4000 Articles a Day

According to the RWW piece, Demand Studios produces approximately 4000 articles a day through its combination of freelancers and editors. The one issue that I have with the article is that they use this as an indictment of the quality. They ask:

The bigger question is: there are surely many examples of good Demand Media content on the Web, but how many of the 4,000 articles it produces every day aren’t?

To me this is a poor argument. Yes, I’m sure that some of the 4000 articles aren’t great, but no one can judge what the percentage of this is so it is a specious question. I mainly read blogs by single authors. Mass produced blogs leave me a little cold. As a follower of individuals I can tell you that even the best bloggers put out lousy articles on occasion. Lord knows I do. No one is brilliant every day.

The better point the article makes is that the Demand Studios assembly line style and fast turnaround time creates a certain sameness to the articles being written, that there is a Demand Studios style, and it isn’t very interesting or incisive. I don’t read enough of their types of articles (like I said, I follow individual bloggers) to know if this is true, but it seems like a legitimate possibility.

In the Eighties the Definition of a Content Mill was “Associated Press”

Miami Vice Meets AP Style

Way back in the eighties, I served as the Associated Press Wire Editor for my college newspaper. Having an AP feed back then was as close as you could get to having Google News now. Article after article printed out on the dot matrix printer they provided, and I looked at them all (while dressed in my linen Miami Vice jacket) to see if they were relevant. I can tell you that AP’s style (they do have their own stylebook after all) was pretty bland even then. For most articles, you got the facts, and nothing but the facts. There was little room for color or individuality. A single article might get published in 500 different newspapers all over the world. Any sort of colorful writing had to be killed in case someone out there didn’t get it, or worse, was offended by it. Another interesting similarity between the Associated Press and Demand Studios is that AP has always used a number of low-paid writers (they call them stringers) to freelance for them. In the eighties, the saying was, “You can’t spell stupid without UPI and you can’t spell cheap without AP.”

Obviously Demand Studios is not identical to AP. The journalistic standards and the general level of talent at AP are considerably higher than at Demand Studios. AP is more selective about who they hire and more stringent about the sources for their articles. It is the similarities though, not the differences, that catch my eye. Both organizations tap a worldwide pool of writers. Both organizations exist to provide content to other organizations. Both organizations rely heavily on freelance work. Most importantly, both organizations have writing philosophies based on a universal cookie-cutter style.

I believe that sort of generic writing was the beginning of the end for newspapers, and I think that it can only have limited success on the Internet. A certain number of people will be satisfied with these articles, and search engines may never be able to tell good articles from bad articles, but there will always be plenty of room for individuals with distinctive voices to keep writing. A loyal audience that comes back again and again is in most cases preferable to a large number of casual readers who never return.

Demand Studios is a company that is filling a content niche quite successfully. The fact that they have enough writers and customers to be publishing 4000 articles a day shows that they are filling a need that exists on both sides. That said, if someone else comes up with a better way to do it, then the market will change again. I think Demand Studios does a lot of things well, but I also think there is plenty of room for improvement. If they can make a profit doing things their way, then surely someone who improves on the concept can do even better.

For Further Information:

• Is Demand Studios Worth Your Time?
• The Answer Factory: Demand Media and the Fast, Disposable, and Profitable as Hell Media Model
• About Hub Pages: An Interview with Ryan “Hup” Hupfer
• FakeAPStylebook on Twitter

Option Paralysis

The saying goes, you can’t get what you want if you don’t know what you want. That is a problem that I’ve been struggling with for quite some time. I have spent the past several years settling for what I can stand, rather than what I truly enjoy. In a way, I have been challenging to see just how much I can put up with and still function. I would commute for two hours a day to work for eight hours a day and then come home and write / work on my blog for another three to four hours a day.  Last winter, after two years of keeping up this grueling schedule, I gave up on my blogging. This is unfortunate because writing this blog was by far the most enjoyable of the tasks that were in front of me.

I have been a technical writer for fifteen years. On my best days, I am great at this job. When the challenge is right and my interest is peaked, I can work magic. Unfortunately, the opportunity to work magic comes up only on occasion. Last summer and fall was one of those times. I was working with a talented and energetic partner, and we did some great work. For a period of over three months, I actually looked forward to getting up in the morning and doing what I was good at. Eventually though, the situation changed and I went back to forcing myself to go to work every day. In June though, I got lucky. I lost my job.

