We landed the social media part of this account quite by accident. The person who contacted us is an editor at a magazine. She’s overwhelmed and needed someone she could outsource their blog’s upkeep to. She was so relieved to find out that we did social media as well. It just so happens that they have a Twitter account (and a blog) that was only updated sporadically.

So, our job is to keep the blog updated with content and update their Twitter stream, which of course would include tweeting the content we create for them.

SEO Content Writing and Social Media: It’s So Easy to Bundle Services and Earn More

As an SEO writer, you can easily increase the amount you earn from each client by offering social media account management. They are a match made in marketing heaven because as an SEO writer, you already do the hard part, ie, creating the content. Distributing it (via the client’s social media account for one) is the next natural step.

FYI, the article, 12 things to do after you write a blog post, give some excellent insight how and where to distribute SEO content after it’s written (see number 8 and 10, specifically).

You’ve read here many times that I’m an avid article marketer. And the reason is, you can write the best content in the world, but if no one reads it, it’s as effective as diddly squat! I argue that distribution is just as important as creating the content. One isn’t effective without the other.

So, if you don’t already, you might want to consider adding social media consulting to your SEO writing business’s list of services. The social media component of this clients’ contract is about 20% of the total contract. If this client is with us for a year, just that part of it alone is a nice chunk of change.

Just something to think about.

FYI, here’s more insight into the benefits of bundling your freelance (SEO) writing services.

Best,
Yuwanda
P.S.: Start your SEO writing career today!

P.P.S.: In One Week, Train for a Career That Allows You to Earn Enough to REALLY Quit Your Day Job: Get SEO Copywriting Training Today. Course materials will be emailed to you within 24 hours (excluding holidays/weekends).

Want to avoid freelance writing dry spells by making extra money as an affiliate marketer? Learn how to earn $50-$150/day online pretty seamlessly in the best-selling ebook, How to Make Money Placing Ads on Free Classified Ad Sites.

Copyright © 2012: All material on this site is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the publisher’s written consent (linking to is fine).

Question from a Newbie about Whether to Use Bid-for-Pay Sites to Land SEO Writing Jobs

I want to say that I have been following you for a couple of months now and you inspire and educate those of us who dream of doing what you are doing.

I’ve read several of your books from cover to cover and have learned a lot. However, I do have a question. Do you still recommend following the same route of emailing companies as you did if I do not have much experience? Or should I spend time working on the bidding sites to gain experience? I’m not sure if the higher-paying companies even pay attention to that kind of experience.

The reason I ask this is that I do not have a degree in English or any publishing or writing background except for the bidding sites. I’ve sent out 20-25 emails to SEO companies and article writing companies and have not received a response. It is rather discouraging, but I thought it might be my lack of experience that is limiting me. One year of writing experience does not sound as impressive as two or five years.
 
I’m just wondering if you would suggest gaining more experience before pursuing the method you used.
 
Thank you for your time and all of the inspiring words you give us.

My Response

First, thanks for letting me know that what I do inspires and educates you. I can never hear this too much and always sincerely appreciate it when readers like you take the time to let me know.

In answer to your questions, first let me say, sending out 25 emails is nothing. You’re just getting started. I’ve addressed this question before here on this blog. Read this post on how to ensure SEO writing success to gain more in-depth insight.

Think of it this way, you’re starting a full-fledged business. If you’re discouraged after just sending out 25 emails and not getting a response, then you might want to rethink being in business at all (not trying to sound harsh; just being truthful).

I’ve had periods in my freelance writing career where I went months without landing a job (no exaggeration!) – even when I was doing “everything right.” It’s the way of business. But, this is when you need to dig in and work harder.

The Difference Between True Entrepreneurs and Others: Where Do You Fall?

As an aside, I think this is what separates true entrepreneurs from others. True entrepreneurs rarely get discouraged; I’ve found that they’re more likely to get frustrated, aggravated or pissed off. It’s a subtle nuance (ie, the difference between being discouraged and being frustrated), but one worth pointing out in my opinion.

You see, when a person gets frustrated or pissed off, it usually kicks them into a higher gear instead of a depressed state, which is what “discouragement” signals to me. In the case of entrepreneurs, the next gear is one of action, as in “What else can I do to make this work?”  There’s no “give up” in this attitude. Moving on . . .

As for should you try bidding sites, in my opinion, it’s not necessary. As I wrote in this post:

. . . you don’t need a formal education of any kind to become an SEO writer. In fact, one of the beautiful things about starting this type of freelance business is that age, education and experience don’t present barriers of entry. This tends to be true for web writing in general, by the way, compared to say, writing for newspapers  — where experience (and who you know) counts to some degree. 

I freely admit though, I’m prejudiced against these types of sites. In my experience, you waste too much time and have to compete against too many lowballers to land gigs. Here’s a different take on using bid-for-pay sites like Elance to land freelance writing jobs.

I just want to end this post with some things I’ve learned from being self-employed over the years.

Some Small Business Lessons I’ve Learned

I’ve been in business for myself – in one form or another (full-time, part-time) – since 1993. Following are some small business “truisms” I’ve learned. 

Business Is a Series of Peaks and Valleys: That’s just the way it is. So accept it. If you can’t stomach the ups and downs, then being your own boss may not be for you. 

Consistency Is Rewarded: If you have a business plan that you follow consistently – one that has been proven to work (like the one I outline in the SEO writing ebook) – it will pay off.

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times, if you get up every day and do what you’re supposed to do (ie, marketing), you will land clients if all other factors are in place, eg, price, good writing samples, etc. 

For example, I track income daily. Going back three weeks recently, I had a couple of bad weeks. But, I kept marketing. One of my favorite marketing methods is article marketing. My goal for this year was to write and distribute a new article every business day. I’ve missed that goal, but have been able to do about two per week. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve become more consistent, average 3-4 per week.

And you know what? Last week sales picked up significantly, which put my numbers back on track.

My point in relaying this is, when you get consistent with your marketing efforts, the results will speak for themselves. 

Numbers Don’t Lie:  Years ago, I had a business mentor. One of the things he told me was to “get intimate with my numbers.” What he meant was all the numbers of my business, eg, sales numbers, marketing efforts, client retention, etc.

As alluded to above, you can practically “guarantee” your success as an SEO writer by getting consistent with your marketing. And, once you have a few months under your belt, you’ll be able to look back and see it in black and white in a number of ways – how many clients landed, how many contacts made, how much you earn on average from each job, etc. 

It took me years to get intimate with my numbers. Once I did though, boy what a difference it made. It not only stabilized my income, it gave me more peace of mind. Now, I market without even blinking. Even though I never seem to do all I want to do, I have certain marketing tasks I am very consistent with (eg, newsletter publishing).

So, even when I have “off” months, I don’t worry – if I’ve been putting in my marketing effort – because I can look back over a defined period of numbers and see that things do even out.  

If you’re new to freelancing, it will take some time to get comfortable with your numbers and the peaks and valleys of freelancing. But again, once you make it a priority — and if you put in the marketing effort — you can practically guarantee yourself a certain salary.

Marketing Takes Time to Work: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve marketed my butt off, seemingly to no avail. Then, “all of a sudden” – a few weeks or a couple of months later – I’ll be inundated with jobs.

It seems that jobs will just start materializing “out of the blue;” but really, that’s not the case. It’s the marketing that you’ve done weeks or months earlier that’s paying off.

Where many freelancers make mistakes is marketing only when things are slow. But, as I’ve said many times, you should ALWAYS be marketing. This will keep dry spells (which we all have) to a minimum and lead to income stability (at the risk of beating a dead horse). 

You Have to Have Faith: And I don’t mean blind faith, or even religious faith. I mean faith in yourself; in your processes and procedures; and in the fact that if you put in the marketing work, the (in this case) SEO writing jobs will come.

As always, hope this insight helps.

Yuwanda
P.S.: Start your SEO writing career today!

P.P.S.: In One Week, Train for a Career That Allows You to Earn Enough to REALLY Quit Your Day Job: Get SEO Copywriting Training Today. Get $200 Off This Class. How? Send $597 payment to payment@inkwelleditorial.com. Then send an email to info[at]InkwellEditorial.com with “I read the 4/18/2012 issue of Seo Writing Jobs” in the subject line (extremely important). Course materials will be emailed to you within 24 hours.

