Credit where it’s due: I’m writing this in response to a Skype conversation I had with Mark Narter, a friend and writer who doesn’t have a huge online presence but writes full time for a local business. Every now and then Mark pings me to talk about something I wrote and whether or not he agrees with me. After I posted a peek into my portfolio, Mark wondered what makes my past experiences good ones. What do I consider a “Good” freelance writing job. The money? The glory? The opportunity?

I love questions that make me think. So when a friend wonders what I consider a worthy freelance writing opportunity, I’m all over it.  I don’t believe all gigs are good gigs. I worked plenty of sucky jobs. For example, some really boring SEO work and a content site that was more interested in using the right keywords than whether or not the content made sense. The content site gig didn’t last because the pay didn’t justify the work and my boredom with the subject matter. The SEO gig paid quite well. Still, it wasn’t what I would consider a “good” gig.

Keep in mind that that each writer has his own definition of what makes a “good” gig. Here’s my list:

• It pays well
• I enjoy the work
• I earn a profit
• I have a byline
• I put forth my best effort
• Others respond to what I wrote

Now, I may not have written for many “huge” names, but I can say with all honesty that I landed plenty of “good” gigs.  Tell us about you. What makes a “good” freelance writing job? What are some of your favorites?

It was a given that wherever Dad was, a book or two was close by. He passed that love on to all six of his kids as well.  Every year at Christmas Dad went to the bookstores to find the perfect books suiting each child’s individual taste, and he was spot on every time. Not a week went by when he didn’t bring books home from the library for us all to enjoy. Books gave Dad joy and his children and grandchildren have inherited this literary legacy.

Just now as I was walking home from dropping my son off at a playmate’s I was wondering if I should blow off a couple of hours of quiet working time in favor of a good read.  There’s nothing like getting lost in a good book. I’m talking about the kind of lost where you don’t notice the world around you and your family has to call your name over and over again until you snap out of it.

That’s the kind of writer I aspire to be. I would love for people to get lost in my words.

As I type this, there are several books on the family room end table that sits next to my big comfy chair:

• “The Stand” by Stephen King, which I’m re-reading and I consider one of the best books ever written.

• “The Host” by Stephanie Meyer , which I’m forcing myself to read because it was a gift. I’m not a fan of her writing at all.

• “Trust Agents” by Chris Brogan which should be required reading for anyone looking to build relationships on the web.

• “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” by Lynne Truss because I’ve been neglecting my commas.

In the basket in my bathroom are some past and current copies of

• Wired
• Website Magazine
• Boy’s Life
• Car and Driver
• the 5th installment of “Roscoe Riley Rules.”

On and around the nightstand in the bedroom are about 30 books. Some I’ve read and some I’m hoping to get to in this decade. My bookmark is currently residing in David McCullough’s “1776.”

We’ve talked here before about why it’s important to read, though this isn’t something one generally has to convince a writer to do. It’s in our blood and it’s in our hearts. Tell us what you’re reading…and where. What are some of the books you recommend to others – and what’s the best book you’ve ever read. Share. Turn us on to something new.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take advantage of my quiet house and read.

What are you reading?

Yes, this blog network is now my main source of income, and yes, it’s helped me achieve a certain level of success, but that’s not what it’s all about. I’m not a novelist and I’m don’t write in a journal every night, but I can relate to my writer friends who consider their works in progress or private writing to be an addiction — the thing they enjoy doing most. Blogging is like that for me. This is what I enjoy doing most.

I made the Freelance Writing Jobs network work because this is what I want to do. I want to blog and talk about writing with my friends. I would be lying to say I’m not proud of what I achieved here. There are no ulterior motives though. The reason I don’t entertain thoughts of selling this blog network is because I’m not ready to give up my passion. I don’t think I’d know what to do with myself.

Does that sound corny?

Ten years ago if you asked me my dream job I would probably have answered “to become a newspaper columnist.”  I went out and got that job too. I used my content site clips and convinced a Philadelphia newspaper to give me a shot. It was a fun gig. It didn’t pay much at all but I enjoyed the writing and it impressed many clients. I left when the newspaper experienced budget cuts and they wanted me to write for free. Even dream jobs have to pay. In between it all, I blogged. The newspaper column was terrific, but it wasn’t my passion.