I had lost a lucrative job and all of the security that comes with it. The job market was terrible so my prospects seemed weak. I had mortgage payments, car payments, student loan payments, utilities and a grocery bill to worry about. On occasion, I was scared out of my skull. Most of the time, however, I was happy. I had lost a job, but I had gained ten to eleven hours of my day. My stress level dropped. I stopped having to drink Coffee and Monster energy drinks just to get through the day.

I even managed to keep making money. That was the strangest part of all. The Internet took a shine to me. I found that magic money making formula that Tim Ferris and all of those ads on Facebook claim to have. I figured it out myself though, and unlike them I’m not telling anyone what it is. My site has never been about getting rich on the Internet and it never will be. Sorry.

The upshot of all this is that I have freedom for the first time in a long time. I can do what I want to do. I can write what I want to write. I can pick any direction I please. This has brought on a case of option paralysis. Do I return to blogging? Do I look for that “perfect” technical writing job? Do I pick a new career path?

I am free. Now what?

Because I am using the Getting Things Done organizational system, I am obliged to make a complete and accessible collection of these unfinished projets. At minimum I need to list each project, the desired outcome, and the next action step towards achieving that outcome. Projects may be as minor as transferring data from my wife’s old notebook computer or as major as publishing a book of poetry or taking a trip to New Zealand. Once this information is collected, I need to track my progress on each item. This is no small task, but it is certainly achievable.

My first major hurdle was to decide what system to use to track these projects. Getting Things Done proposes several systems, but none of them suited me particularly well. Paper files were exactly what I didn’t want. The idea behind getting organized was to free up both my mental and physical space. I want to dispose of every piece of paper I can possibly be rid of, so having a file cabinet full of them was not a pleasant thought. I tried it, but I just had no enthusiasm for the idea. If I have too many papers to keep in an inbox, it is time to purge.

The alternative to paper was electronic organizers, but the problem with most of them is convenience. I want to be able to access my tasks from anywhere, but I don’t want them tied to a particular device because then I am out of luck if something happens to it. I needed something that I could access from my Blackberry, my iTouch, my personal computer and my work computer. In fact, the best solution would be something that I could use even if I didn’t have access to any of these. I thought about using some of the Google tools or some other online package, but I wasn’t sure I could have access to them from work. An organizational system would do me no good if I couldn’t use it in the main place that I needed it.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that the answer was right in front of my face. What I needed was a blog! I’m a blogger. I know Wordpress better than almost any other tool at my disposal, and it is perfect for capturing individual items that require notes and updates. I can write as much as I want about each task and even attach files if I need to. The list is searchable and can be filtered using both categories and tags. More importantly, I can access the blog from every one of my key devices or from any open computer. I know enough about WordPress and file protection to keep the new site secure and invisible so that nobody needs to see it but me. I can even use the scheduling feature to move items into future cues so I see them on certain dates and not before. In essence, WordPress is my new organizational tool and it meets every one of my needs. Blogging has scored another brownie point in my life,

Of course, there is theory and then there is practice. I am still imputing all of my loops, but I’ll keep you updated on how things go and at some point I’ll give the details behind setting an organizational blog up for yourself.

One of the great things about blogging is that, for the most part, there is little lead time. You write something and then you publish it. If you’re lucky, you get feedback and if it is particularly good you get repeat visitors. You might write ahead, gathering several days or even weeks worth of posts in advance, but for the most part you are writing as you go.

In the world of technical writing, you are often assigned to projects that last for months or even years, and in many cases the material you write today may not be read for a long time. Occasionally, it won’t get read at all, at least not by the people you intended it for. This has been a fairly regular occurrence in my career. My first major project lasted a year. At the end of that year, the company was part of a merger and moved to the other company’s software platform, negating all of my work.

Later on in my career, I documented what was expected to be a major product for a very large hardware/software company.  Because of the lead time for localization, I had to complete the documentation two months before the product was to be released. I had just finished up and sent off my work to the translators when word came down that the project was being scrapped due to a poor business case. Poor business case was code for, “our competitors decided to include this tool for free in their new operating system”.

My most recent bout of deadprojectitis hasn’t been quite as severe. The product I have been working on for the past two years was released and most of my documentation is at least available to customers. Nonetheless, the product is on its way out. It won’t be gone today or tomorrow, but it is being replaced by something newer and shinier and almost certainly better. The change came suddenly. Just a month ago, it looked like the product would be getting a major overhaul that would have me up to my armpits in documentation for the next six months, but things change.