Want to avoid freelance writing dry spells by making extra money as an affiliate marketer? Learn how to earn $50-$150/day online pretty seamlessly in the best-selling ebook, How to Make Money Placing Ads on Free Classified Ad Sites.

Copyright © 2012: All material on this site is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the publisher’s written consent (linking to is fine).

Question from Two SEO Writers about Google Penguin

 This reader wrote:

 Hi Yuwanda,

Thanks for another newsletter full of great tips. I really don’t know how you manage to do all you do

Anyway, I wanted to ask you a quick question on a different topic not having to do with today’s newsletter-have you heard from any distressed clients about the recent Google “penguin” update last week? I have. 

In fact, my best client (who accounts for over 60% of my work) is panicked because he lost many of his local rankings for his clients. This is a guy who doesn’t do any blackhat stuff, he’s totally ethical and works his tail off (literally day and night) to get his clients ranked. Now he tells me he doesn’t know what to do, that there is no rhyme or reason to what Google is doing. He also put a hold on some regular monthly work I do for him (articles + mass distribution) until the dust settles and they figure out what they have to do to get rankings again. 

From my perspective, I don’t mind the lighter workload since I’m planning to take next week off anyway to travel back home to the good old USA, but of course I’m concerned long-term for SEO companies in general. I have a feeling many of them have been affected by this. And since these are the companies we solicit to build our clientele, I’m wondering how this might affect us down the line.  

Any thoughts you might have on this topic would be greatly appreciated. 
###

Feedback from an SEO Writer about the Google Penguin Update

About a week ago, I’d received another email from a different SEO writer who had referred to Google’s recent update. She wrote, in part: 

I’ve been so swamped with work for [my main client].  He just emailed me last night because he needs 12 emergency landing pages rewritten again.  Apparently, Google Panda [I think she meant Penguin] rolled out yet another update. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this. I really have to carve out time for industry reading, this way I can be ahead of my clients and deliver this important information.

Editor Note: FYI, to stay up to date on SEO, I read WebProNews.com and SearchEngineLand.com regularly.

Google’s Penguin Update: My Thoughts 

Here we go again . . . just like with last year’s Google Panda update, this most recent “major” update by the search giant has sent webmasters and search marketing specialists into a tizzy.

The overall concern I want to address here is the following sentiment expressed by the first SEO writer who wrote, “. . . since these are the companies we solicit to build our clientele, I’m wondering how this might affect us down the line.”

Just like with every other Google update, I think the Penguin update means more work for SEO writers. Following are the two main reasons why.

1. Google Will Always Do Updates: The reason the word major is in quotation marks and italicized above is because Google itself has stated that it does hundreds of updates per year, as discussed in this linked-to post. However, only a few get web-wide attention like Panda (and now Penguin). 

This means that some sites will lose and some sites will win. Proof? All you have to do is follow the travails of DaniWeb after Google’s Panda Update.

No matter what happens, it spells more work for SEO writers because the sites that win need to keep pumping out content to keep their ranking, and sites that lose need to continue to add content – and possibly rewrite/tweak existing content — to reclimb the rankings.

2. The Focus Is Still On Content: The first SEO writer states: 

This is a guy who doesn’t do any blackhat stuff, he’s totally ethical and works his tail off (literally day and night) to get his clients ranked. Now he tells me he doesn’t know what to do, that there is no rhyme or reason to what Google is doing. 

No one knows what goes on in the mind of Google, so instead of focusing on what it “might” be doing, in my opinion, webmasters would do better to focus on what the search giant clearly TELLS us that it’s doing. And according to the company, rewarding quality content is what their changes are all about. 

Matt Cutts, Google’s SEO guru, flat out says as much, stating:

 The goal of many of our ranking changes is to help searchers find sites that provide a great user experience and fulfill their information needs . . . We also want the ‘good guys’ making great sites for users, not just algorithms, to see their effort rewarded. To that end we’ve launched Panda changes that successfully returned higher-quality sites in search results. . .

If your site was hit by Penguin, you should, again, focus on quality content, and not trying to trick Google’s algorithm. [emphasis added] All that Penguin is designed to do is to make Google better at busting you for abusing its algorithm. [Source: WebProNews.com article, Recovering From Google’s Penguin Update]

How to Produce Google-Friendly Content Every Time

FYI, to get your content right, keep Google’s SEO writing guidelines in mind when producing copy. 

“But I’ve Done Everything Right, Why Is Google Penguin Still Punishing My Site?”

As the DaniWeb debacle mentioned above proves, you can still ostensibly do everything right and still get Penguin-slapped. Following are a few solutions.

1. Submit Site for Reconsideration: Remember, “algorithms” are computerized, not human. Hence, sometimes a site that’s not doing anything wrong can get hit. So if you’re sure you haven’t run afoul of any of Google’s webmaster guidelines, submit this form to let Google know that your site was mistakenly penalized by the Penguin update. 

Before you do that however . . .

2. Determine Which Update Caused Your Site to Lose Rank: Google makes over 500 changes to its search algorithm per year. This info is straight from the company itself. Sometimes, these get piggybacked, which means that you could think you’re being penalized by the latest update (in this case Penguin), when your problems could really stem from an earlier update (eg, Panda).

So, how do you find out which update possibly caused your site to lose rank? There’s some insight in this article on how to go about this. 

3. Wait: Sometimes, all you can do is wait. This is hard, particularly for internet marketing firms whose clients are paying them to keep their rankings at a certain level. As an aside, this is why website owners  should be leery of any firm that “promises” that they can get – and keep – your site ranked at a certain level. 

As these updates show, there simply are no 100% guarantees in search.

If you’ve checked and are sure that your site hasn’t violated any of Google’s webmaster guidelines, and you’ve submitted a reconsideration request, all you can do is sit back and wait. Why wait?

Because recovery does happen – even if you don’t do anything. And the reason recoveries happen is because Google is constantly tweaking its algorithms, as the WebProNews.com article, Google Panda Update: More Recovery Stories, states, ie: 

Google continues to tweak the update and make additional algorithm changes, and we’re hearing more stories about recoveries from Panda. SearchMetrics recently reported that various sites it had previously reported as losing search visibility due to Panda had bounced back.

 In that same article, one webmaster noted:

My IFITJAMS site, which got crushed by Panda in April, recovered with no changes in the September update, and is now getting a 3X to 4X boost from the latest Panda.

So sometimes you have to wait for Google to work out the kinks in its algorithm for your site to recover. Note that this could be weeks — or months (sucks, but it’s true).

What to Do While You’re Waiting for Your Site to Recover from a Google Algorithm Update

Create New Content: In my opinion, continue to pump out quality content (content that’s in line with Google’s SEO writing guidelines).

The reason is – and I’ve said this plenty of times before — search engines are like piranha; they love fresh, informative content. So don’t stop producing just because you can’t figure out what you might be doing “wrong.” If the content is relevant and not spammy, produce more, not less – particularly at this time.

Rewrite Existing Content: Many webmasters have sites that have been online for years. This means that older content was likely not created with SEO guidelines in mind. And, even if it was, it might not have been written specifically with what Google has specifically told us it looks for (reminder: Google’s SEO writing guidelines). 

So, it might help to go back and rewrite existing content with this in mind. This is also a perfect opportunity to repurpose/update old content to get more mileage out of it.

Check your site’s meta tags: Although the on-page content may not be keyword stuffed, your meta tags might be. Many webmasters don’t pay attention to these that much these days, but Google does use the description tag, so make sure it’s reflective on what’s on that particular page (NOT what your site is about overall). 

Check site structure: Make sure it helps readers find content easier.

SEO Writers: How to Get Work from Clients Affected by Google Penguin 

I can’t answer how potential clients will react to this latest update. My guess is that some will pull back on their content orders until they figure out how to proceed (as the first freelancer stated); while yet others will forge ahead, ordering more content (and rewrites of existing content) because of the reasons I outlined here.

Either way, don’t panic. There will always be  a need for sites to have content. But when Google does stuff like this, it’s a great time to get proactive and go after more SEO writing jobs. How? An old standby I always recommend to find freelance writing jobs is creating and distributing free reports. In this particular one as it relates to Penguin, you should outline: 

 (i) What the latest update (Google Penguin) is all about: In this case, it’s keyword stuffing;

(ii) How it might have affected their site: Did they lose rank, gain rank, stay the same; and

(iii) How you can help: Use the content-related solutions offered in the “What to Do While You’re Waiting for Your Site to Recover from a Google Algorithm Update” section just above.

