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Freelance Writers: The One Skill That Will Set You Apart

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Over the last few years I’ve hired many, many writers. More often than not, when making the final decision, I have to make the tough choice between several very talented writers.

So what’s the single biggest differentiating factor I use in choosing a writer?

Social Media Marketing Experience

Do you have an account at Digg? Reddit? StumbleUpon? Propeller?

If not, chances are that you’re at a disadvantage in the freelance writing job market. And chances are that you’ll be competing against someone who has this experience.

So why does a blog owner like me prefer writers who can help promote their own stories? Well, for a number of reasons. First, it shows an added level of investment and commitment to the job (i.e. it’s not just writing for writing’s sake). Second, social media is all about diversity of numbers. The more people involved in the promotion of a story, the better it’s chances of success. Third, it helps shape a writing environment in which articles are gradually shaped to fit the interests of the readership.

Whatever you think of these reasons, the fact is that all freelance writers should add “social media marketing” to their resume. It makes a huge difference to me, and I assume it makes a huge difference to other site owners too.

Finishing Off The Performancing Treasure Hunt With Clue Number 6

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The Performancing Treasure Hunt deadline has been extended to Monday November 26th. Remember, the first person to find the “treasure chest” wins. In this case, the treasure chest is represented by a six-word phrase. The phrase MUST be an exact match.

The winner of the contest gets the following prizes:

  1. 1 hour free consultation with Chris Garret (value $150)
  2. Free custom logo from Randa Clay (value $350)
  3. 1-year free Professional MegaEdition subscription to PMetrics (value $99)
  4. Professional linkbait service – 1 linkbait plus promotion (value $2,000)
  5. Blog Reboot – a step-by-step report on how to improve your blog (value $500)
  6. SEO Reboot – free keyword research report + SERPS analysis (value $350)
  7. Custom tweak / install of Brian Gardner’s Revolution theme (value $500)

So today we’re ready to announce the final clue. But before we do that, let’s review the first 5 clues:

Clue #1: “sleazy link-whoring tactics”
Clue #2: “All the SEO girls want Rand Fishkin”
Clue #3: “Is Matt Cutts the link nazi”
Clue #4: “PageRank epicycles are chinks in the Google armor”
Clue #5: “Brian Clark teaches wannabes”

Each of these clues are meant to help you spell a distinct word (one word per clue). So far, there are 5 words represented by 5 clues. Now we just need to finish off our target phrase (the treasure chest) with the last clue:

Clue #6: “John Chow looks great in his bath robe”

Ok. So what are you supposed to do with the clue?

Well, here’s a 4 step guide for how to use the clue.

  1. Do a Google search on the exact clue phrase.
  2. Visit any page on the Internet that shows up in the Google SERPS for that phrase.
  3. Once you are on the page, find only the *outbound* links in the article.
  4. Write down the first letter of the domains of any *outbound* links.

So that’s how you get started. The earlier you start searching, the better, because the less chance there is of SERP corruption by mischiefs;-)

Once you’ve collected all the letters for a clue, try to unscramble them into a word.

Each clue represents one word. All the clues together will represent a phrase. The first person to identify that phrase wins the grand prize.

If you need confirmation that you’ve found the *official* pages of the Treasure Hunt, send me, Ryan a private message

The Unspoken Secret of Web Professionals

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There was a time when I didn’t have any employees. In fact, there was a time when I was an employee.

So I know what it’s like to pretend to be busy, to inflate my productivity in reports, etc.

Now I have employees. Normally, I’m a real laid back kind of guy. I don’t like to micro-manage. I like to let artists do their work, unbridled.

But here’s the thing. I can’t shake the deep feeling that web professionals have this nasty habit of faking commitment. You know why? Because I used to fake commitment when I was working for people.

So let’s paint my picture of paranoia (I’m normally not like this, seriously). We’ll lay out the facts:

1. Working online removes temporal boundaries

The web professional can work at 2am just as easily as 8am. This is great. But it also creates a seductive time-warp in which the web professional thinks he or she can run an infinite number of side projects.

