Game 11: #3 Seed The Golden Pencil Versus #6 Seed Write From Home
April 5, 2008 by J.C. Hewitt
The Matchup
Third-seeded The Golden Pencil battles sixth-seeded Write From Home. This is going to be a difficult one for me as a judge because one is a blog I have been a fan of for years and the other is a blog that I’ve recently grown to love. Both are blogs about freelancing, but they have radically different approaches to the subject. One of them will have to lose, and that is a shame, but that’s the nature of blog madness.
Introductions
The Golden Pencil
Anne Wayman has been on the web for years. Before she began her own blog, she was the moderator for the freelance section at About.com. She is a freelance writer who does a great deal of ghost writing and eBooks. The Golden Pencil is a mix of short advice, thoughts and links to jobs.
Write From Home
Write from home is the blog of freelance blogger Amy Derby. Derby blogs primarily for lawyers, making use of her former profession as a paralegal. Derby writes long posts that explore freelance writing-related topics in a personal way.
Archives
The Golden Pencil
The archives stretch back to May of 2005. Many of Wayman’s posts are about job opportunities and other items that grow less relevant over time, so a well-organized archive page would really be nice. Wayman tends to post every day, and often posts several times in a day. This is a good blog to go to if you are looking to find out about the latest jobs or hear comments on a new trend or site.
Result: TGP posts up for two.
Write From Home
Reading through the archives at WFH, you can see Derby’s blog evolve since it began last July. Her writing style has grown more confident and her posts more in-depth. Her posting frequency is normally quite good although she had to take some sick time this winter. The lack of an organized archive page is particularly frustrating on her site because you can only view three posts at a time, which makes searching through her old work a slow and tedious process.
Result: WFH hits a six-footer for two points.
The game begins with a 2-2 tie.
Design
The Golden Pencil
TGP commits a few design sins in the name of commerce. There is an ad above the masthead, and an ugly one at that. There is also a huge animated ad featured prominently and it distracts the eye. Finally, I don’t think the background color is doing the blog any favors. Unless a color is truly going to enhance the look of a site, you are better off with white. The general organization of the page, if you forget the ads and the background color, could be attractive.
Result: TGP scores a point at the free-throw line.
Write From Home
WFH has a clean three-column design. This is a stock theme, but it is a good choice and works well for her format. Because there are no advertisements, the color scheme stays very true. It appears that Derby creates her own in-post graphics, or at least modifies them, and it makes for a nice consistent feel although not every graphic is a winner. Plenty of people post their picture prominently on their blog and many of them shouldn’t, but Derby takes a nice picture, so it works well here. A graphic masthead would be a nice additional touch.
Result: WFH slam dunks for two points.
TGP drops behind WFH 4-3.
Usability and Navigation
The Golden Pencil
For some reason, TGP can be slow to load sometimes. I have a very fast connection, so I know the problem isn’t on my site. I suspect that one of her scripts (I count nine of them) is not getting the data it needs quickly enough. This is a minor inconvenience, but it can push some users away. There are some good bells and whistles. The subscription button is high on the page. There is a list of recent comments. There is a poll and the opportunity to subscribe by email. She also has the Share This feature for her pages. Also, there are a metric ton of links to other sites, many of them B5 media sites. The lack of a good archive page is an annoyance.
Result: TGB rattles in a two-pointer.
Write From Home
WFH has a popular posts list, which is a decent replacement for an archives page. Feed and email subscription options are available as is a list of recent posts. Finally, there is a really nice comment feature that will find the latest post from other bloggers who comment. Perhaps that’s a reason why she gets so many comments (she gets a lot). That’s it for the features. It isn’t a long list, but all of the features are easy to find.
Result: WFH finger rolls the ball into the hoop for two points.
The score stays close, with WFH holding on to its slim lead 6-5.
Purpose
The Golden Pencil
TGP bills itself as the freelance writer’s resource. Between the jobs, the links to related sites, and the advice, TGP covers all of the bases and holds tight to its purpose.
Result: TGP scores a three-pointer.
Write From Home
WFH doesn’t claim it is going to do much of anything for you. It lists itself as rants, ramblings, writing tips. No one can deny that all three items are present on her page. I admire Derby’s humility when it comes to her site, but she contributes more than she lets on.
Result: WFH shoots a two from just inside the three-point line.
We are all tied up again at 8-8.