Again, by creating and distributing free reports like this, you prove to your clients that you’re on top of your industry and that you’re head and shoulders above the competition (because most freelancers just don’t take the time to produce industry reports to distribute for free).

All of this positions you as an expert – the SEO writing expert that can help them with their content needs.

Related Reading from Around the Web

Google Panda Now A Year Old But Only 13% Fully Recovered

Why Panda is the New Coke

Webspam (aka Google’s Penguin Update) And Panda Updates: Does SEO Still Matter?

As a reminder, all opinions expressed here are my own. I hope they’ve helped.

Best,
Yuwanda
P.S.: Start your SEO writing career today!

P.P.S.: In One Week, Train for a Career That Allows You to Earn Enough to REALLY Quit Your Day Job: Get SEO Copywriting Training Today. Course materials will be emailed to you within 24 hours (excluding holidays/weekends).

Want to avoid freelance writing dry spells by making extra money as an affiliate marketer? Learn how to earn $50-$150/day online pretty seamlessly in the best-selling ebook, How to Make Money Placing Ads on Free Classified Ad Sites.

Copyright © 2012: All material on this site is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the publisher’s written consent (linking to is fine).

Cold Calling Carol: An SEO Writing Series Update

Hello Yuwanda,

I hope all is well and you are doing great. Thanks for answering my question in the last blog post that helped me put things in perspective. 

On other news, as far as my cold calling carol update. I am so swamped with work, I am still trying to find the time to market. I even interviewed some VA’s, I am just in the process of getting the tasks that I want complete, etc.

I just got a money management software program and boy is it an eye opener, it showing where my money is going. [It’s going to] paying other freelancers; I am losing profits because I am not charging enough. I know we talked about this over and over again, but this software is a real eye opener.

Getting SEO Writing Jobs: Marketing Methods That are Bringing in the Dough!

As far as cold calling carol, I just wanted to give your readers some insight into the type of typical projects I received that are keeping me busy. While cold calling, I got me a “diamond client” that I am in love with because he pays my bills and gives me some play money. However, it’s not the only way I get clients.

Believe it or not, I am kind of introverted, but I hunkered down and faced my fear, going to networking events, hosting workshops and getting referrals have paid off. While, I am nowhere near where I need to be financially, I am much much much better than I was 2 years ago.

Getting SEO Writing Jobs: Types of Projects That are Raking in the $$!

I know some of your readers are probably wondering what kind of clients I am getting. So, I thought it would be nice to show them a bit of projects that I had in my pipeline if that’s okay. I really want to help freelance writers and get them out of writing for $3 per article.

I think copywriting is one of the most valuable skills a business owner can have. So here’s a list of my current projects that helps me rake in the cash and make me feel like I have a real business:

1. Tri-Fold Brochure for a Remodeling company: $147.00 (This literally took me 25 minutes to write). 

I had a detailed in person interview with the client and asked him what message he wanted to convey, and wrote down the most important points and elements as he spoke. This is on the low end. I could have charged him more, but I gave him a deal because he pays me monthly for SM Services as well. (Hosted a workshop speaking about social media) then someone told him I was a good writer.

2. 10 SEO articles for an SEO Company who need copy for a [professional services client] (not my client; a different one) $250.00 (cold called the company and built relationship) 

3. 20 SEO Blog post a month for a local directory company that focuses content on local businesses and events: $500.00 (met owner at local networking event)

4. 13 SEO rewrites for an SEO company that needed copy for a plumber $260.00 (I cold called the company and built the relationship)

5. 5 Page Website for a credit restoration company $726.00 (I went to business training event and met client there).

6. 20 SEO pages Remodeling website in a different state $1,000 (I gave this client a hell of a deal because this is for my diamond client’s relative, and my diamond client is paying for it).

Why did I go so low? Because I know my diamond client will give me more work throughout the years and I have an affinity for this market; anyone else and I would have charged way more.

7. Social Media Consulting: $150.00 paid at the beginning of the month for 4 sessions – 4th session free when paid in advance (met client at a business training event; was going for a year, and then we finally sat at the same table and began to talk and exchange cards). He was put on my newsletter list and after reading two of my newsletters, he hired me.

8. Social Media Management for same client above that pays me for consulting $300.00 per month (He owns a local restaurant and an accountant biz).

9. Social Media Management for Air Conditioner repair man $197.00 bare minimum service for that low amount (met at networking event)

10. Social Media Management for local remodeling company $247.00 (same client as # 1 that I hosted a social media workshop).

11. 24 SEO pages for a popular football team $500.00 (diamond client) – repeat business is always good business!

12. 24 additional pages for the same football team by rewrote in a different way: $500 (diamond client) repeat business.

 13. SEO Meta Descriptions (1,000 of them): $1,500 (diamond client) repeat business.

14. And of course, my diamond client keeps me busy, and we are still in works with working out the final logistics of the big project. You bet I will send you an update when I reach that milestone.

Mind you, the SEO company is the one I cold called originally that helped me land my diamond client, and the same SEO company gives me work from time to time.

Cold Calling Carol’s Advice for Other SEO Writers

As you can see most of my income comes from my diamond client, however, as I said before I can’t rely on him forever. 

I get recurring revenue from Social Media and blog posts. So, as your writers can see the field is open for all different type of industries. They can target plumbers, credit restoration companies, general contractors, accountants, nightclub owners — as you know it’s limitless. However, from my personal experience, I think they can make a killing [by landing a “diamond client” like I did] or is it that I lucked out? 

SEO Writing Success Is Sooooo Possible!

I remember how I used to be stuck, and on those elance boards feeling like there was no hope. Now I know the writer’s life was quite possible.

I made $700 in one day last week and then $1,300 for the entire week. That’s more money that I ever made at a job in one week.

FINALLY To the Point of Building an SEO Content Writing Team Via Outsourcing 

Now I am so busy, I have to prepare a budget for a rockstar team (ie, outsource work to other freelancers).

The Secret to SEO Article Writing Success? 

I just wanted to infuse some thoughts into a writer who is thinking about giving up. They just have to hang in there. God knows how many times I wanted to throw in the towel, but I know why I didn’t. And, I think the numbers are exciting to see. I love the fact that I work for so many diverse industries – it works well for my brain! 

I hope this helps!

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Editor Note: Get free articles for reprint for your blog, newsletter, website, etc. at YuwandaBlack.com; a subsidiary site of InkwellEditorial.com, this site’s parent site. Articles cover SEO, ebook publishing, freelance writing, etc.
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MY RESPONSE

Well I told you this was going to be a monster post! Many freelancers are not this generous with the inner workings of their business, so I send out a big thank you to Carol for sharing soooo much specific info.

Following are my thoughts about what she shared . . . . 

SEO Writing Business Lessons You Can Learn from Cold Calling Carol 

RE Earnings:  Keep track of your earnings, or you’ll find that you’re losing money (or earning substantially less, and won’t even realize it. [Related Post: Freelancing and Taxes: 5 Things I Learned When I Filed Taxes This Year That Can Help YOU Earn More Next Year] 

RE Hiring a VA: Heed the tip in this post. I’ll expand upon this in a post here (or on InkwellEditorial.com) soon.

RE Marketing: Facing your marketing fears can pay off in spades, as this freelancer illustrates. So don’t be afraid to branch out and try different things. 

FYI, Cold Calling Carol is not the only freelancer to have success with this method. Jean, the cold calling queen, proves that it’s one of the quickest ways to land freelance writing jobs. 

Summer is almost here and it’s a traditionally slow time for many freelance writers. Learn how to stay busy during the slow summer months in this summer marketing tutorial. This tutorial details six specific things you can do to keep the freelance writing jobs flowing in – even during the summer. Start now so that you don’t have to go through a summer drought. 

RE SEO Writing Rates: Cold Calling Carol is quick to give a discount. This can be good and bad. But, the overall thing I want to point out is that she’s doing what works for her business. This is my mantra when it comes to setting your freelance / SEO writing rates (see links near the bottom of this post) – do what works for you and your freelance business.