It’s hard to explain…

If you know me from back in the early days of my writing career, you may know I’ve held many different freelance writing jobs for a variety of clients. Some were long term, some were short term, and they were all learning experiences. I worked for some major brands and some clients you never heard of and they all played a part in who I am today.

Even at my busiest, I always came back to this blog.  Even when I took a  full time job in 2008 and 2009, I gave up most of my clients, but came back to this blog.  Today, I give the Freelance Writing Jobs network the bulk of my time. It’s not backburnered to take client gigs. It’s not something I get to when I have time. It’s my life.

Freelance Writing Jobs isn’t just a meal ticket. It’s my passion. It’s on my mind first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I plan blog posts when I’m driving and wake up in the middle of the night to write down ideas. I don’t do this because I want to be famous or to dominate the search engines, though that part is kind of the gravy on the proverbial potatoes. I just enjoy sharing my experiences and I especially like learning about yours.

It’s been challenging, for sure. I made many mistakes and even lost some of this community to those mistakes, but I have no regrets. Right now, in 2010, I’m exactly where I want to be, doing what I want to do.

How about you?

Tell me about your passion…

What is your absolute dream writing job? If you had your druthers, what would you be doing now? If you had a ticket to work eight hours each day doing a specific gig, what would it be?

Image via stock xchnge

I’m noticing something interesting lately and I’m not bringing it up to point fingers or start arguments, but only because it’s interesting and perhaps even discussion-worthy.

As most of you know, my decision to partner with a well known content site led to a bit of an uproar, especially among journalists who don’t agree with said site’s model and payment structure. It created many heated web discussions and debates, but the reaction wasn’t unexpected.

I wonder if many of the same journalists and freelance writing bloggers realize they’re also profiting from this content site and others?

Double Standards?

I thought about this a lot yesterday while reading a blog post at the Society of Professional Journalists entitled “The Dilemma of Demand Studios.” The journalists who are members of SPJ don’t exactly agree with SPJ displaying advertising from Demand Studios. The blog post made it clear that while they’re happy to accept Demand Studios’ money, they don’t necessarily dig their payment structure. I’m not going to get into detail regarding the blog post because it’s not relevant, but I noted one comment with interest – that SPJ has partnered with the citizen journalism site, Helium.com Helium is known to pay on a residual basis, meaning many of their writers are paid less than the Demand Studios writers. In fact, SPJ encouraged journalists to use Helium as “a vital stepping stone for our members to establish and build their digital credibility.” Is there a double standard? I see plenty of journalists displaying their anger towards SPJ and even MediaBistro for accepting advertising dollars from Demand Studios, but I never saw any anger regarding the Helium partnership.

Inadvertent Hypocrisy?

I also find it interesting that many freelance writing bloggers, who are quite vocal on their blogs and in forums about the evils of content sites, are profiting from these sites with the advertising they choose to display. For example, Indeed ads. If you look at my “Job Search” page, you’ll note the Indeed search engine. Chances are, if you type in “freelance writer” you’ll come up with a variety of ads for Demand Studios, Suite 101, Examiner, Helium and others. Every time a job searcher clicks one of those links, I earn a bit of change. I’m not the only one. Many writing bloggers also profit using the same method.

Ditto Adsense. Adsense links don’t always indicated what is behind the click. Instead they use phrases such as “freelance writers wanted.” Click on some of those ads and you’ll also find they lead to content sites. I’m not going say this is hypocrisy because I’m positive it’s inadvertent, but I wonder if these bloggers realize they’re profiting from the same sites they denounce? In addition to earning money, they are also sending those sites traffic and, may even be contributing to new sign ups.

There are ways to adjust your Adsense so they don’t show ads from selected companies. I don’t know if there’s a way to adjust Indeed ads. Again, I’m not sure if these bloggers realize they’re profiting from the same places they are so vocally against. However, it’s a good lesson to check what you’re advertising as you may be unpleasantly surprised.

Have you ever checked your ads to see what exactly it is they’re linking out to? You might be surprised.

I’m inspired to write this post by a challenge from Chris Brogan who likes to throw out three words to live by at the beginning of each year. It wasn’t too hard for me to come up with my own words to live by, because I’ve spent the past few days thinking about my own plans for the new year.

2009 was the year I made some bad choices and some good choices, but chalked all up as positive learning experiences. I’m very interested to see how 2010 turns out.

