Latest posts by Jeff (see all)
- 3 Ways to Get More People to Consume Your Content - May 8, 2014
- Protect Yourself Online with a Posse - March 31, 2014
- Finding the Perfect Christmas Gift for Everyone on Your Christmas List - February 17, 2014
Doing so means you get exposure to thousands and thousands of other CommentLuv users and your posts get sent out to the massive subscriber list.
Google loves this site and indexes it multiple times per day and posts always get lots of comments so you can be sure of some excellent exposure.
See the Write For Us page for more details
btw.. you can get this author box here
One of the many things I do through my business, Sequoia Media, is run blogs for different clients.
This is by far the best service I offer, for me, because not only do I get the chance to write for the blog but I get the opportunity to work with some great writers and interact with the community surrounding the blog.
This also means constantly being on the lookout for new writers.
For one site, I recently ran an ad that read:
Calling all web developers who can share cool tricks, tips and tutorials with others, Developer Drive is seeking web developers who can write 500 – 700 word tutorials for our readers explaining how to do cool things in web development. Not only do you get some great exposure on our site, but we are part of the Smashing Network as well so your work will be seen by a few people.
Also, we pay for every published tutorial, $75 for every one we accept.
Understand that we are not looking for writers who can research how to do simple things in web development. We are only accepting tutorials from web developers who can write intermediate to advanced level tutorials.
While I did find some really good talent from running these ads, I also found a number of writers who not only can’t read, but think that by mentioning the term SEO a few times throughout their pitch I would roll out the red carpet for them.
To help you land a few more writing gigs as a freelancer, read over the following tips. But more importantly, remember them when you contact a potential employer or client.
Understand the client
When I am looking for writers I want to find one, or many, who can connect with the readers. I have seen sites that simply throw up content that attacks keywords like hungry lions. It doesn’t work if you are trying to build a community.
When I see someone respond to an ad telling me that they are an experience writer who keeps their own blog and has a long list of publications, but never
The sad part is I don’t use them for any other writing projects either because I know that they are simply trying to crank out content without an intention of making a connection with the reader.
I have had some people ask questions about a job and after some dialogue we may find that they are not right for the project in question, but they are a good fit for something else. For these writers, the ones who take time to understand a site and its audience, I have no problem offering other work to.
SEO, SEO, SEO
Another tip I can offer to people looking for writing gigs is to leave the SEO babble at the door.
If you write web content in this era, you had better know what SEO is. Repeating how well you write SEO content over and over again in your response to a job does not impress anyone.
In fact this tells most people that you really don’t know what SEO truly is. I picture most people who include this in their pitch as someone who still practices keyword stuffing and things that the Meta keywords tag is relevant.
If you want to leave a lasting impression on a prospective client/employer, give some specifics. Tell them about the time where you had to rewrite a web site’s content and you were able to rank three pages in the top five for Google. Or let them know about that article you wrote that hit the first page of Digg or was re-tweeted hundreds of times.
This lets me know that A) you understand search and the importance of social channels and B) that you write quality content that people want to read. And you never once had to mention your mad skills when it comes to SEO.
Edit your pitch
Understand this – you are applying for a writing gig. If you use poor spelling, poor grammar or that annoying text/leet speak you are not going to get the job.
Write your query in a word processor and use the spelling and grammar checker. Then read over your query, and then read it again. Make sure that everything is correct to the point that your 6th grade English teacher would be proud before you paste it into your email.
