It's All About Writing » Freelance Writing

AOL Owned Seed.com – New Site for Freelance Writers

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:06:08 +0000

Calling all freelance writers. Have you seen the new Seed.com owned by AOL? I am always skeptical of any and all new endeavors, however based on ownership and the ever popular AOL, it definitely has my curiosity peaked.

Here is a blurb from their website:

You might be a writer. A photographer. A filmmaker. Or all three. No matter where your experience lies, there’s a place for it on SEED. There’s nothing quite like reporting on a breaking story, interviewing an interesting source, or capturing a photo at the right moment. We can help you do all of that. All you have to do is bring your talent and experience.

If you have signed up or are working for/with seed.com, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Examiner.com – St. Louis Frugal Family Examiner

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:58:54 +0000

Very excited!! I applied to be the examiner.com St. Louis Frugal Family Examiner after noticing that the previous writer had not published anything since April of last year. I waited for awhile before applying to see if she would post again, but she never did. I took the chance about two weeks ago and went ahead and applied.

After I submitted everything, I learned that examiner had just opened up to Canadian applicants and they had a surge of applications. So, for me, it wasn’t looking promising. I didn’t say a word to anyone about applying (not even family), so I just patiently waited to see what would happen.

Last week I got the email that I was invited to be an examiner writer for the St. Louis Frugal Family section. I cannot tell you how happy I was and am, and how awesome it is to be selected to do it, as I’ve also since learned that many have trouble getting in to write for them. Anyway, my first article is finally published and since this is a residual income kind of site, feel free to click on it and read it, so I can get paid. Free Activities

I figured my topic over there is awesome and worth it, since I just began teaching Frugal Living classes again in my area, so this will all connect together nicely. And even if we do move at some point, we are not moving THAT far away, that I would ever not be part of St. Louis, so I’m safe.

My first article was approved after an hour and my site is live. You can see it here.

Please, please stop by and say hi to me over there. I’m the newbie on the block and many of these peeps have been writing for examiner for awhile. I could use the support.

If you write for examiner, are you loving it?

Slow Down on Article Writing

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:52:18 +0000

Before the holidays I always go a bit crazy writing articles, to make up for the holiday rush that seems to make article writing take a back seat. I have a ton of articles I have done nothing with yet, and have been throwing around the idea of tossing them up on Suite 101 or Associated Content, but I would really like to hear what others think. I also write for Demand Studios but haven’t for awhile.

My private clients have assignments that are due the first of February, but nothing until then, so I’m getting antsy to write. Been working on my book to supplement my writing time, but I am ready to get back into the swing of things.

Anyone have any advice for good websites to write for?

I recently applied to another residual site, but I hate counting on that for anything. I do it more for the experience, and a place to put the stuff I feel compelled to get down. haha

I have no idea where else to apply, or where else to do something with. Anyone? Bueller?

xoxox and Happy New Year! Hoping 2010 is my best writing year yet (and that my book gets published!)

Suite 101 – Got Words?

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:48:12 +0000

Completely on a whim, I decided to apply at Suite 101 just to see what would happen. I have written for some pretty big named sites on the Internet, but when I applied to Suite101 in May 2008, I got turned down. Back then I was writing for families.com. Uhm. Okay.

So I put it on the back burner, and last night thought about it again. I applied using the SAME two clips I had used back then (the same two I tend to use most of the time because they have not been published anywhere).

Within two hours I got an email congratulating me on being accepted to Suite 101. Wow. I got accepted using the same two writing samples I used last time that seemed to have deemed me not worthy? I changed TWO words to make them past tense. That is all I changed, and honestly if anything – I would have thought that might have been more of a problem than the original way it was written. So funny.

Uhm. So now what? Got any words to share? I have no idea what in the world to write about, since I wasn’t thinking they would accept me again. What articles do well on Suite101? What articles stink on Suite101? I realize it is a residual site, so I want to find articles to write that are interesting and would keep people coming back long term.

Do any of you write for Suite101? Has anyone had my experience? You are rejected and then reapply later, and are accepted? My favorite part is that it was the same two articles. LOL The original “editor” must not have liked my topics. haha

Fill me in on your experiences with this site. I’d love to hear them!

Past Writing Positions

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:00:33 +0000

I was browsing around today looking at some of my older articles I have written at a variety of locations, and ended up laughing when I landed on one site in particular.

I left them back several months ago, because the pay was pretty bad for what the article entailed – I had received a pay increase that was worth it awhile back, but a year later still no pay increase again, and it left me with no desire to write for them anymore. The research was costing me more time than actually article writing and it wasn’t worth it.

So I was re-reading some of the articles I wrote, and I came across two new articles posted by someone. I cannot tell if they hired someone new or if they are just asking someone to fill in occasionally. The articles were two weeks apart from each other, but they were so filled with typos, and mistakes that it was difficult for me to read. Plus the website has injected one of those stupid programs that highlights key words and article pop up. Not a fan. At all.

So, for me it was kinda of nice to look back and see that they really haven’t progressed much at all. You can give a site a makeover and call it “all new”, but it surely doesn’t make your articles worth writing. But at least now, they are paying for the quality they are receiving. LOL

Have you ever gone back and looked at articles you have written for a site you no longer work for? Is anyone new there now and what do you think of their writing?

Write What You Know

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Fri, 29 May 2009 07:06:13 +0000

Every writing class or workshop I have ever attended has taught the same phrase until it is embedded in my head. Write what you know.