In all of these cases, far more than my own efforts were negated. There were programmers, engineers, project managers, product managers, business analysts and a host of other people who had their efforts negated. These things happen. Companies change direction, market forces change people’s needs, competitors beat you. This is the world of business and it is frustrating. In some cases people don’t just see their hard work pushed aside, they actually lose their jobs. There isn’t always another project waiting around the corner. These are the realities of the business world. In the current economy, it is something you’ll see more and more of. Companies will be cutting expenses, and often that comes in the area of new development, or the elimination of existing products.

There is no magic solution to this problem. It helps if you can be assigned to more than one project, so that you aren’t defined by a single product, but those choices aren’t always your to make. This is the business world. When things do wrong you pick yourself back up, dust yourself off and get back in the game.

Harry over at Men with Pens is upset. He may even be angry. He has definitely gone on a rant.

What’s the problem? Comments. Not everyone loves them the way that Men with Pens does. One blogger, a blogger that Harry reads (although he apparently doesn’t leave comments) had the nerve to discontinue commenting on her site. Oh the injustice of it all.

Let me start by saying that I love my commentators and I have no intention of following in her footsteps. I value my community. I want to give each and every one of you a minimum of one hug apiece. You rule!!! I should also add that I love Harry. Harry makes the world a better place. Seeing him go on a rant is a rare and wondrous thing.

Conversation and community are great. They can add value to a site and help drive traffic  as well. Those are good things. On the down side, maintaining a community isn’t easy and it isn’t for everyone. If the people who comment on your site leave interesting and informative comments, that’s great.  Unfortunately,  not everyone who comments is looking to contribute value, and many of the people who comment are just looking to help themselves.

2000 Comments a Day

I get approximately 2000 comments a day. If all of those comments were useful, I would have one hell of a community, unfortunately, about 1980 of those comments are outright spam. They are pushing insurance plans, prescription drugs, gambling and every physical act you can imagine. My spam filter catches almost all of them, but catching 1970 out of 1980 means I still have to go in and manually delete about 10 spam comments a day. I can live with that, but I understand if someone doesn’t want to go through the trouble.

Fake Fans

There is another class of frustrating commentator that is getting more and more prevalent. I call these people fake fans. They leave comments that show they have read at least the headline of my article. They give me a quick compliment and they even make a quick observation about the topic, but they keep it short and almost always include emoticons. That alone wouldn’t make them bad, but their URLs inevitably link to the same sorts of sites that the other  spammers are promoting.  This puts me in a tough situation. The comment is at least partially relevant but the commentator is clearly trying to exploit my site for traffic or legitimacy. Do I delete these or do I keep them? Monitoring these posts takes up another significant chunk of time that could be devoted to better things.

Well-Meaning Idiots

There is also an annoying breed of well-meaning idiots. These are the toughest comments to deal with. The well-meaning idiot’s comments are poorly written, badly spelled and often veer off topic. Sometimes these people even ask me for a favor, such as making them rich novelists or telling them whether or not the have talent. The comments aren’t spam, and they aren’t exactly trying to waste my time, but they detract from the conversation. There’s nothing quite as disconcerting as being complimented for my “writting”.

Jerks and Pranksters

Then  there are the jerks. There are people who just want to start an argument or insult me or another commentator. These people are a no-win situation. If I respond to them, it will just validate what they are saying  and will waste a substantial amount of my time.  Deleting them is no better. They believe they have a “right” to be heard and are furious if I delete their comments. The third option is to leave the insult there without comment  for everyone to read. That’s a tough thing for me to do.

Finally, there are the pranksters. These people are just plain strange. They stage arguments with themselves. They post 20 comments in a row. They make absurd statements and seem to be off in their own little world.  They waste my time.

It’s Worth It, For Me

Dealing with all these people (spammers, fake friends, idiots, jerks and pranksters) takes time and energy. To me, this is just a part of the package. I could think of a hundred more pleasant ways to spend my time, but it is worth it to me because I love the wonderful people who come here and contribute to make this blog better.

There is No Single Path to Success

I like the guys at Men with Pens and I respect their business model. They have found a successful formula and by their own admission they are making pretty good money doing things the way they do it. There are parts of their approach that I have begun to emulate because I respect what they do, but I will never have a site like Men with Pens. Their approach works for them, but it isn’t the only path to success on the web.

I understand if someone decides that all of that comment work isn’t for them. Some people just want to write their articles and say what they have to say without the hassle of running a community. Also, in the professional world, blogging is not necessarily seen as the most respectable use of a person’s talents. I know, it’s sad but it’s true. Eliminating comments actually makes some sites (and their owners) look more professional, not less. This can be good for someone who is looking for clients.

I think there is room the web for all sorts of approaches. Thinking that there is only one right way to blog is a mistake. Blogging is one of the newest mediums of expression. No one has done it perfectly yet and quite possibly no one ever will. For some people, comments work. For others, it may be better to have just one voice.

