John Hewitt said something interesting about freelance writing bloggers the other day. He said that he visits blogs to read good writing, not the blog posts themselves because they’re not saying anything new. He feels that all freelance writing bloggers are talking about the same old rehashed topics. As a freelance writing blogger I was a little thrown off by this but I also felt it was important to know. If a member of my community feels I’m unoriginal it’s my obligation and my challenge to come up with stuff that not everyone is talking about.
This is the kind of feedback I like. It tells me what is wrong and what I needed to correct the situation.
Tell me what you think? Are freelance writing bloggers doing the same old topics to death? What do you think we’re covering too much (I can probably hazard a guess), and what do you feel we should give more attention to?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments..
I’m going to have to agree with him.
Out of the five-ten RSS feeds I have in my feed reader, the same topics seem to come up every day: say no to your clients to make more money, be nice to your clients, meet your deadlines, etc etc etc.
If there’s anything that seems to have a new or useful headline, it always seems to never -tell- us what that strategy is; it always seems to be a “it’s worked for me, but I’m not going to tell you because I don’t want to be obsolete” post.
.-= Matt Demers´s last blog ..Introducing Shad =-.
Yes, I think freelance bloggers are saying the same things over and over. I’d also like to say that this blog does feature more unique content than most others. As Matt mentioned many of the freelance writing blogs promise some great revelation but don’t deliver. You’ve given us tips we can use. Your post about cold calling actually gave me tips on how to do it. I sent some information to some local businesses first and then called and it did the trick. Your method worked and I landed two clients. I recently read a blog post about cold calling and all it said was that we should do it, it didn’t tell us how. So thanks for giving us real, actual how to stuff we can use.
Hmmm, interesting concept. I guess we’re all in this because there is a demand among new – and some experienced – freelancers to learn the craft. I believe there will always be a need for new and fresh posts on the same old topics; the ‘how to’ and ‘what to do’ and ‘what you need to know’ posts. There is always an aspiring writer out there looking for the information they need to get started.
But, yes, John has a point. As with anything, we always need to be mindful of our delivery and not just our content, and keeping things fresh.
Frankly, though, Deb, I love your site and enjoy your posts.
.-= pamela wilson´s last blog ..Going for the kill on fees =-.
I think that’s true to an extent – but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s sometimes nice to read the same thing from different perspectives, and seeing several people agree on a particular topic lends credibility to it.
What frustrates me, as Matt says above, is people who start saying something tempting and then don’t tell you anything useful. The worst culprits are those who constantly remind us how within two months of leaving their day job they were fending clients off with a sharp stick. Then fail to give any tips on how to achieve similar greatness, all the while talking about how great they are. Okay, so those people are totally transparent, but what I like about this blog is that it does give practical advice that everyone can use, not just one person’s experience of their own success. It was especially helpful when I was a newbie.
.-= Lucy Smith´s last blog ..Tempting gadgetry =-.
I think you might want to take it as a compliment: even though the subject area has been well-trodden by many writers, people keep coming back here for your take. Presumably that’s because you write well, share a new or worthwhile perspective and blog with integrity.
There really are no new stories, just interesting ways of telling them.
.-= Sierra Black´s last blog ..Endless Snacks =-.
I think it is so time consuming to run a blog. It’s really a job. I love writing and have been doing so for decades. But it just may not be for me. How can I keep up with all the blogs that are out there? How can I judge whether one is more reputable than another? What makes for a quality blog? It seems there is a free for all of writers on line. There is such fragmentation that it is difficult to form a community. Everyone wants to have a blog of her own.
I have been a subscriber and reader for a while and I think you keep it as fresh as possible. While I am a personal finance blogger, not a freelance writing blogger, I think staleness can enter into any niche eventually. Even if you are writing a wide open, free association, anything goes blog you are going to start repeating yourself eventually. In my niche, and I think most others, once you have presented the basics (and then some) it really does turn into an “it’s not what you say, but how you say it” scenario. Keep up the good work and don’t let the turkeys get you down.
.-= Buck Weber´s last blog ..What We Could Become =-.
I just want to make one thing clear. This was not a comment directed at Deb, but at freelance blogs in general, up to and including my own. It was, in fact, me thinking about how much new information I had left to offer. Please don’t think I was attacking Deb. That would make me feel sad.
.-= John Hewitt´s last blog ..Task Organization =-.
John,
Of course I didn’t think you were speaking solely about me, but as a freelance writing blogger it caused me to think and wonder if I needed to work more on my content. Every time I write something I wonder if I’m doing the best job for my community. I wouldn’t be doing my job if your comment directed at someone else didn’t make me wonder if I was a member of the unoriginal club. All feedback is opportunity.
You are my good friend and I know you meant nothing by it, but I thank you for giving me an opportunity for self-examination.
When bloggers needs to produce cash, they sent their more unique contents
to paying clients. And that maybe the main reason why some of their posts
seem rehashed.
Yes and no, Poch. None of my clients want me to write about freelance writing so the FWJ community gets my best stuff. I wouldn’t put my worst effort on a blog, though. Not when so many people come to it to learn more about me.
All,
Please know that I didn’t take John’s words as an attack on me, nor am in need of pep talks, validation, and “you go girl!” The reason I asked about all freelance writing bloggers in general is because I feel it’s important to look from the outside in sometimes, and the only way I can do that is through you. So when I ask about freelance writing bloggers, I’m not talking specifically about me, but all freelance writing blogs in general.
Thanks for all your feedback.
You could make the case for just about any kind of blog, and I think a lot of veteran bloggers are running into the same content crisis. Joel Spolsky’s recent article for Inc. underscores the pressure a lot of us face to “keep things fresh” or to wind up a blog as a fixed body of work.
For me, freelance writing blogs bubble ideas back to the top of my mind. I may have been thinking about shuffling my client roster, and a great post (or even a headline) might force me to get that idea out of my head and on to my task list.
.-= Joe Taylor Jr.´s last blog ..Recommended Reading for March 3rd =-.
I think it depends on your perspective. I learn something new every day at FWJ, so I don’t think you’re just rehashing the same old/same old. And even when you do touch upon a topic I think I know something about, such as writing query letters and such, there’s more to learn and different perspectives to consider. I guess some blogs just recycle the same old stuff, but I don’t find that here.
As a budding freelance writer, I’ve browsed through a lot of blogs/posts about writing. Although I’ve seen a lot of the same topics over and over, I enjoy seeing the differing perspectives on those topics.
To answer the question of what I’d like to see more of…I would love to see more posts with specific examples of the topic. A fantastic example is this post about writing a query:
http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/2010/03/query-letter-writing-dissecting-a-successful-query-letter
While a list of tips on a topic can help generate ideas, an article structured like the one linked above is much more informative.
Interesting discussion!