for them again, only I got to choose my rate that time.

People who won't pay what I'm worth are not my clients.

Jake P

I find this hilarious. I mean, weren't these same folks bent out of shape when they didn't get a share of Ariana's fortune when she sold to AOL? Did they not learn anything? Do they have even a lick of business acumen?

Anyway, Darwin will have his way with them.

Lori

It is a bit daft, isn't it Jake? They went OFF because Oh no! They just realized they weren't being paid (really??)! Then this? Sweet Mother of All, how daft.

Gabriella F.

Oh, man, you just got me started. I won't rant on and on, but I'll say two things.

1. I won't read HuffPo for exactly this reason.

2. Another writer friend and I were just talking about this. Her husband's friend was a writer at a big-city newspaper and got laid off. All the while, the wife was touting that her articles (unpaid, of course) were getting picked up on HuffPo. My writer friend: And they didn't see the connection!

I preach to everybody: DO NOT WORK FOR FREE. IT'S A FOR-PROFIT CORPORATION.

Lori

AMEN, Gabriella! You're preaching what I'm hearing!

The scenario you described –this is the kind of stuff that's killing journalism. How long before that seeps into other areas, such as marketing and customer communications?

Paula

BTW – did anyone notice Doonesbury's recurring storyline about a downsized reporter reduced to writing for HuffPo?

A favorite one had him trying to get an interview and being asked if he was a paid or unpaid HuffPo blogger.

Michael

I got a response back from the guy who started the site. Instead of addressing my question he deflected it by asking why I didn't have any connections yet on the site. I replied but before hitting the "send" button, I did some digging of my own. Found out his experience and credentials are focused on web design and I.T.

Instead of getting into it with someone who clearly has no appreciation of writers,I took the high road, deleted my comment and stated I won't be using his site any time soon and wished him good luck.

Just thought I'd share my experience with your fans / followers.
Cheers!

Lori

Michael, good for you. I don't know that I'd have had the same restraint. 🙂 I think his deflection is more telling than any answer he might have offered. He doesn't have the answer because he knows what you say is true — it's a crap job paying crap wages. He has no criteria for why he's not paying more. Maybe that's what he had in his pocket at the time. Maybe he wanted to see how low writers would go. Maybe he thought "Hey! I have a spare fifty bucks–let me see how far I can stretch it." Or maybe he thinks that a writer isn't worth more than a Happy Meal.

Or maybe he's just a jerk who would be highly offended if the shoe was on the other foot?

Jenn Mattern

I saw that video, and I couldn't do much more than laugh, shut it down, and take my self-respect elsewhere. The guy was clearly oblivious. She handled him well. I probably would have broken down and punched him in the nose.

Lori

Jenn, I would have paid money to see that. 🙂 What gets me is they keep parroting the same BS without missing a beat. If it's such a great deal, how about HE tries it?

Right. That's not happening. 🙂