2. Working online removes spatial boundaries

Being close to one’s co-workers creates a sense of accountability to work. A person is expected to focus on his primary responsibilities when in an office. Sure, sometimes that means “faking it” – but spatial proximity enhances focus and singlenes of mind.

3. Working online creates infinite possibilities for making money for yourself

I admit it. I’ve suggested in the past that the best road to success online is to work for yourself.

Nothing like stabbing yourself in the back, eh…especially when your employees read everything you write;-)

So what do you think? Is my paranoia justified? Is it unjustified? Are there methods and structures to utilize these facts about the realities of online work to your advantage?

Help! I think I’m about to go delusional;-)

The Art of Differentiation: Standing out in a sea of mediocrity

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The inevitable has happened. On today’s Internet, the key to success is finding a way to stand out in a sea of mediocre content.

Gone are the days of churning out articles, brute force. Gone are the days of relying exclusively on the long tail of search for monetization.

So what are you supposed to do? I can sum it up for you in two words:

Differentiate upwards.

Your goal as an online professional is to differentiate yourself in a positive way from the vast sea of mediocrity that you see all around you. You should aim to do something that will catch the attention of Main Stream Media. Do something that will establish your site as an authority in its niche; something that’s out of reach for most other competitors.

In other words: look for the real gold at the top of the mountain, not the base.

Steps To Take & Goals to Make

First thing’s first. You should constantly be targeting powerful eyeballs.

Next thing: develop sustainable linkbait. No more of this one-off stuff that dies a quick death.

Go multi-media: that’s audio and video. at minimum, you should do an audio podcast. But aim for a weekly video show.

Be a resource hound: develop the Wikipedia articles that don’t yet exist in your niche…just don’t give them to Wikipedia. Put them on your own site.

Other ways to be a resource hound: build a killer tool, write detailed reviews in a niche that doesn’t have detailed reviews, create a bunch of top 10 resource lists (e.g. Top 10 Online Tools For Accountants)

A Real Life Example

When I got into the celebrity niche about 12 months ago, it wasn’t nearly as crowded as it is today. But people are natural born gold rushers, especially if the gold is laying at the base of a mountain.

The competition in the celebrity niche is fiercer now than when I first entered. The hanging fruits are much rarer. It occurred to me a while ago that I needed to take action and hope that there was a lot more gold up at the top of the mountain than at the bottom, where I’d been playing for the last year or so.

In order to differentiate, I decided to start a video production: The PopCrunch Show.

Warning: The following video contains language that many might find offensive. Watch at your own discretion.

What do you think? Will it help PopCrunch differentiate among the sea of celebrity sites?

Making It Through Troubled Times and the Will to Persevere

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The last few days have been really hard on me. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually.

I’ve been putting in 18 hour days almost completely focused on getting Performancing back up to speed. Admittedly, I did very little of the sweat work. About four others were doing the hard stuff.

But the whole experience has really worn me thin.

Fact is, I love Performancing. While there were moments over the last few days when I just wanted to quit and walk away, I knew I couldn’t. We have something too good going here for me to let it go.

Thanks for your patience. Mistakes were made. Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully lessons have been learned.

I’m shot.

Off to enjoy myself with a sweet game of Flyers’ hockey tonight (Rangers don’t stand a chance). Catch you tomorrow. And let’s hope that the trouble is behind us.

EatonWeb To Devalue PageRank… What Are Your Thoughts?

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The EatonWeb blog directory, which attempts to order blogs in each category by “importance” according to a variety of metrics, has decided to devalue the role of PageRank in its algorithm.

The basic argument is this: PageRank no longer serves as a reliable indicator of importance. If EatonWeb wants to be a reliable indicator of importance, then it needs to devalue the role of PageRank in its algorithm.

So what are your thoughts? Is this a smart move? A bad move? A reactionary move? From an objective standpoint, does it make sense to start ignoring PageRank in favor of other more reliable indicators of blog value?