I write for the same reason I breathe- because if I didn’t, I would die. ~Isaac Asimov
I love to write. Love, love, love. Ok, so who cares? That doesn’t make me good at what I do (hard work does that). So I may have mentioned before that I write for work and play and clients and friends. I write articles for two local columns and I write web copy and marketing materials and love notes and to-do lists with flair.
I work just as hard for you and your hard-earned dollar as I do for my self. And I work very hard for myself.
Write for love...the money will follow. Write for money...love gets lost. ~CCW
Danger ahead.
This past year I have been tapping away writing articles about families in Austin (and topics specific for special needs children and their families). I confess I am not in that for the money because I get a small base pay then paid based on visits, clicks, duration and all that. Like I said, it’s a labor of love, not money. It keeps me sharp, connected to my community, paying attention to local and national events, and gives my editor consistent work.
Recently one of my articles hit a groove on the WorldWideWeb (thank you Google) and I got 11,000+ hits in two days. Since the article took me about an hour to research and an hour to write and put together I’d say my ROI was great.
Stellar in fact.
And then I became obsessed.
With churning out another money-maker, bwhahaha!
Suffice it to say, within a week, I was bored, tired, and downright cynical about the events of the world. I forgot my love and wrote for money. It didn’t take me long to know that I had to ‘tap’ [had to say it, sorry] back into what makes me really love what I do.
I don’t have to love what I write for you, YOU DO. And in order for me to produce copy that you love I need to stay close to my values:
- write for content not search engines
- write competently knowing how to harness the power of SEO without ruining good copy (see #1)
- listen to my clients/readers
- listen to my gut
- enjoy success with a grain of salt
- focus on the here and now (the most important, urgent projects are found there!)
- and HAVE FUN!
Cashing checks is nice and I do have to do that to stay in business. To lose my love is to lose what drives me here in the first place. I choose love~