RE SEO Service Offerings: Notice that this Cold Calling Carol offers a myriad of services, eg, SEO writing, social media consulting, social media management, meta tag writing (and yes this is still a needed SEO service in my opinion), etc.

At my SEO writing company, we offer a plethora of services too because in my experience, the more you can become an “all inclusive” SEO writing shop (only offer services that complement SEO writing), the more you can earn from each client. This increases your overall earnings.

You’d be amazed at how just making an extra $200 from this client and an extra #$00 from that one adds up at year’s end (as I pleasantly found out from my diverse income streams when I did my taxes this year).

RE Client Diversity: As Cold Calling Carol has alluded to on many occasions to me, she knows that having one client paying the bulk of her bills is not a good thing. She needs to find time to market more to get more client diversity, which she’s on (ie, looking to hire a VA).

Learn the lesson one successful freelancer almost learned the hard way about why you should always be marketing for SEO writing jobs – no matter how busy you get. 

RE Repeat Business: It rocks! So service existing clients well, and learn how to leverage those relationships into other business (ie, ask existing clients who are pleased with your work for referrals). FYI, 80% of your business will come from 20% of your clients (this is known as the Pareto Principle), so this is yet another reason to really work hard to keep clients happy. 

RE Making Money as an SEO Writer: There’s plenty (plenty!) of work out there, if you’re willing to be proactive like Cold Calling Carol and go after it. SEO services is an in-demand, growing field and it’s going to be that way for a long time to come because soooooo many haven’t even begun to invest in it yet, and it constantly changes so it never gets “old” and out of date.
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Share Your Thoughts? What do you think of Cold Calling Carol’s success? Any insights you can share about your freelance business that can help her (and others)? Please share in the comments section below.

Closing Up Shop: I’m closing up early today to mow my lawn. I’m gonna get a fine from my HOA if it’s not done by tomorrow, so I have to get on it today. Good thing it’s a bit warmer than it’s been the last few days. It’s like spring went into hiding and fall sprung instead!

Yuwanda
P.S.: Start your SEO writing career today!

P.P.S.: In One Week, Train for a Career That Allows You to Earn Enough to REALLY Quit Your Day Job: Get SEO Copywriting Training Today. Course materials will be emailed to you within 24 hours (excluding holidays/weekends).

Want to avoid freelance writing dry spells by making extra money as an affiliate marketer? Learn how to earn $50-$150/day online pretty seamlessly in the best-selling ebook, How to Make Money Placing Ads on Free Classified Ad Sites.

Copyright © 2012: All material on this site is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the publisher’s written consent (linking to is fine).

In response to that post, a long-time reader – and successful SEO writer in his own right – responded. The insight he shared is a reminder that no matter how well your freelance writing career is going, if you don’t get up and do what it takes day in and day out, it can all be flushed down the toilet rather quickly.

Following is the email this freelancer sent me (all bold emphasis are mine).

Email from a Fellow SEO Writer about Having Steady Clients

Hi Yuwanda, 

I know it’s been a while, hope all is well with you. I just wanted to say thanks for this latest newsletter. This is exactly what I needed right now. I unfortunately got a little complacent with my marketing this first quarter of 2012 because I have a client (he’s actually the first one I landed back in late 2010) that has been accounting for about 80% of my business. Not only does he feed me lots of regular work, I also work directly with 5 of his clients. But I always knew in the back of my mind this kind of arrangement had a big downside to it. 

Well, this week I peeked in the abyss of what that downside could look like. My client was on vacation all last week (which I was aware of), but then I hadn’t heard from him at all this week. For the past few days, I was almost in a panic wondering what I would do if I lose him. I even tried calling him yesterday (we talk by phone about once a month anyway), but got his voicemail.  

Thankfully, he contacted me today with some orders for this week, so it appears to be back to business as usual. But sitting around the last couple days with no writing to do scared the heck out of me. I kept thinking “what if I lost him?” “How long and how much hard work will it take to get back to my current income level without him?” It’s enough to send your thoughts into a death spiral that nearly borders on depression.  

Anyway, thanks for this post-you helped me regain my perspective and reminded me to get back out there with my marketing. I haven’t actually done it myself for so long (I had nieces doing it but they’ve moved on to other things now) that I almost felt like I was “above” doing that kind of stuff. Well, this week reminded me that this is not the case.

Even though I have more writing work again, before starting on it, I fired off emails to several past clients I haven’t worked with for a few months. I know from past experience that often all it takes is an email to remind them you’re still out there, and work starts coming in again. 

I am also going to follow your advice and get up early to do some of my own marketing emails-like 10-20 a day. I should have learned by now that this should NEVER be neglected, but I guess sometimes we need to get close to the impending pain before we actually take action. It’s one of those flaws in human nature that I wish I didn’t fall prey to. 

Okay-that’s all for now. Time to get back to work. Thanks again for being out there and being such a good mentor to so many. Even though I don’t always take the time to let you know, your regular newsletters are a great help to me and I’m sure to countless others as well.  

Take care and God bless!

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Editor Note: Get free articles for reprint for your blog, newsletter, website, etc. at YuwandaBlack.com; a subsidiary site of InkwellEditorial.com, this site’s parent site. Articles cover SEO, ebook publishing, freelance writing, etc.
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My Response to This Freelancer

You hit the nail on the head when you said, ”It’s one of those flaws in human nature.” It’s soooo true. 

I do things like article marketing that works, but I still get complacent and fall off a bit from time to time — especially if I happen to have a really good month. So writing my newsletters keeps me on track too! After all, I can’t very well tell readers to do something if I’m not “on it” myself. It’s definitely a reciprocal relationship — but thanks for letting me know that the newsletters are helpful. I really appreciate that.
 
It’s way late here and I’m about to sign off for the day. Your email made my day, so it’s a good note to sign off on.

As always, continued success. May blessings continued to be bestowed upon you and your family.
###

How Long Does It Take for Writing Jobs to Dry Up If You Don’t Market Consistently?

As an aside, I once read a story about a small business owner who wanted to step back from her business (I can’t remember if she freelanced or not). I think it was told by Marcia Yudkin, a successful freelance writer and info marketer.

The story – as far as I can remember – goes that this entrepreneur didn’t want to outright quit her biz, so she decided to stop marketing and just let business fade away naturally. When asked how long it took before her client stream dried up, she said it only took six months – and she’d been in business for years.

The moral of this story – out of sight, out of mind.

Marketing for SEO writing work can be boring and it’s easy to get complacent – especially if you get a few clients who keep you pretty busy. But – and I’ve experienced this so many times in my career — if you stop marketing, business can dry up pretty quickly, as the freelancer who wrote in to me illustrates.

So, I don’t care how busy you are as an SEO writer, get up and get your marketing out of the way first; even if it’s just one call and a couple of emails. Marketing like this (aka “drip marketing”) will keep the freelance writing jobs rolling in – consistently; and, you’ll avoid the feast-or-famine existence so many freelancers experience. 

Miscellaneous

Freelancing and taxes — FYI, did you get yours done? I did – and owed a bundle (the second most I’ve ever owed). BUT, I didn’t mind paying up because it’s proof that my business is growing (the more you earn the more you pay). I earned a bit more than I thought last year — and owed more than I thought too. Talk about having an “oxymoronic” feeling!

Looking at a year’s worth of numbers though got me even more excited about the rest of the year. I hope your tax experience was enlightening, and that you’re enjoying your week.

Coming Next Week: A MONSTER Cold Calling Carol update. This freelancer is seriously rocking my world with all of the insight she’s sharing. Next week, she divulges a list of her current projects, how much they earn her, and how she landed these clients.

Stay tuned!

Yuwanda
P.S.: Start your SEO writing career today!

P.P.S.: In One Week, Train for a Career That Allows You to Earn Enough to REALLY Quit Your Day Job: Get SEO Copywriting Training Today. Get $200 Off This Class. How? Send $597 payment to payment@inkwelleditorial.com. Then send an email to info[at]InkwellEditorial.com with “I read the 4/18/2012 issue of Seo Writing Jobs” in the subject line (extremely important). Course materials will be emailed to you within 24 hours.