Last year I had a different focus because for the first half of the year I had a full time job as Community Manager for an online radio network. This blog network was sort of running itself and though it was a semi-priority, my full time job took up most of my time. When I found myself without full time work during the second half of the year, I made the Freelance Writing Jobs network a priority. The shift in focus agreed with me and this community began to grow. By the end of the year, I was earning a full time income from this blog network. It wasn’t anything near what I was earning doing full time community management, but it was enough for me to not look for many replacement opportunities.

For 2010, FWJ is where I’m devoting the majority of my time save for a few client and personal projets. With this in mind, I’d like to share my own three words for 2010:

Focus: A blog network won’t grow if your focus is on building up someone else’s brand. This is the first year I don’t have dozens of clients or a full time job to deal with, which will enable me to focus on bringing you the content and discussion topics you’re clamoring for. It will  also enable me to work on some mutually beneficial projects and grow traffic and revenue so I can continue the positive cycle.

Community: If you’ve been following me and this blog for the past five years, you know my passion lies in building and cultivating community. I hate to sound cliche, but without you, I’m nothing. In 2010, I will work harder to build this community and, also, to build bridges to other communities so we can enjoy some cross discussions with other terrific people and mend some of the riffs formed in 2009. In 2010, it will be about you.

Positivity: There was a lot of negativity among the freelance writing community in 2010. Some of it caused a divide. I’m not going to claim innocence, as I know I didn’t help any, but it all ends here. 2010 is all about positive experiences. It will not be about arguing with other bloggers or trying to defend every decision I make to the people who don’t get why I do what I do. The past is the past and the future is positivity.

I’m going to continue Chris’ challenge by asking you for your three words.

What are your three words for 2010 for yourself….and what are your three words for the Freelance Writing Jobs Network community?

Discuss…

My son and his best friend, both 7, disappear in our unfinished basement for hours. There they have built an elaborate web of mazes made from packing boxes, beer coolers and large plastic containers. This hideout sits upon a wooden platform used to keep boxes dry when we were experiencing problems with flooding.

This hideout is called “The Triffin.” No, I don’t know how they happened upon the name, but they liked the sound of it and it stuck. Now both families refer to “The Triffin” as if it’s a common, everyday word.

This isn’t your basic chairs and sheets club house. Two boys spend every weekend since the summer to add and tweak. They let their creativity and imagination run wild. The Triffin has several floors and compartments and each weekend yields a new surprise.

There are flashlights, blankets and games inside the Triffin. There is a mailbox and an old discarded comfy chair. There’s even a small ladder leading to another “floor.” The Triffin probably wouldn’t pass a building inspection but it’s been parent-approved for safety.

Every now and then the boys will completely dismantle The Triffin and rebuild with a new design. They’ll spend days with a notebook planning rooms and making adjustments.

The Triffin is my inspiration. It takes me back to my childhood when there were no video games or cable television. It reminds me of building hideouts in my own basement and writing stories under a blanket using a flashlight for light. It’s a good reminder to let our imaginations get the best of us once in a while. Sometimes we need to not be such sticklers and see where our creativity takes us.

When was the last time you totally let go?

By now you probably know that James Chartrand is a pen name. It’s the pen name of a single mom who found more respectful and lucrative gigs using a man’s name. When she contacted me to tell me the truth, I was in shock. The Men with Pens blog is awash in machismo. Never in a million years would I think a woman was behind it. I’m not angry with James. As a mom I’ll do anything to make sure my family is provided for. Anything. Thankfully James’ decision was relatively safe compared to other lucrative choices available to women.

In the days since “James” made his confession, I’ve done a lot of thinking about this. One of my struggles as a blogger is to be taken seriously. I work damn hard to build this blog and while I’m not necessarily looking for fame, I wonder why it’s so much harder for a woman to receive respect as a professional blogger.

“Female” Bloggers

I remember during my first couple of years as a blogger, every now and then someone would come up with a list of top 25 or top 100 bloggers. There were only one or two women on each list, if any. Eventually women would complain and a few bloggers would hastily throw together lists of “top female bloggers.”

I mean, really.

You’re either a blogger or female blogger?

At SXSW I remember watching a flash session of community managers from brands such as Best Buy, Crocs and Jet Blue. There was not one woman in the group. I’ve attended “super sessions” of “make money online” bloggers, with no women sitting on the panel. Each time, I wondered why there was so much testosterone. Is it because the presenters didn’t know of any woman in these niches? Is it because the women said no? Is it because no women were asked? I would love to know the answer.