It is interesting to me to go back and read articles that I had to research for, and then articles based on my own experiences or knowledge. Guess which ones are better? The ones where I was writing something I already knew about, the stuff that was already experienced.

The researched articles are good, don’t get me wrong. I was paid, so I wrote my best, but the information and the way the articles are written when I am using first hand knowledge are so much different than those that needed research or leg work to get answers to questions.

Why am I even talking or even ranting about this? Because lately I have spent a great deal of time rummaging around websites, reading articles and blog posts by people who are supposedly experts in these areas. It is clear in most cases, that they are not. That isn’t to say they aren’t interested in the topic, but clearly more first hand experience would be helpful. It is also obvious when research has been done, especially if I do know something about the topic, because often information is inaccurate or outdated, yet presented as if it is current and fresh.

It makes me sad that more people don’t spend time writing what they know, and not trying so hard to write whatever. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t do research and write articles on new topics and areas, only that your best material will be that, which you write on your own experiences.

What are your thoughts on this?

Article Spinning – What Do You Think?

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:18:17 +0000

Article Spinning annoys the heck out of me. According to Wikipedia, the definition for Article Spinning is:

Article spinning is a search engine optimization technique by which blog or website owners attempt to manipulate their rank on Google and other search engines. It works by rewriting existing articles, or parts of articles, and replacing elements to avoid being penalized in the Search Engine Results pages (SERP) for using duplicate content. The original articles are often plagiarized from other websites and can often also be copyright infringements if the original article was used without the copyright owner’s permission.

The problem with article spinning is that typically it is not one writer choosing to spin their own articles. I don’t love the idea of that either, but it’s better than what appears to be happening.

I’m constantly going on websites, blogs and doing searches for something and find really poorly written articles that are the same as someone else. I’ve found my own articles this way. At a former site I used to write for, a writer didn’t spin articles but they used my previous articles to re-write their own version. It drove me crazy and did lead to my leaving the site and not speaking too highly about them anymore (simply because it was a problem that could have been addressed and instead they just swept it under the rug.)

But article spinning is worse, in that the only thing they usually change in the article are keywords and certain words… for instance, they might replace “like” with “adore” or “google” with “search engine” or “rose” with “flower”. The problem with the replacing of the words, is that often the articles simply don’t make sense but when google or any other search engine comes crawling, it finds a “new” article and assumes that it is legit. It sucks for the original writer.

I can guarantee that any content you find on any site that I do or have written for, is mine and only mine. I would never even attempt article spinning, simply because I am too much of a perfectionist. It was disheartening however, to do a search on an extremely popular article of mine on a site and find not only had it been spun, but it had also been “scraped” which I will explain more at another date. It’s really annoying. Don’t call yourself a writer if you aren’t going to create quality content that belongs to YOU and not others.

What are your thoughts on article spinning?

Losing a Job

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:36:09 +0000

Doesn’t it suck to lose a job? It especially sucks when you’re a freelancer and you rely on the income from sporadic jobs, etc. Thus is the case with a situation I am currently in. It doesn’t affect me, as much as it affects other bloggers who unfortunately chose to put all their eggs in one basket.

I’m blessed to have many clients and to actively write for several websites, so losing one job isn’t going to kill me or put too much of a damper in my income, but for many it’s the pits. A website I have been writing actively for a year now with, decided to drop the rates of many of the writers. I won’t deny, my disappointment and discouragement was made known. It was an easy paycheck and was an extra $150/month. Yes, I do miss the $150. However, I don’t miss the gig. I was tired of having to promote my own content, when the company should have. Interestingly enough, they loved my blog enough to promote it in a recent ad they published in a magazine, but not enough to keep the pay the same. I haven’t officially left, but I’m not writing like I was for them either because it simply isn’t worth the time to have that content paid for in such a small amount and then not allow me to post it elsewhere. It was a personal choice.

The plus side for me, is that before I took on the position, I had a blog that I had just started on the very subject and while I did let the website go for a few months, it was still available to re-register and and I did. Now I am actively trying to build the content up on the site and make it look better than before.

Losing a job can seriously affect someone who relied solely on one place for a writing income, and I really hope that it doesn’t or didn’t affect you, but if it did, it is a good lesson in why you should have multiple sources for income. What are your thoughts on pay decreases within writing and blogging companies?

Where Did I Go?

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:53:29 +0000

I certainly did not mean to disappear. It’s like I won NaNo and fell off the planet. Actually I didn’t. I just threw myself actively into writing again and had less time to spend blogging for fun, but if ever I am missing for any length of time, feel free to visit my other blog.

I promise to get better again and help my fellow writers out. What have all of you been up to?

Articles Picked Up By Reuters

Nicole Humphrey Cook — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:29:23 +0000

Holy craziness! I just signed onto one of my accounts and found out that I have had a few articles picked up by various places. I was most excited about being featured on Reuters. That’s pretty huge! LOL

So here’s where you can find them:

Reuters: Our Favorite Dry Rub Recipe It was also picked up by chefs.com

Reuters: Meal Planning – 21 Meals

Chicago Sun Times: Menu Plan Monday with Recipes (this one surprised me a bit!)

And then oddly, Computer Shopper.com picked up my Moist Banana Bread Recipe.

So wild, but kinda cool all at the same time!

ETA: I just did a full search and I found 18 of my articles on Reuters, and eight of them picked up by the Chicago Sun Times. There were also several that were included on chefs.com. Amazing!