Want to avoid freelance writing dry spells by making extra money as an affiliate marketer? Learn how to earn $50-$150/day online pretty seamlessly in the best-selling ebook, How to Make Money Placing Ads on Free Classified Ad Sites.

Copyright © 2012: All material on this site is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the publisher’s written consent (linking to is fine).

So, when I received the following email from a fellow freelance writer, I was keen to write this post. She wrote: 

Question from a Fellow SEO Writing about Making 6 Figures a Year Writing SEO Articles

I have been reading your outsourcing book, and I was curious about something. Did you solely make six-figures writing daily articles?  While that sounds attractive, it also sounds time-consuming.  Not saying that I will not be able to do that, but I am wondering if there is a better way to increase my transaction size. 

I know that I can offer packages, and get a certain amount of clients and reach my quota. In my mind it seems easier to get a few clients paying me $35-65 per article rather than getting a few clients paying me $1,000 a month.  I guess my overall question is it possible to make six figures from solely writing [SEO] articles alone?

On other news, I am trying to find reliable writers who I can outsource work too. I have a few writers, I work with now.  However, it seems that they have their plate full and sometimes turn down work or  want to deliver work way past the deadlines I need them to. 

I had a colleague who paid a writer about a few thousand a month (on the low end) and the writer did whatever he threw his way.  I am thinking of going this route, but probably have  2-3 writers and myself, because  I really want people to be part of my team.  There are times that I get too backed up and I want to feel secure knowing that I have a  few writers who work exclusively me for me.   Just wanted to know your thoughts!

Thanks.

***********************************
Editor Note: Get free articles for reprint for your blog, newsletter, website, etc. at YuwandaBlack.com; a subsidiary site of InkwellEditorial.com, this site’s parent site. Articles cover SEO, ebook publishing, freelance writing, etc.
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My Answer: Foreword

Before I get to this freelancer’s questions, let me say, I’ve started quite a few businesses in my day. I also constantly have business ideas floating around my head. If you’ve been a reader of my blogs/websites/ebooks, you know that I’m a serial entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship, for me, is like a drug. I love it and am always thinking about it, eg, how to make mine better, a new one to possibly start, creating systems to make days flow smoother, cheaper advertising/marketing, etc. Yep, I’m business obsessed!

The reason I point this out is that of all the businesses I’ve owned – and thought about starting – SEO writing is one that I KNOW that I could earn a million dollars plus a year with . . . if I wanted (more on this in a bit). 

Of the freelance SEO writers who contact me, quite a few have quit jobs and gone on to earn 6 figures per year (or get very close to it), so it wouldn’t surprise me at all if I got an email saying:

I did it, I can’t belive it — I earned a million dollars last year writing SEO content!

Why do I feel this is entirely possible?

Why It’s Possible to Earn 7 (Yes 7!) Figures a Year Writing SEO Articles

There are four reasons I believe it’s possible to earn a million dollars – or more – per year writing SEO content.

I. The Demand Is There: The article, Some Good Reasons to Choose SEO as Your Career, sums it up beautifully, stating:

SEO is a profession that can be practiced while working for a company or as a solo practitioner. There are many jobboards like Dice and Craigslist that publish SEO job advertisements. It is worth noting that the compensation for SEO employees is equal to or even higher than that of developers, designers and marketers. Salaries over $80K per annum are not an exception for SEO jobs.

As a solo SEO practitioner you can make even more money. Almost all freelance sites have sections for SEO services and offers for $50 an hour or more are quite common.

More proof?

The 2012 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends [Research Report] found that:

. . . content marketing remains a top priority for marketers in 2012. Many of the statistics and results are consistent with what we saw last year:

• 9 out of 10 organizations market with content marketing.
• On average, B2B marketers employ eight different content marketing tactics to achieve their goals.
• Marketers, on average, spend over a quarter of their marketing budget on content marketing (see the full budget breakdowns in the report).

II. Companies Are Spending Money on SEO:  As I stated in an early 2011 post about the importance for all freelance writers – not just SEO writers – to learn SEO:

 . . . when companies start to put their money where their mouths are, that’s where the freelance writing jobs are gonna be.

For more proof, all we need to do is go back to the previously mentioned Content Marketing Institute (CMI) study, which states:

Rising confidence in the effectiveness of content marketing seems to be spurring marketers to dedicate more budget to this strategy. On average, 60% of respondents indicate that they plan to increase their content marketing budgets over the next 12 months. This compares to 51% of marketers who were planning to increase their budgets in the previous study.

BUT, you have to be proactive to get the business. This means learning the trade (ie, getting SEO Copywriting Training), and marketing for SEO writing work.

III. SEO Is a Wide Field: As a freelance SEO writer, you can offer so many services to clients in addition to article writing, eg, social media, blog posts, case studies, article distribution, SEO press releases, etc. 

IV. Competition Is Still Low: When I first started writing SEO content in 2007, many of my clients still didn’t understand what it was all about. All they knew is that they needed it because the competition was eating them alive. This is when my business took off because I stopped looking at myself as “just” a freelance SEO writer, and started to think of myself as an internet marketing consultant and formed New Media Words, my SEO writing company.

Many business owners and other freelancers alike STILL don’t understand SEO, content marketing, etc.

When you learn SEO from the ground up, you gain an understanding of all of this – and can use this knowledge to land clients and make a helluva lot of money. And again, when you know how to market effectively online, you can make money by creating and promoting your own products and services, as well as those of others (ie, affiliate marketing). 

When you’ve been around business as long as I have and you see all of these factors converge, you realize that the sky is the limit with this type of business. 

Now that you know why it’s possible to earn 6 or 7 figures a year in SEO, let me answer this freelancer’s questions directly.

My Direct Answers to This SEO Writer’s Questions

Answers 

1. I have been reading your outsourcing book, and I was curious about something. Did you solely make six-figures writing daily articles?  No, I don’t earn six figures just by writing SEO content alone. There are two reasons for this:

(i) Self-Publishing: I’ve been writing and selling ebooks online since 2004. They never made up a significant portion of my income though until 2008 (the year after I learned SEO and got better at marketing them online); 

(ii) Different Goals: Once I started to become more successful promoting my own products online, my freelance business goals changed. I wanted more passive income, so I started to focus more on creating my own products to promote online. I kept my SEO writing company small enough to be able to do this, but lucrative enough to where I could still pay my bills.

But again, New Media Words could easily be a million-dollar-per-year company – if I wanted that. But, as this freelancer so astutely pointed out, it is time consuming. And it should be. After all, what million dollar business isn’t? That’s why I say you have to WANT to do that. But that’s not part of my life plan. 

The outsourcing ebook this freelancer referred to though shows you how to set up systems and procedures to grow your SEO writing business significantly to where it grosses 6 (or 7). 

2. As for “finding reliable writers to outsource to” and the problems that entails: I had to go through probably 20 to 25 freelancers before settling on a “team.”  I’ve discussed this issue before in detail. Older posts tend to get buried, so here’s the in-depth discussion about how to hire reliable freelancers to outsource to.

As an aside, recruiting – and retaining — good workers is probably the number one issue all companies face. It’s why when I read about CEOs who earn tens of millions of dollars per year, I’m not angry. Because I’ve been on both sides of the hiring desk, I can tell you firsthand that when you find that worker who is worth their weight in gold, they’re worth every penny because they can make or break a business.

It is the workers in a business who provide the service, make the product; they are the face to the customer; they are behind the innovations a company has; they can save time or waste time; in short – they are the foundation of a business.

And this is why the really good ones can write their own ticket. When you meet workers like this, you know it because many in the workforce are just plain lazy (sorry, there’s no way to sugar coat this); a good number are good workers; and some are exceptional. Then, you have your super stars (these are the CEO-quality standouts). 

To this day, two freelancers I recruited stand out to me. It’s because their work was exceptional – so far above what everyone else’s was that I paid them “until it hurt.” This was when I had my editorial staffing company in New York.

I didn’t even have to look at projects these freelancers turned in or worry about what a client was going to say when I sent them on site. They were just dynamite. These are the kind of workers that you kill for – and cry like a baby over – when they leave you!

One of these freelancers was eventually hired away from my firm. She took a FT position with a company I placed her at as a temp (they loved her and she turned down a FT position for months – until they made her an offer she couldn’t refuse).