I remember sitting on a BlogTalkRadio discussion panel and the theme was “social media divas”. While on the air I wondered why we were refered to as “divas.” Men are considered “gurus,” “experts,” “ninjas” and “rockstars.” Women are divas. The person who put together the session confessed he though it was a cute term. Would anyone look for a cute term to describe a male blogger?

“Mommy” Bloggers

Every now and then someone refers to me as a mommy blogger. I don’t blog about parenting. I don’t talk much here about being a mom. I don’t pimp laudry detergent or diapers. Yet because I’m a woman and I have  a child and a blog, I’m considered a mommy blogger.

What’s wrong with “Blogger?”

Why so many labels? Why do I have to be a female blogger or a mommy blogger? Why do I have to be a “darling” of the blogosphere or a “diva” of social media. Why can’t I just be a blogger? Why can’t I be held in the same respect and regard  as the males in this field?

So let me ask you this. Do you think the male bloggers and social media “experts” receive more respect than women?

Discuss…

I have a reality check for freelance writers and bloggers who wish to have a web presence: eventually there will come a time when you’ll be on the receiving end of a steaming pile of negativity.

The negativity may be a result of something true that you wanted to keep locked away in a closet forever, or it might be something not so true. It might even be something you brought on yourself and deserve. How you react to the negativity can be the difference between the scandal blowing over quickly or lingering for a long time.

The hit

There’s nothing like waking up one morning and reading something about you that either isn’t true or isn’t nice. Bad news doesn’t ever come at a good time. Half the time you’re hit by someone you liked or trusted, and that makes it even worse. It’ll hurt and it’ll sting. You’re going to worry who else is reading it and what they’re thinking. You’re going to want to immediately spring into action and do damage control. You want everyone to know your side of the story.

Don’t react…yet

Learn from my mistakes.

Wait before reacting. You’re going to want to do a bunch of different things, none of them will be right. Everyone loves a good scandal. They’re going to look for everything they can on this and if you react passionately or suddenly it will only result in more negativity. Take a day or a few days to let it sink in. Let the publicity and bad vibes die down. If you still feel you need to address it, do so after a day or two of reflection.  It may not even be necessary to react at all. Don’t run off on the defensive, it only makes the scandal worse.

Consider the source

A few months ago a member of the FWJ community wrote a negative and false post about me on his blog. I made the mistake of reacting. I immediately wrote a retaliation post here. A couple of hours later I read what I wrote and thought it sounded silly and defensive. I removed it, but the damage was done. In fact, I received some not so favorable emails from members of this community. They agreed the other person’s attack on me wasn’t true and wasn’t necessary, but they were turned off by my going tit for tat.

Here’s the thing…I should have considered the source. His post? It sent a total of two people to my blog during the week following the scandal. Probably if I hadn’t called attention to it, no one would have known about it. Once I retaliated I sent the other person a whole bunch of traffic PLUS the same old anonymous trolls came out of the woodwork to say even more negative (and untrue) things.  Ignoring it would have allowed the FWJ community to  draw their own conclusions, if they even came across the post at all. It would have allowed them to privately ask questions if they were so inclined.

What not to do

Don’t react. Don’t go from blog to blog defending yourself, don’t fire off an angry blog post and don’t feel you have to discuss it with everyone who comes along. The people who don’t like you or don’t want you to succeed will enjoy seeing you on the defensive and will have fun with all your words. Nothing you can say or do will change their minds.

A couple of months ago, a very well known and well respected freelance writing “expert” included an attack on me in her attack on a content mill. This attack hurt the most for a couple of reasons. The first was that this expert is someone who I trusted to look out for writers and tell the truth. Her investigation and subsequent attack on me twisted some words around for her benefit and left out a few very key details.  It made me feel betrayed because I now wondered if all of her investigations were skewed and biased.

Another reason this attack stung is because of all the people who publicly reacted. Members of my community who now didn’t trust me because of this expert who they believed always spoke the Gospel. That probably hurt the most.

I took a different approach with this unwarranted attack. I didn’t react. I didn’t go from blog post to blog post. I read all the blog posts and comments and let it sink in. When I finally did react by commenting on one blog post, I was invited to tell my story and I did…another mistake. Not that it resulted in more negativity but because at that time it was a week later and the scandal had died down. I fanned the flames and started it all back up again.

