So you finally started a company blog. You know it’ll be good for marketing — if you can just figure out what it is you should be writing about. Exactly how are you supposed to choose a topic? How often should you write? Who should write it? It takes some time to figure these things out, so don’t be in a rush to get everything going until you’ve made a few decisions.

Find a writer.
Choose your writer carefully. She (or he, of course) should be passionate about your topic. Interesting. Able to write in an engaging manner. Technically savvy enough to …read more

There’s an interesting trend on Facebook. People use their real names and talk about real life events. While many of these same people want to be anonymous on most of the internet, they let those barriers down on Facebook. And it may be, in part, due to the fact that much of Facebook’s information is not available to search engines. Users can restrict their profiles to be seen by friends only. And that makes them more comfortable with sharing personal information.
On the other hand, there’s Google. You need SEO, page rank, and search results with Google. People only find you …read more

Often, I’m hired to write pieces that use keywords or include descriptions. The client usually sets the parameters here, telling me exactly what he wants as far as search engine optimization.
I know that some writers refuse to take jobs that involve SEO at all. While I respect that decision, since it can cramp your writing style, I believe that there is such a thing as white hat SEO. Some would disagree with me and say that all SEO work is manipulative and, therefore, black hat.
If you’re new to freelance writing, though, you probably have no idea what those terms mean, …read more

Do you write SEO articles? If you don’t, maybe you should reconsider. Jennifer, who blogs at CatalyistBlogger makes a good case for including SEO writing in your repertoire.
In her post, Jennifer makes it totally clear she’s not suggesting anyone write the $3 SEO article, and she goes on to tell how she makes sure she’s amply paid.
It’s an article worth reading.
Write well and often,

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Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for those who want to get a book written.

I think I first read this in one of Hugh Prather’s books. As I recall it appeared in my life when my ability to type 89 words a minute seemed to lead only to some sort of secretarial job.
But the saying works for me as a freelance writer as well. Consider: Just because I can:

write SEO articles
do copywriting well
edit a magazine or newspaper
write magazine articles

…doesn’t mean I must.
I’ve actually done all of these and I generally don’t do them anymore. That kind of writing doesn’t fit where I am in my freelance writing career. Some of it doesn’t pay well …read more

Rico who blogs at Contract Worker has an article about search engine optimizing (SEO) aimed at freelance writers. It’s a pretty good overview of the process.
SEO writing can, if you’re careful about who you deal with, can provide a steady stream of income. In most cases its small income. I’ve done it and my minimum was $10 a page and sometimes I’ve gotten as high as $25.
SEO writing works best if you’re fairly quick and if you write in an area you already know. Most of my SEO writing has been in real estate, which is part of my …read more

Roberta Rosenberg, blogger at The Copywriting Maven, brings some clarity to the whole business of web writing. Of course, ranking in search engines like Google is important, and we all see ads asking us to write keyword articles.
The question is really how to balance readability and ranking. Rosenberg boils the process down to five useable steps to finding that balance.
Write well and often,

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