• PD30 Day 1: I Believe in Poetry
• PD30 Day 2: Generally Be Specific
• PD30 Day 3: A Review of Meter
• PD30 Day 4: Poetry — the Writer’s Bridge to Music
• PD30 Day 5: Poetry and Pain
• PD30 Day 6: Poets and Parables
• PD30 Day 7: Embrace The Person You Are
• PD30 Day 8: The Occasional Poem
• PD30 Day 9: How to Write in Meter If You Have Two Left Feet
• PD30 Day 10: The Mighty Mighty Pantoum
• PD30 Day 11: Poets as Storytellers
• PD30 Day 12: The Poetry Journal, From Notebooks to Blackberries
• PD30 Day 13: Writing a Tanka
• PD30 Day 14: Poetry Under Pressure
• PD30 Day 15: Found Poetry
• PD30 Day 16: Editing Your Poetry
• PD30 Day 17: Capturing the Quiet
• PD30 Day 18: Fun with Hyponymy
• PD30 Day 19: A Glossary of Rhyme
• PD30 Day 20: Rhyme, Sound and Repetition
• PD 30 Day 21: Moving Beyond Imitation
• PD30 Day 22: Travelogues
• PD30 Day 23: Ways to find Inspiration
• PD30 Day 24: Improving Your Imagery
• PD30 Day 25: Poets are Liars
• PD30 Day 26: Events and Emotion
• PD30 Day 27: Poetry and Prizes
• PD30 Day 28: The Basics of Poetry Submissions
• PD30 Day 29: Creating Your Own Chapbook
• PD30 Day 30: My Final Say
• PD30 Wrap Up And Other Thoughts

I have a guest post running today over at A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye. My article, Your Competition Stinks – Isn’t it Great!, covers many of the blindingly stupid mistakes people make when they apply for a freelance position. It is the first of my reciprocal guest posts that I am writing to thank the people who helped me out last June when I went on vacation. I’ve been a little slow about getting to these and for that I apologize. My day job has kept me very busy lately, and it has been a real challenge just to keep up with my daily posts. I am trying to pick up the pace though.

30 Days of Poetry

Last September I ran a series called 30 Poems in 30 Days. It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun. I am considering do it again this year, but I want to see what the level of interest is. I haven’t focused on poetry for a while, so I don’t know how many people in the community are interested in poetry or in a project like that. I feel like I need at least ten willing victims (I mean participants) to make this a fun event. This leads to some questions:

• How many of you would like to see that series run?
• How many of you would participate by posting a poem a day (or at least trying to) using my prompts?
• I am leaning toward writing about poetry in forms this time around. Do you love or hate that idea?
• Would anyone be interested in guest posting for the series?

The Olympics… on NBC!!!

NBC, I know this is futile, but I have three requests:

• Please remove the following words from your broadcasts: mother, father, mom, dad, inspirational, any phrase with “heart” in it except “heart rate”, awe inspiring, tragic, dream, overcome, journey, magical, scrappy, sacrifice and proud.
• I want to see the best. In many events, that means Americans, but in just as many events that means someone else. I want to know more about the best athletes in the world, and I don’t care where they come from.
• No more fake fireworks!

Update

Here are some more words and phrases NBC can drop: unlikely, Superman, rising star, dejected, catch lightening in a bottle

As a blogger, I keep and update a blog. I do it as a business. Because of this, I have many other roles besides blogger.

I am a writer

I write just about every day of the year. If I am not writing for my own blog, I am writing for someone else’s blog or I am working on an assignment that came from my blogging. Whatever the case, I am always writing.

I am an editor

I am often in the rather uncomfortable position of editing my own work. This is a situation in which my abilities and flaws as a writer do not mesh well with my abilities and flaws as an editor. I don’t always catch my mistakes. When I don’t, it is the editor’s fault. As editor, I also solicit and edit articles from outside sources. There, I am at least dealing with someone else’s flaws, which are often easier to recognize and fix.

I am a publisher

I own my blog. That means I own a publication. That publication has to have standards, and I am in charge of setting those standards. I am responsible for all of the things that appear on my site. I set the direction I want my blog to go in. In the end, everything about the publication is my decision. I am often put in a position of having to overrule the writer and the editor because I have to think of the big picture.

I am a designer

I wish I was a better one. I am at least smart enough not to rely entirely upon myself, although I assure you that it wasn’t an easy decision. I use a blog theme, and I paid some real money to make sure that I have a good theme. In the end though, the way things are placed on a page, the graphics I use, the font style, the font size, those are all up to me as the designer.