It will always come back to haunt you

If you react by reacting, it will always come back to haunt you. Folks will call you immature or retaliatory because you fired off in anger. They’ll call you unprofessional because you went tit for tat. They’ll say they hoped you weren’t so petty. Reacting almost always never leads to good things.

Your options are to take it and not react, and let folks wonder why you’re so quiet about it all, or react and let everyone question your credibility and professionalism. You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. Take the high road. It’ll die down quicker if you just let it go. You may take a big hit as a result but the people who appreciate you and what you do will still stick around in the end.

How hard the train crashes is up to you

If you put yourself in the public eye it’s important to note there are always going to be people who won’t like you. There are plenty of people who might even want you to fail. Other writers, other bloggers, and other people in the social media space will act friendly and most are. Like in the real world though, knowing who to trust is a crapshoot. If you find yourself on the receiving end of some negativity, tell yourself everyone likes a train wreck especially if there’s a pile up and lots of bodies left in its wake. You’ll be surprised at the people who smell blood in the water and circile around.

Without sounding too lame, you man the controls to your own train. How you respond to negativity is the difference between a simple derailment and a full on rubber necking situation.

How do you respond to negativity? When you see something written about another writer or blogger, do you give that person the benefit of the doubt – or do you believe what you read?

Negativity..discuss…

I’ve been thinking about paid content a lot lately. It’s causing major discussion and debate among both writers and readers, but it’s something I’m sure we’re going to see a lot of in the very near future. It’s going to be a slow sell, but mark my words,  it’ll sell.

On the web, there are buyers for everything.

A lot of people hesitate at the idea of paying bloggers and news sites for content, but I don’t believe this will be the case forever. In fact, I believe paid content is the future of the web, and here’s why:

People are always willing to pay for good information

We subscribe to newspapers and magazines and pay for continuing educations classes. We have no problem shelling out $100 for an ebook or $500 for a webinar. We buy books and pay money to join elite forums. That’s not going to change. People are always willing to pay for good information from trusted sources.

As James Chartrand and I learned on Twitter last week, for every two people who won’t pay for content, there’s one more who has no problem with it if the creator is someone who is trusted to consistently provide good, valuable, useful content. It’s the reason Darren Rowse earned $72,000 within the first week of his ebook launch or brings in tens of thousands of dollars each month with his paying forum. It’s the reason so many writers pay $99 a year to join the Freelance Success forum and newsletter to receive one market in their mailbox each week and the ability to commiserate among their peers. If they feel they’ll learn and advance their careers, people will pay money. It’s not a matter of if they will or won’t, because they already do.

Folks are also desperate for quality. They don’t want regurgitated garbage. They don’t want to search for medical advice only to find factually incorrect, rewritten twenty times over content. They want to come upon information they can actually use in term papers and other research.

Make no mistake, readers will pay for reliable content from reputable sources. Parents will pay if it means their children can find legitimate information for their school work and consumers will pay to get real reviews for the products they use every day. There’s a thirst for knowledge. Not rewritten knowledge, but the good stuff. The true stuff.

With a subscription-based content plan, publishers can attract the best writers

Even though I believe good writing is good writing regardless of pay, I also believe many of the best writers are attracted only to higher paying work. With a subscription-based content model it will be easier to hire quality experts to write journalistic, highly researched reports and articles. Most content sites now don’t make enough in revenue to pay writers enough to thoroughly and accurately research a piece.  A paying model will enable a higher payment for writers and allow them to write more than essays or “how to” content.

Readers won’t go for it…at first

Readers will balk, they always do. They didn’t like ads on blogs and they didn’t want to pay $200 for an ebook, but they did and they still do. Almost everything Internet users said they wouldn’t pay for in the past, they’re paying for now. People want to learn from the best and they’re willing to pay to do that. People want to be entertained and they’re willing to pay for it. Whether it’s a professional blogger telling them how they can make money online, or a professional writer giving a well researched account, people will pay.

It’ll be a slow sell, like cable TV was a slow sell in the 70′s. Eventually most of America got on board and sappy Lifetime movies filled every household with a female population. No one wanted to pay to access newspapers or magazines online, but many do. No one wanted to pay to join a forum, but many do. No one wants to pay for content but many do, and many more will.

It’s really not a matter of why or when people will pay for content, because they already are. It’s just a matter of getting it the mainstream.

People will pay for content because they’ve always paid for content.

