By now, most businesses know that, if you don’t blog, you don’t exist (in the minds of consumers, that is): Businesses with a blog have over 400% more indexed pages than those without. Businesses that blog get 97% more inbound links than those that don’t. B2B businesses that blog get 67% more leads than those […]
The Ghosts and the Unseen: Is Ghostwriting Ethical?
A long, long time ago (give or take a few thousand years), the orator Antiphon began writing speeches for courtroom plaintiffs. Was that the first known case of ghostwriting? Possibly — although some would argue that the oldest example is the Bible itself. Except for the 10 Commandments, I can’t recall reading about God actually […]
Rewards and incentives for freelance writers: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Some of my best topic ideas come from questions I read on other forums, in particular LinkedIn and inbound.org. They serve kind of like customer service/help desks, offering insight into what people are wondering about or struggling with. This particular post was inspired by a discussion on inbound.org, where someone asked about the best ways […]
What Your Content Writer is Really Thinking But (Probably) Won’t Say
I’m a southern girl through and through, so putting a premium on good manners is just part of my DNA. If my kids forget to include “ma’am” or “sir” when addressing an adult, they’ll immediately cut their eyes in my direction, knowing I’ll be shooting them “the look.” And don’t even think about forgetting […]
A Call to Freelance Writers: Mindset Matters. You’re a Business Owner, Not an Employee.
I’ve been reading a lot lately about pay rates for freelance writers. (Obviously, it’s a topic of high priority for me.) Yes, there are plenty of content mills out there that pay pennies per word. Most of the project bidding sites aren’t much better. And then there are the big players like HuffPo that […]
What Not to Ask When You’re Vetting a Freelance Content Writer
Recently, I published an article on LinkedIn that describes what are, in my opinion, some of the most important questions you can ask when you’re interviewing freelancers for writing content. In all honesty, there probably is no single “best” set of questions, because it’s highly dependent on what you want from a writer and on […]
How to become your freelance writer’s favorite client
I bet I know what you’re thinking: “Here’s another entitled brat thinking it’s my job to please her when I’m the one paying!” Right? But that’s not what this post is about. Rather than a lecture on the right way to treat a freelancer, I want to tell you how to become that one client […]