I haven’t been in touch with her for years. Her name was Polly and she was a copy editor – and a rock bank singer on the side. But, she’d been at the firm that hired her for three years before I lost touch with her.

The other freelancer (Gabby) was still freelancing the last time I was in touch with her. She’d been doing it for years and loved the autonomy of it. But, she could have had any number of FT positions if she’d wanted to.

In closing, I just want you to realize that hiring the right talent is always going to be a struggle. Sometimes you’ll luck up and get a good team who’ll stay with you for a while. Then, you’ll go through phases where you can’t seem to find anyone who knows the meaning of work.

But, this is all part of running a successful freelance writing business.

As always, I hope this insight has helped, and good luck whether you decide to stay small, or grow your freelance business into a million-dollar company!

Share Your Thoughts: Do you think you could earn 6 or 7 figures as an SEO writer? Why/why not? Please tell why in the comments section below.

Best,
Yuwanda
P.S.: Start your SEO writing career today!

P.P.S.: In One Week, Train for a Career That Allows You to Earn Enough to REALLY Quit Your Day Job: Get SEO Copywriting Training Today. Get $200 Off This Class. How? Send $597 payment to payment@inkwelleditorial.com. Then send an email to info[at]InkwellEditorial.com with “I read the 4/4/2012 issue of Seo Writing Jobs” in the subject line (extremely important). Course materials will be emailed to you within 24 hours.

Want to avoid freelance writing dry spells by making extra money as an affiliate marketer? Learn how to earn $50-$150/day online pretty seamlessly in the best-selling ebook, How to Make Money Placing Ads on Free Classified Ad Sites.

Copyright © 2012: All material on this site is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the publisher’s written consent (linking to is fine).

She hasn’t sent me the update on the $3,500 pay day yet – but she did have a $1,730 pay day and has a client on the hook who’s promised her $7,000 more in work. Remember, this is from one client. Following is her latest update, as well as some first-hand insight from me on how to grow her SEO writing business even more. 

Publisher Note: I’ve been receiving a lot of questions lately — about SEO writing and freelance writing in general. If you’ve written in, I’ve probably received yours. But, it’s going to take me a few weeks to answer because I’m pretty busy these days. FYI, in this post, I explain how/why/when I answer questions sent in to me.

Note: All bolded text in the following email from Cold Calling Carol is mine.

An SEO Copywriter Success Story

Hi Yuwanda,

I hope all is well and you are doing great. I figured that I would give you a cold calling carol update.

I can’t remember the last time I gave you an update.  But, since we last spoke, I had a $1,000 day; that was the most money I ever received in one day, that’s until I got another $1,730 delivered in my paypal in one day.  That was work I completed for one major client.

I have to say that this one major client is about 95% of my income. While this is good, it’s also bad. I just don’t want to rely on one client for my income, however, I am enjoying the time and experience I get working with him. We have a great relationship and he is kind of giving me training in a sense. There is still a lot I have to learn about his industry, so when I write the copy he just tells me to edit certain words that I can’t say.  He’s keeping me so busy that I have to outsource other work coming in to writers. When I outsource, I am not making much of a profit, however, it’s giving me experience on how to take a managerial role in my biz (which is my primary plan).

While my major client is paying me a lot of money, it’s still not enough to outsource. (This is a mistake I learned the hard way). But, I don’t mind because right now, I really need the income.

I admit, I have to structure my days to market more. I am in the process of creating a free report for his industry and going after other leads of his caliber.  At this point, I really need a marketing assistant, but I am at a catch 22 because I am not making enough to outsource and pay freelancers.  However, the major client plans to give me a $7,000 project (which got pushed back because other content took priority).  And, I am working on $1,300 worth of work for him right now as we speak.

I plan to use the funds from the major project to hire help from affordable sites like http://www.hiremymom.com/ and others, even though I prefer to work local, but in the next few months, my life is going to be in limbo as far as location. I am going to be living in so many places in a short amount of time, so I think it would be better to hire a virtual assistant.

The [client] has provided me with some great savings and the confidence I need to target [other professionals] in this niche.  But I am not going to lie, one of the reasons I got into business is for the money! So, it’s great to see my paypal history and see deposits of $1,000 and more in my inbox. Now that’s what I call a major payday! It used to take me 2 weeks to make that kind of money in a regular job.  The money does motivate me to keep going.   I still struggle with mindset issues, but if the client keeps paying me that means I am doing something right. 

Again, and I want to stress to your readers, this is all a result of cold calling. I called one SEO firm and they referred [a client in this niche] to me, and I have been working with him for going on 8 months. And as I tally up my work that I have completed thus far it’s in the range of $6,000 that he has paid me in that short amount of time. While, 6 grand may not sound like a lot it is a lot to someone like me who doesn’t collect unemployment any more, and only has her business as a primary source of income.   

I hope this helps! And I will keep you posted about my $3,500 day which is coming soon!

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In One Week, Train for a Career That Allows You to Earn Enough to REALLY Quit Your Day Job: Get SEO Copywriting Training Today. Get $200 Off This Class. How? Send $597 payment to payment@inkwelleditorial.com. Then send an email to info[at]InkwellEditorial.com with “I read the 4/4/2012 issue of Seo Writing Jobs” in the subject line (extremely important). Course materials will be emailed to you within 24 hours.
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My Response

Carol,
 
Sounds like you’re on a roll.
 
Just a couple of pieces of advice . . . because I’ve been exactly where you are.
 
i) RE: One client being your major source of income: Enjoy the “comfort” you have of this one client being the bulk of your business right now. Sometimes, it’s great to have that one bulk source of income coming in without having to flit from one $200 or $300 job to the next. So enjoy it for the pressure-reliever it is right now, but . . . 
 
ii) RE: How to beat the “one client” blues: Find time to market for other clients. I don’t care if you have to get up at 3 in the morning. Get at least a few emails /cold calls done; even if it’s just one a day. That’s 20 per month (assuming you do it M-5); 240 per year. With even a 1% return, that’s at least 2 more clients you will have landed. And if they’re in the same high-paying niche you target, you can REALLY up your income.
 
iii) RE: Turning one-time clients into long-term clients: As an aside, I’ve noted through the years that if a client uses you for longer than six months at a stretch, they usually go on to become long-term clients (eg 2-3 or 4 years). I think it’s because they get used to you and you get used to them and their systems/way they like to work, etc. It’s almost like you become an extension of their staff, so rather than use someone else, they stick with you. So, it’s good that this client is “training” you, as you put it. This is a clue that they’re invested in you for the long haul. BUT again, don’t get comfortable.

Another lesson I’ve learned the hard way is that big clients can disappear overnight. And, if they’ve been the bulk of your business, it can really hurt.
 
(iv) RE: Getting paid:  Also, don’t let this client get too far behind in paying invoices. Even with my long-time clients, I have a certain dollar amount that I won’t work beyond until an invoice is paid.
 
Years ago, I had one client stiff me on a payment (I think it was somewhere between $240 and $360; can’t exactly remember). They had owed upwards of $1,500; it took some doing to get that last payment out of them — and we never did get that final payment. So just beware.
 
But good for you so far. I can’t wait to share this story with readers next week!
 
Stay tuned . . .
 
Thanks again for the update, and continued success. You’ve earned every bit of it.

Share Your SEO Writing Success Story! Send an email to info-at-SeoWritingJobs.com.
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Follow “Jean the Cold Calling Queen!”

A fellow freelance SEO writer sent me the following email a couple of days ago. She wrote:

I know you’re going to give an update on “Cold Calling Carol” this week. Perhaps you’d like to show your readers this link: http://jeancoldcallingqueen.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-title-and-why-cold-calling.html. I’ve decided to cold call 25 prospects a day Monday through Friday this month. And I’m documenting it. The explanation as to why pretty much is in the first post.

So follow Jean to document her progress. Perhaps it’ll inspire you to start your own cold-calling campaign to get SEO writing work!

Coming Next Week: A freelancer wrote to me asking, “. . . is it possible to make six figures from solely writing [SEO] articles alone?”

Stay tuned for my insight.

Best,
Yuwanda
P.S.: Start your SEO writing career today!