Credit it where it’s due: This post is inspired by a variety of sources. Originally James Chartrand and I were DM’ing on Twitter about a membership based blogging site. We took the question of whether people should pay for content public and received a variety of answers.  See my post “When Should Bloggers Stop Giving it Away” on the BlogWorld blog and James’ post “Are Bloggers Creating Their Own Sweat Shop?”. I’m also inspired to write this post by recent discussions here and at Carson Brackney‘s blog regarding quality content.

Something I struggle with is whether or not I should put most of my eggs in my clients’ baskets or if I should invest my time in me. With clients the pay is sometimes better and more immediate, but I’m not necessarily writing my passion. However, when I create my own projects, I have the opportunity to earn on my own terms and not have to troll for work or meet someone else’s deadlines. If you’ve been doing this for a while, you might consider how to begin earning a residual income by taking advantage of your own expertise.

What is your passion?

Now, before I go on, understand this. I’m not telling you to write about writing (unless you want to). Everyone who writes thinks they have to have a blog  about writing to be taken seriously, this isn’t true.You can write about whatever you want. Say your garden is the envy of the neighborhood year after year, you can exploit that expertise by blogging, writing ebooks, traditional books and even creating online courses for each of the difference gardening zones. I write about writing or blogging the way Gary Vaynerchuk discusses wine. I talk about it because it’s my passion, not because writers have to write about writing. Share what you love and your passion will shine through.

Everyone is good at something

Everyone has a specialty. It might be interior design, cake decorating, cars, tomatoes, or turtles. If you enjoy these things, there’s a good chance there are others enjoying them as well. If your interest is more than an occasional hobby, if you have a passion and everything you touch turns to gold, you have the ability to reach people and teach them what you know.

What can you do with your passion?

My passions including writing, blogging and social media, which is why you see me write so much on these topics. Have you noticed I’ve been doing more for myself lately than with clients? In addition to blogging, I write ebooks, speak at conferences and local business meetings, and, I even have a book proposal in the works. In the past six months, I’ve turned away at least a dozen clients. My passion has become a career and yours can too.

What next?

It’s time for a good old-fashioned brainstorming session. Think about your passion. What would you like to do with it? Have you thought about blogging or creating a series of ebooks? Make a list of goals. If your goal is to only write for clients who share your passion, think about the ways you can accomplish this. If it’s your goal to speak to others about your favorite topic, list how you will do this. Make a list of goals and research the ways you can accomplish those goals.

Find the Time

A common excuse for not starting our own projects is time. I don’t care how busy you are, time is only an excuse. Even if you find one hour a week to write a page of a book, you can find the time to do this. You have to, or you’re destined to write for other people for the rest of your life. Anyone wishing to break away from clients to become self-sufficient can do so with the right time investment. For example, to build this blog, I invested two hours of my time every day for several years. Now, it’s pretty much a full time job, but it also pays a full time salary. Making sure I had time to invest no matter how many clients, no matter how many hours worked at my full time job, ensured a return on that investment almost five years later.

It’s not only the blog, either. Investing a little time each day to write an ebook is slowly paying off. It’s not a runaway best seller but I’m earning money from my ebook every month and that’s never a bad thing. With two more ebooks in the works, I’m investing more time in my future. The more of my own projects I take on, the less time I’m spending with clients and handling their projects.

Everyone has options

In 2010, there are no more excuses. We all have an opportunity to share our passion. Never before have there been so many options available. As Darren Rowse just proved, you can self publish and still earn the same amount of money as a best selling novel. Now, there’s nothing wrong with writing for clients, but don’t forget your own stuff.

Most freelance writers have goals they never meet. There’s no better time than now to share your passion.

What’s your passion? How will you use it?

Not sure of what to do with your passion? Need to bounce some ideas around? Talk to us in the comments and we’ll help you brainstorm.

Are you happy? I mean, really happy? It’s one thing to write, it’s another thing to write on topics we enjoy every day. When a writer is truly happy and enjoys what he or she does, it shows. When a writer is simply going through the motions and writing for the paycheck and little else, that shows too. I’m not saying it’s wrong, just that most readers can sense passion in the writing. When there’s no passions, a writer is simply putting out another product.

I think passion is the key to success, as many successful people will attest. Passion allows us to share from the heart, rather than the finger tips. Passion allows us to paint a picture with our words, instead of merely stringing words together on a page. Passion drives us farther than a paycheck ever will. Passion is the difference between a best-selling byline and getting by. Passion is what gets us out of bed early instead of hitting the snooze button over and over again.

