Happy New Year (slightly belated!)

That, as they say, is the hell of time zones.

Really like your stuff.

Happy New Year when it comes!

russell (in the UK)

That correction may partially come in the SEO field. I think that too many companies are, as you say, building filler around keywords.

But what happens once they are there? Unless you can convince them to do something (buy your product, call about your services, etc.) then what’s the point of attracting them in the first place?

Companies will start to learn this, and SEO will once again become a highly technical field requiring the services of a skilled writer to convert those leads, not just collect them.

IMHO,

~Graham

I wonder if the rise of SEO “article” writing – a segment of the market that didn’t exist prior to Google – hasn’t played a role. Suddenly, people were essentially getting paid to write filler around keywords, which is why I urge newer copywriters to escape that segment of the market immediately.

I think we’re seeing a real “bubble” in the writer’s market – the profession suddenly seems attractive to people for all sorts of reasons, and the Intertubes have made it possible to build a revenue stream literally without leaving your home.

Of course, the Internet’s also building the perception that content should be cheap or free, which is another reason I urge writers to move as close to a client’s revenue stream as possible (at least for their core projects). There is a big correction coming in the professional writer’s universe, though when and what seems largely unclear.

Again, this subject’s probably worth a post.

Perhaps a topic for a future post.

As for the $5 article stuff, it’s hard to classify that as copywriting any more than pushing buttons on an assembly line qualifies you as a craftsman; if they could get a machine to do that (and I’m sure they will), the people would be surplus.

By contrast, a machine that could concept something like Apple’s 1984 ad is more than a few years off…

But the “promise” thing, and the “enfeebled” thing (had to scroll back up to see what word that was again…) — I’ve been reflecting upon both lately.

As hockey players get older, they literally work smarter, not harder. They know how the play is going to develop, and they are better at getting to where they are supposed to be before they have to be there. Which is good and bad, I suppose, since in their early days they could just hustle to where they needed to get to. Not so much hustle any more.

That’s how I’m beginning to feel, like I need to anticipate rather than catch up.

The unfortunate thing is that I like the hustle, I like the going off in 1,000 directions and learning new things. I just can’t take those literary (or marketing, or advertising) adventures anymore. Partly because I’m 40, partly because of the kids, partly because of the bills. I think it’s called “Life”.

On a wider topic, the thing about the “overcapacity” is that many of these new writers are working for pennies. I used to do a fair amount of SEO work, but now they are going to writers who are willing to work for $1 per article — only if it’s accepted, only if it passes Copyscape, only if the whip-holder decides you are worthy…

Not that I’m complaining. Hey, if you’re working in the open market, that’s the way things go. But I really do think that it is diluting the quality of writing out there, as many have pointed out.

Still, I think there is a market for good writers, even good SEO writers. Once everyone realizes that there is a direct correlation between quality and sales, the 200-word moving average should trend upward again. And when the looky-loo writers (hey, I can do this!) start leaving the industry, the term “writer bail out” will have a whole new meaning.

~Graham

Kept thinking “Quarrel” but that, of course, was shomeone entirely different, eh, Felix?