P.P.S.: In One Week, Train for a Career That Allows You to Earn Enough to REALLY Quit Your Day Job: Get SEO Copywriting Training Today. Get $200 Off This Class. How? Send $597 payment to payment@inkwelleditorial.com. Then send an email to info[at]InkwellEditorial.com with “I read the 4/4/2012 issue of Seo Writing Jobs” in the subject line (extremely important). Course materials will be emailed to you within 24 hours.

Want to avoid freelance writing dry spells by making extra money as an affiliate marketer? Learn how to earn $50-$150/day online pretty seamlessly in the best-selling ebook, How to Make Money Placing Ads on Free Classified Ad Sites.

Copyright © 2012: All material on this site is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the publisher’s written consent (linking to is fine).

The following email I received from a new SEO writer a couple of weeks ago (on 3/14) illustrates this perfectly. It was a long email. She wrote, in part:

Hello,

A client contacted me and asked me to write 1000 word articles for his clients. I wanted to get your opinion. He claims that he has plenty of work for me. Do you think it is worth working with this client?  Here is what he sent me: 

I hope this letter finds you in good spirits.  We’re happy to have you join our team!  We are overwhelmed with orders and need all the help we can get right now. 

One of the things we also do for clients is create “SEO Articles” to increase traffic at the web site.  In this project you are requested to write a 1000+ word article . . . and embed at least 10 SEO keywords.  One of the ways we promote our clients is by reviewing a few complementary businesses.  A complementary business partner is a similar business, but not directly competing.

For example, a realtor and a mortgage broker are complementary businesses because they are both speaking to the same target market, but they are not directly competing with each other.  The goal with this assignment is to review 4 complementary business partners and alert the press about the blog.  

This strategy is broken into 4 parts: 

Phase 1 ($25): Create the 1000 words of content

Phase 2 ($10): Upload the 1000 word article to the clients web site and optimize 

Phase 3 ($10): Create the 400 word Press Release

Phase 4 ($10): Upload the 400 word Press Release to the clients web site and optimize 

If you decide to do all 4 phases of the project, we pay a bonus of $45 (Total= $100 for this project if you complete all 4 phases).  We prefer that our writers do all 4 phases, however, we are open to having you do phase by phase as well. Please note that the bonus is subject to a review of your work.   If you submit low quality work and you need help with uploading the article, — need teaching with SEO, the bonus is not paid.  We pay the bonus to contractors that are self starters, and know what to do (get it right the first time without much supervision). 

My Answer

Are you kidding me?!

This company wants you to write a 1,000-word (themed content) SEO article; a press release; and they want you to upload it to the client’s site – all for $100 – IF your work is up to par. And, there were other extensive guidelines you had to adhere to to complete this job. 

Again, are you kidding me?!

No, no, no, no, no – I would under no circumstances even consider this freelance writing job. 

I Can’t Tell You When to Accept or Turn Down SEO Writing Jobs, But . . .

Some content writing job requirements are so outrageously ridiculous that it’s cut and dried. This is one of those. 

FYI, at my SEO writing company (NewMediaWords.biz), we charge $195 to write a press release;  for an “easy, breezy” SEO article of 350-400 words, the cost is $45. For a 1,000 word article, the cost would be double plus. To upload content, we charge $45/hour (this falls under our General Editorial Services guidelines).

So right there, what they want to pay $100 for, we’re at around $330 at my firm. And, my company’s rates are cheap compared to many other firms. For example, press releases usually start at around $350 – just for the writing. This doesn’t include distribution. So I just want to remind you to value your time.

I don’t like to get into telling SEO copywriters what to charge, ie, what’s too little, what’s too much, etc., because my motto is, if you can afford to work for “x”, then who am I to say you shouldn’t. 

But again, some clients are ridiculous in what they want to pay. Your time would be better spent marketing for better-paying work.

Clients like this one may give you lots of work (and most times, it’s not nearly as much as they promise), but you become so overwhelmed that you don’t have the time or energy to look for better-paying SEO writing jobs. 

Also, many times these types of clients get a big project and they hold out the “we have lots of work for you” carrot so they can get a project done. Then once the project is done, they have no more work for you. So in essence, you’ve worked for a ridiculously low wage hoping that – at least – it will be an ongoing thing; ie, money you can count on. BUT after a few weeks, there is no more work and you never hear from the company again.

Furthermore, you might have problems getting paid from companies like this. The reason I say this is, it’s always a red flag for me when a company uses wording like:

Please note that the bonus is subject to a review of your work.   If you submit low quality work and you need help with uploading the article, — need teaching with SEO, the bonus is not paid.

Red flag, red flag, red flag!

I wrote a post back in January addressing this very issue, eg, when to turn down SEO writing jobs from clients who promise “lots of work.” So just be careful.

Remember, time is your biggest asset as a freelance writer. Use it wisely. Sometimes, the best use of your time is turning down an SEO writing job and marketing for better-paying work.  

Share Your Thoughts 

Would you accept this assignment? Why/why not? Under what circumstances do you normally turn down SEO writing jobs? Please share in the comments section below.

Coming Next Week: Cold Calling Carol Update

In the last post in this series, she told me that she had her first $1,000 day. Today, she sent me another update (which I’ll post next week) telling me that she’s expecting a $3,500 pay day. Stay tuned!

Yuwanda
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QUESTION FROM ONE OF MY CLIENTS ABOUT STATS I USED IN AN SEO ARTICLE

Hey Yuwanda,

You wrote some content for me a few weeks back. We got the content placed [site was listed]. The site owner is asking for links to cite some of the data used in the article. Do you happen to know where you grabbed some of the data points? ie, Approximately 40% of attacks on . . .

Kind Regards,
KK

MY ANSWER

K-:

That was a widely cited stat I found in numerous places on the web. This was the main source, which was a direct quote from a company rep: [link to source was given]. It was also confirmed in another study here: [link to source was given]. (see page 7).

I attributed the stat to [well-known industry organization was listed] though because most know (and trust) the name of that firm. The stat can also be found in the following articles [links to two articles was given].

Hope this info helps.
###

Note: I always save the sources I use in client articles. Even though I’m rarely asked to provide “evidence” of where I got certain stats/info from, I’m able to easily do so if a client asks. 

FYI, another reason to save your research is that if a client becomes a repeat client (as this one is), they may ask you to write on the same subject matter again (again, as this client has). So, I often used some of the same research on numerous occasions. This cuts down on the amount of time it takes me to write an article, which increases my hourly rate.

Bottom line: Always, always, always save your research.

SEO Content Writing: Why Citing Sources in Articles Is Important

As an aside, I think clients are getting more particular about the content they place on their sites because of the Google Panda update (and other updates Google has done since then). This is a good thing because it means more work for quality SEO writers. Why/how?

You see, one of the things that came out of the Panda update was some SEO writing guidelines that Google uses to rank sites. FYI, Google hasn’t outright admitted that it uses these criteria to rank sites; it explains these guidelines in the following manner: 

The company [Google] is careful to note that it’s not disclosing actual ranking signals used in its algorithms, but these [23] questions will help you “step into Google’s mindset.” These questions are things that Google says it asks itself as it writes algorithms.

The bottom line is – the aim is to improve the overall quality of content on sites. And, this is why things like citing sources in SEO articles is important. It shows that research has indeed been done.

Now, to the email I received from a fellow SEO writer. She wrote . . .

QUESTION FROM AN SEO WRITER ABOUT CITING SOURCES 

Dear Yuwanda,

I was delighted to discover “5 Elements Samples that Land Freelance Writing Jobs Must Have“. It’s very helpful!

What’s the best way to cite sources in a sample article? Should the citation be complete & shown in brackets within the text (example 1 below)? Should it be briefer, and written so that it’s actually part of the text (sample 2)? Or should citations just be listed at the end (sample 3), with or without footnotes?

Also, do you include citations when counting words?