Personality
The Golden Pencil
Reading TGP will certainly give you a feel for Wayman’s personality. She shares her frustrations and her likes and dislikes openly. She has no problem giving her opinion on a subject. I don’t think the blog is driven by her personality, but I do think it is enhanced by her personality.
Result: TGP banks a two in off the glass.
Write From Home
WFH I think that a great deal of WFH’s success comes from Derby’s personality. This blog is more personal than most. It is a definite hybrid of personality and information. This blog is driven by her personality.
Result: WFH hits the three-pointer.
WFH reclaims the lead, 11-10.
Five Most Recent Posts
The Golden Pencil
- Writers! Thumb Your Nose at Naysayers
- Freelance Writing Jobs – 78 Writing, Blogging, Editing and Translation Jobs
- It Only Takes A Few Words
- True On Demand Books May Be Closer
- Back In The Swing of Things
These aren’t in-depth posts. Each one presents one item briefly. All of them come from the past three days though, which gives you an idea of how many posts Wayman tends to pile up, although one post was an off-topic admission of being ill.
Result: TGB makes another two-pointer.
Write From Home
- HELP: an Acronym, a Tall Order
- Freelance Writing Standards: Who’s Setting Yours?
- Confessions of a Closet Slob
- Freelance Mentality: Do You Have What It Takes?
- Perfectionism and Me: My Own Worst Enemy
All five of these posts are in-depth and interesting. Sometimes they wander away from writing but they always find their way back. They are a pleasure to read. All of the posts are from the past week, so frequency isn’t a problem.
Result: WFH hits a three-pointer to close out the victory.
With a final score of 14-12, we have another upset as sixth-seeded Write From Home eliminates third-seeded The Golden Pencil.
Post Game Analysis
These were two worthy adversaries. The difference in the game was mainly due to the interface problems for TGP and to a strong late showing in the most recent posts category by WFH.
What They Can Work On
The Golden Pencil
Either Wayman or B5 media should invest in a professional blog design for this site. It feels like a glaring omission for a blog network with as many members as they have. I would also like to see Wayman go a little deeper on some subjects, although I recognize that this site is more about constant new content than deep exploration.
Write From Home
I would like to see a nice graphic masthead in place of the text one WFH has now. An archives section would be good and a few more usability features would help.
Dude, what are ya doing over here? LOL
I hear rumors that I won something, and then I see you’ve put me in some sort of contest against Anne… Anne is the queen. She rocks. I demand a recount.
Seriously, I will take your advice about the archives page. Just as soon as I figure out how to make one!! I just switched to wordpress (or rather, it was done for me, as I know nothing about technology), and I haven’t learned all the ropes yet..
Thanks for featuring me in your contest.
PS, what does six-seed etc mean?
I’m a huge fan of Amy’s. I really don’t care what she writes about, because she writes well and she writes with personality and educated firmness. Even when she’s totally wrong. She calls it like it is, and she calls out what she sees as crap. She’s also very live-and-let-live, which is cool.
While I really like Anne and she’s been around for a while, I wish she’d provide longer posts with more depth to them. She’s a good writer, so why not?
(Amy – email Harry about the archives page. It’s a five-minute fix.)
Wow… in depth for sure… thanks… what’s an archive page? Seriously, I’ll put one together if you send me to a sample or two.
Re design… that’s b5’s decision… re speed… yep, and that’s also b5.
Re going deeper… sigh… truth is posting often seems to drive more page views than posting long… and page views drives the pay in a revenue situation like b5. And some of it is just me… I’ve always tended to write short… sketch rather than detail… but if people want more depth and let me know about what I’ll give it a whirl.
Thanks for the time you spent on this John… appreciated and I’ll make sure tptb at b5 get the link.
A
Hi Anne,
An archive page is simply a page that lists past articles that you think would be of use/interest to your readers. My page is here: http://www.poewar.com/articles/
Thank you for taking the results graciously. I am a big fan of your site.
Amy, The seedings were determined using a couple of independent rankings for your site. Google page rank and Alexa site rank. Basically, you were seeded according to how popular your blog is and how much respect it gets from Google. I wanted a seeding system that I had nothing to do with because I didn’t want to show favoritism. They are meant to be similar to the seedings given to basketball teams in the NCAA tournament.
[...] Game 11: #3 Seed The Golden Pencil Versus #6 Seed Write From Home [...]
[...] and Write From Home won relatively tight matches to get into the second round. Sixth-seeded WFH upset a third-seed to move forward while second-seeded CM edged out a seventh-seed in its match. I noted in the first [...]