Product is a finished piece of writing. We’re not emotionally attached to it one way or another. Our clients paid us to write about this topic and we did. It’s a good piece of writing and will be well received but it’s missing heart.

There’s nothing wrong with churning out a product. As writers we do it every day. Not all of us are able to write about our passion every day. Many of us have to start out writing about undesirable topics as we get a foot in the door. To me, “making it” as a writer doesn’t always have to do with how much money I earn, it has to do with writing and blogging my passion each and every day.

I’m willing to bet if you hire two writers to craft an article on the same exact topic and one writer is passionate about the topic while the other is emotionally detached, you’ll find a big difference in the writing. Passion shows through.

What’s your passion? Does it show through in your writing?

The People of Walmart is one of those blogs that gets me through every situation. For example, if I’m feeling as if I have nothing to wear, I turn to the People of Walmart to show me there are endless wardrobe possibilities for the taking in my own closet.

Just when I think my hair cut is getting a little shaggy, I turn to the People of Walmart and realize that it’s nothing a couple of barrettes or a pony tail holder can’t handle. Business in the front and a party in the back, baby.

Finally, when life is getting dull or I need a break in the action, the People of Walmart give me the ability to laugh at myself as I realize that could be me in one of those photos, and maybe one day it will be. You won’t find me rocking a mullet or g-string, well, not in public anyway, but I’m sure there are people who don’t agree with some choices I make, either.

There are lessons to be learned at Walmart, even for freelance writers.

1. Style is in the eye of the beholder.

We may think we have it right, but there are other people to answer to. We might think our writing style is interesting or funny, but our clients or readers might find us dull. Something we might consider amusing, someone else might find offensive.  If you’re going for style over substance, be prepared for the consequences.

2. There’s a market for everything.

Whatever your specialty, whatever your preference, there’s a market for your writing. There are buyers for all niches and genres. Whether you write for business or print, there’s work out there. It may take a while to find what you’re looking for, but it’s there. If you’re good at what you do, you can carve out a good living.

3. There are good ways to grab attention.

Your readers appreciate value. They appreciate having information presented to them in a cohesive manner. Readers will always appreciate good content, no matter where it’s published. If you research properly and write for your audience they’ll continue to follow you and support all your endeavors. Grab their attention with good writing and good reporting. Use eye-catching headlines and a kickass opening paragraph. Find a good hook and bring them in.

4. There are bad ways to grab attention.

Going for shock or controversy will bring in attention for sure, but once the train wreck is over everyone will go home. This kind of attention is always short lived, and it doesn’t leave the right taste in everyone’s mouth. Consider why your readers trust you, and take it from there.

5. Marching to your own drum is swell on your own time, but sometimes you have to conform.

It’s great to be an individual, but when someone is paying you to do a job, you’ll have to conform to their standards. When you’re representing someone else’s brand you’ll have to tone down the flair – unless that’s what they’re looking for. Before you begin any project make sure you and your clients discuss what is expected, and what they don’t want to see.

6. Just when you think you’re done, there’s the checkout aisle.

Acting impulsively as a writer isn’t a bad thing. Getting to the end of a piece of writing and adding in a last bit of brilliance to tie it all together can make a project. Moreover, taking the time to read your writing several times over to add a few lines, remove unnecessary words or typos and tweak the finished project is necessary. You wouldn’t complete your shopping trip without going through the check out aisle and you wouldn’t call a piece of writing “complete” without reading it over more than once to make adjustments.

7. Camouflage only hides so much.

Extra words don’t hide bad writing, they make it worse. Don’t pad your writing with fluff to up your word count. If you can’t talk about the topic in the desired word count, you probably don’t know enough about the topic.  All extra words do is make the piece more confusing. Fluff takes away from the matter at hand.

8. We can better get down to business when we’re comfortable.

Freelancers work in pajamas, sweats, shorts and baggies. We’re productive and we’re comfortable. Ties and waist bands distract, who cares who might see us?

9. We are what we wear…er…write.

Just as a shopper’s wardrobe might say a lot about her personality, our writing says a lot about ours. Our writing might tell the world if we have a sense of humor (or not), it will say if we’re angry and bitter or calm and rational. Our writing will show if we’re slanted towards a certain topic, or have no affiliation whatsoever.