Warm thanks for all your help,
~F

1. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is one of about a dozen such disorders recognized by mental health professionals. [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, p. 623] NPD is characterized by what clinicians call “grandiosity”–that is, an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance, power, and/or perfection. The grandiosity may appear in the person’s fantasies (“Soon I will be recognized as the star I was born to be”), his behavior (casually sacrificing the interests of others to his own convenience), or both. [Christopher Stave, ‘Personality Disorders’, JAMA, vol. 6 June issue, http://www.PubMedURL.org, accessed 2/2/12]
—————————–

2. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is one of about a dozen such disorders recognized by mental health professionals. NPD is characterized by what clinicians call “grandiosity”–that is, an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance, power, and/or perfection. As expert Dr. Christopher Stave explains, grandiosity may appear in the person’s fantasies (“Soon I will be recognized as the star I was born to be”), his behavior (casually sacrificing the interests of others to his own convenience), or both. [‘Personality Disorders’, http://www.PubMedURL.org]
——————————–

3. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is one of about a dozen such disorders recognized by mental health professionals. NPD is characterized by what clinicians call “grandiosity”–that is, an exaggerated sense of one’s own importance, power, and/or perfection. The grandiosity may appear in the person’s fantasies (“Soon I will be recognized as the star I was born to be”), his behavior (casually sacrificing the interests of others to his own convenience), or both.

sources: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, p. 623
Christopher Stave, MD, ‘Personality Disorders’, JAMA, vol. 6 June issue, http://www.PubMedURL.org, accessed 2/2/12

 MY ANSWER 

F:
 
It all depends on the type of text you’re writing. Usually, #3 is the way I list them.
 
FYI, it’s very, very rare (unless you’re doing something like AMA writing) that you’ll have to list sources as most clients don’t want you to write text that requires a reader to click away from their site. So I usually refer to the organization by name in my article and leave it up to the reader to find the source of my stat, quote, etc.

So, if I’m writing a real estate article for example and I want to use a statistic from the NAR (National Association of Realtors), I’ll say something like, “According to a 2011 survey by the National Association of Realtors, 40 percent of new home buyers . . .” This way, you’ve given the source (hence given credibility to your writing sample). If the reader wants to do more digging, they have a starting point. 

NOTE: I DO save all sources from which i quote stats [as mentioned above]; that way if a client questions where I got the information, I can forward it to them (this happened to me just a couple of weeks ago). I think it’s one of the only times I’ve ever been asked to forward info on where I got certain statistics.
 
See what I mean?
 
Hope this helps.

CITING SOURCES IN SEO CONTENT WRITING: A DEFINITIVE SOURCE TO CONSULT

FYI, this is a good reference to refer to on how to cite sources when writing web / SEO content in general.

Again, this is not something I’d be overly concerned with. As I told this SEO writer, it’s very, very rare that you’ll be asked to cite sources (especially in any particular style or format). But, if it does happen, at least you’ll know what to do.

Have you ever been asked by a client to cite sources in a web article? How did you do it? What guidelines did you follow? Please share in the comments section below.

Hope you’re having a good week.

Yuwanda
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Yuwanda,
 
Hello I have great news… I got my first client yesterday and am working on my first few assignments. I also have some bad news. For some reason I got a hunch that I should check my work b/c I sent some samples off and didn’t receive feedback so I wanted to see if someone had lifted my samples.
 
I didn’t see the non-published samples on Copyscape. But I checked one of my published articles from ezinearticles.com and at least 18 other sites/people jacked my stuff! Some replaced a few words here and there but I know it is mine b/c of the personality in the pieces-it’s mine. I am so frustrated by this.
 
I added a by-line that stated this article may be printed in full with the following–and included my information. Not one of the sites I checked had my name under the articles. One person just took a whole paragraph and posted it on a forum like it was their idea.
 
Yuwanda, I know this must have happened to you in the past. Can you please tell me what I can do to prevent this and what I can do to reclaim-if possible my content?
 
Thanks a million and I do greatly appreciate all that you do.
 
P.S. I am excited to be working and getting paid from writing SEO articles. I see that I need to be more active on forums, social media and so forth to show I know what I’m talking about and not let the people who stole my content word-for-word benefit from my work. Again, love ya and thanks.

MY ANSWER

First, let me say, this is going to happen so you must get used to it. I’m not saying take it lying down, but try not to let it affect you too much. I find stolen content of mine all the time. And it is frustrating. But, I take comfort in the fact that thieves don’t prosper much.

Why Stealing Content Is an Unprofitable Business Model

The reason people steal is because they’re lazy and are always looking for an easy buck. There is no “easy” way to make money online. You have to be invested in the process; putting in blood, sweat and tears to make a business work. This comes across in content that a website owner posts.

Readers can sense sincerity. So, if someone is stealing content – sure, that one piece may be great, but there won’t be any continuity, no OVERALL sincerity. Hence, no customer loyalty is built, which means sales are few, if any.  This means the site owner will eventually be on to the next “make money online quick” scheme. 

How do I know this? Because I’m a legitimate online business owner who writes all of my content from first-hand experience. And I can tell you that some days sales suck! Even with hundreds of pages of content; over 25 years of experience (I’ve been in publishing since 1987 and a freelance writer since 1993); multiple websites; dozens of ebooks; thousands of social media followers; and a great online reputation (just Google my name); it still takes getting up and putting in the WORK to make a living.

So the fact that some thief comes along and steals a few of my articles to post on their website doesn’t bother me as much as it used to because I know that they’re not making any money. BECAUSE they’re not putting in the work.

Anyone who reads content on InkwellEditorial.com has no doubt that I know what I’m talking about because I am a freelance writer. I can speak about what it’s like to work with clients, how to set freelance writing rates, how to hire outsourcers, etc.

I don’t have to steal content to fill up my site because I “walk the walk” and “talk the talk” of a freelance writer. Thieves don’t.

Content Theft: 5 Specific Actions You Can Take If It Happens to You  

You can do a few things:

1. Contact the Site Owner: In my experience, this will work about 35-40% of the time. When I contact site owners, I give them 24 hours to remove the content. I also let them know that I’ve “tagged” their site to check regularly and that if I find another instance of theft, I will not contact them again, but will immediately contact their host company (and payment processor, and monetization source, etc. (as discussed below)).

2. Contact Their Host Company: Go to WhoIs.com and type in the site URL (eg, ABCSite.com). It will tell you who the host company for that site is.

3. File a DMCA Notice: This is an excellent post that details how to file a DMCA notice. It’s very easy. This post also details other actions you can take when you find that someone has stolen your content, like the following.

4. Hit’em in the Pocketbook: For example, if their site is monetized with Google AdSense ads, then contact Google. This can get their account closed – forever.

5. Contact Their Payment Processor:  Eg, PayPal, AlertPay, etc. Send them the same information in your DMCA notice letting the payment processor know that the site is using stolen content to promote their products. Hence, you’re requesting that no further payments be processed unless/until the disputed content is taken down. 

FYI, I’d file the DMCA notice first, then take the other actions.

One Thing You Should Know about Content Theft 

The freelancer who sent this email wrote, “Some replaced a few words here and there but I know it is mine b/c of the personality in the pieces-it’s mine.” 

Sometimes, people will rewrite your content. I don’t like it when this happens, but I’m less angry when it’s done IF proper credit is given to me. When you place articles on redistribution sites like EzineArticles.com, some website owners will rewrite/reword the content to make it unique to their site. This has happened a lot since Google’s Panda Update.

 Again, this is ok with me – IF they still give me credit for the article.

I just wanted to make this distinction.

Content Theft: Just How Rampant Is It?

How big of a problem is content theft? I did a quick web search, and following is just one of my articles that have been stolen.

Why SEO Copywriting is the Perfect High-Paying, Work-from-Home Job With Huge Growth Potential: I submitted this article to EzineArticles.com on August 21, 2008. It’s been stolen hundreds of times. Just do a web search of the title and see how many times it pops up – with no credit given to me.

As I said, content theft is going to happen. And the more you do business online and the more content you put out, the more it’s going to happen.

Following are some related discussions on copyright infringement, content theft and ebook theft that you may find insightful.

Do you have any more tips to add to prevent content theft? Please share in the comments section below.

Hope your week is going well!

Yuwanda
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P.S.: Earn $250+/Day Writing Simple Web Content? Here’s the blueprint I used to start my SEO writing career.

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Submit a Guest Post: This site and its parent site, InkwellEditorial.com, now accept guest posts. Get the guest post submission guidelines.

Want to avoid freelance writing dry spells by making extra money as an affiliate marketer? Learn how to earn $50-$150/day online pretty seamlessly in the best-selling ebook, How to Make Money Placing Ads on Free Classified Ad Sites.

Copyright © 2012: All material on this site is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the publisher’s written consent (linking to is fine). Violators will be prosecuted.