I am a marketer

I maintain a marketing strategy. It isn’t as well thought-out as it probably should be, but it includes advertising, networking, contests, branding, and publicity. I have a small budget (though better than some others) so I have to be creative and I have to stay on top of the latest trends.

I am a customer service representative

When I get a complaint about my blog, anything from the content to the design to the technical features, I am in charge of getting the problem fixed if it can be fixed. I am also in charge of making sure that the customer gets a satisfactory response that keeps them coming back. It isn’t always easy.

I am an analyst

I spend a great deal of my time looking at my web statistics. I pay attention to where people come from, what they look at while they are on my site, how long they stay and where they go when they leave. I also monitor revenue sources closely, because when they go down or up, I want to know why. Having this knowledge helps me plan for the future and to correct problems as they occur.

I am a web programmer

There are plenty of people who are better at this than I am, but I know enough to fix errors as they come up, and to make minor changes when needed. In the old days I could build a site from scratch, but at this point I have to be happy with being able to tweak someone else’s work to fit my needs.

I am a small business owner

As a small business owner I have to collect revenue and keep a budget. I have to weigh the pros and cons of investing money in the business versus taking the profit out of the business and using it to provide for my family. I have to do the accounting and the taxes and I have to decide when it is appropriate to buy new hardware, software, furniture and equipment. I have to decide whether the business is succeeding or failing and what to do to make things better.

I am all of these things and more

All of these role spring from my life as a blogger. They can be difficult to maintain and to separate. My needs as a small business owner or as a publisher are often at odds with my desires as a writer. I sometimes write or don’t write about a topic based on how I think it will be received versus the level of interest I have. I have to determine how far from my central topic (writing) I can stray. I have to decide if another writer is more appropriate for a topic than I am. I have to weigh issues of revenue versus design and content. I sometimes have to be nice when I really don’t want to be because the success of my blog carries more weight than my personal issues.

I am a blogger

These are the issues I deal with. I love it, but anyone thinking of blogging, especially for profit, had better be prepared to fill all of these roles and more. It is one hell of a ride.

Writers Write rose from five to six

Bob Bly Copywriter rose from five to six

Men with Pens rose from one to five

The Renegade Writer rose from four to five

Confident Writing rose from four to five

All Freelance Writing rose from three to four

Book Marketing Bestsellers rose from one to four

Quiet Rebel Writer rose from one to four

C. Hope Clark rose from three to four

Write From Home rose from two to three

Writer’s Notes rose from one to three

The Writing Journey rose from one to three

Words on the Water rose from one to three

My problem is more with the issue that drove her to write the article. I’ll let her statement stand for itself.

An employer wrote me the other day and said she Googled the top candidate for a job and found some of the things she said here and on another forum that weren’t so complimentary about a past employer and changed her mind about hiring her. I think it’s a good lesson to be careful what we put out there.

Businesses now do a web search of potential employees. Not only do they run names through Google but they also check MySpace, LiveJournal, FaceBook and other places.

Deb presents this as if it is a cautionary tale. Don’t speak ill of former employers, future employers might not hire you because of it. I say good riddance to bad relationships. If a company reads my blog and decides not to hire me, that is fantastic. I don’t want to work for a company that objects to my blog or is afraid of an employee who speaks his mind. I’m not going to fit in at a company like that anyway.

I don’t mind a company reading my work to decide if I’m a good fit. They should read my work. It represents who I am and I am proud of it. I generally point potential employers to my web site and tell them to look around.

I do object to Orwellian HR departments that are in essence looking for reasons to rule out an employee. If they are looking for an employee who is always in a good mood, has no vices and never makes waves, best of luck to them. Perhaps they should limit their search to former cast members of Up With People. They seem pretty nice. I’m not sure if any of them can use a dozen different content delivery applications, read code, wade through multiple 200-page functional designs in search of significant changes or create a documentation plan that is acceptable to 10 different stakeholders, but if they can avoid any workplace controversies at least HR will be satisfied.

I’m not tilting at windmills. I don’t expect the business world to change to suit my needs. All I am saying is that I’d rather be turned down by a company that is a bad fit for me. If they think an employee should never be critical or discuss bad experiences then they are certainly not the right place for me. I would rather wait for a company that reads what I write and likes what they see. Meanwhile, I will continue to discuss my career. It includes a few bad employers and some poor work environments. It also includes plenty of mistakes on my part. Anyone who employs me in the future should expect plenty more. Perfection is not one of my life goals.