10. If you’re not careful you’ll find yourself on someone’s blog.

Your writing may inspire another writer to react. Sometimes it’s in a positive manner and that other writer will agree, and sometimes it will elicit respectful disagreement. Still other times, your writing will inspire bitterness or anger. When you write, think about how other people will react. Are you prepared to defend your writing?

Can you find any comparisons between the People of Walmart and the world of freelance writing?

If you’re one of the American members of this community, you’re probably getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving. Pretty soon homes all over the country will fill with the smell of roast turkey and pumpkin pie. Friends and family will gather to give thanks. As I enjoy my first cup of coffee before the family wakes, it occurs to me that freelance writing is like thanksgiving sometimes. Allow me to share:

1. It takes planning

Though it’s not difficult to whip up a Thanksgiving dinner at the last minute, to pull off a good one takes planning. A host will plan a menu, contact friends and relatives, shop for the best ingredients and spend the day in the kitchen. A good piece of writing also takes heavy planning. There’s research and an outline and several drafts before the finished product.

2. Collaboration rocks

The best Thanksgivings are the ones where each guest contributes. Mom makes the turkey, Aunt Martha brings the green bean casserole and Grandma rocks the apple pie. Everyone brings something to the table. Writing is also kicked up a level when two or more people collaborate on a project. We all have our specialties and our areas of expertise, putting some great minds together makes for an awesome piece of reading.

3. It takes a lot longer to prepare than to devour the finished product

As mentioned above, both writing and Thanksgiving take lots of planning, but it takes a lot longer to cook and prepare than to eat the meal. It also takes a lot longer to plan and write than it does to read a book or article.

4. Everything tastes better the next day

Who doesn’t look forward to turkey and stuffing sandwiches during the days that follow Thanksgiving? Some people even feel the leftovers are better than the original meal. When you walk away from a finished piece of writing, and come back to read it the next day, you’ll no doubt make some tweaks and tighten up your sentences. A fresh eye and a new outlook always make for a better piece of writing.

5. It’s meant to be shared

If you were alone would you cook a full fledged Thanksgiving dinner? Probably not. The meal and holiday is about sharing. Writing is meant to be shared too. We want others to enjoy what we do. Just as nothing feels better to a host than to receive praise for her Thanksgiving meal, nothing feels better for  a writer than a good review.

What are some of the ways you feel writing and Thanksgiving are similar?

I was just reading on Media Bistro how Good Morning America canceled Adam Lambert’s appearance originally scheduled for tomorrow morning after receiving over 1500 complaints due to Lambert’s racy performance on the American Music Awards last weekend. Sometimes celebrities go a little too far in their attempts to add shock value to a performance. Sure, they get the desired publicity, but is that always a good thing? It occurs to me many writers can use this as a learning experience. Shocking people is fun. Shocking people incites a reaction. There’s no denying people we’re going to talk about Adam Lambert for days, but is that a good thing? If you’re thinking of going for shock value in your writing, consider the following:

1. You have to live with your decision for a long time.

Scandals are almost always short lived but people remember. Almost six years after Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, we’re still reading about it or hearing about it news reports. Thanks to constantly pushing the envelope no one thinks of Madonna as a role model. People remember Michael Richards’ racial slurs and inappropriate remarks and many aren’t so forgiving. Before you plan on going for shock, consider how your readers will react. People like to drag up the past. Years after you publishing your shocking bit of writing people will still remember. If you’re going to go for negativity, obscenity, or vulgarity ask yourself if you’re prepared to continue defending your decision years down the line.

2. Traffic and sales are short lived.

That shocking tell all expose on the cover of the magazine? Sales may have been up for that issue, but they probably went down again a week later. Ditto website and blog traffic. Linkbait and shock may be good for a two or three day spike, but eventually life returns to normal. Going for timeless content will continue to bring in and build traffic over time, instead of having to rely on sporadic spikes in traffic due to scandalous content.

3. Your readers might not trust you anymore.

Your readers might feel betrayed if you were someone who is always positive but then went for an element of shock or surprise. In fact it could lead to confusion and outrage. It’s not fun having to defend yourself all the time. Before going for shock think of how your loyal community of readers will feel – as they’re the ones who should always come first.

Granted, shock isn’t always negative, but most of the time it’s not positive. If you’re going to do something out of character or constantly go for the shock element, be prepared to back up your decision – often. People tend to put the negative over all the good things we accomplish. Always remember that when going for something that is sure to stir up emotion.