An English Major Doesn't Mean You Have to Teach

Talking with a new friend this week, she expressed some angst over being asked, "Oh, you're an English major...so are you going to teach?" and it reminded me how much that used to bug me too. Not that it's their fault for asking, but it is a little frustrating to hear time after time.

But make sure this sinks in: an English major creates a LOT of potential career paths. It's up to you to decide which one to choose.

My friend didn't quite know what she wants to do yet, but she knows she doesn't want to teach. I was pretty much the same--I liked a lot of the ideas of teaching, and respect teachers a great deal. But as a career path, it wasn't for me. I was in my early 30s, and wanted something more. I wanted to write, and not really limit it to any one thing--I wanted to tackle lots of different types of writing. So I looked into commercial writing, and soon started to land copywriting gigs. Over time, I got into web work, and soon my career path found me, not the other way around.

I didn't think, "I want to be an SEO writer." Google was just starting out when I was getting out of college, and since it was in the late 90s, the Internet boom was imploding all around me. So web work was kind of sketchy as far as a future was concerned, and I didn't really go that route at first. It was intriguing, but so much money was lost that the market was a little shaky for a while there.

But within a year or 2 right around the year 2000, I started seeing what the Internet boom and bust had done to a lot of people's sites. There were a lot of things out there that needed some attention, and I started to look at the web in a different way. I saw the potential for its greatness, and tried to help people make the sites better. It's proven to be a great thing because now I have been doing this for over 6 years, and I still like working every day. In fact, it is hard to think of a job I could like much more than this--it feels perfect. I consider this to be pretty lucky.

The point is, for a time there I didn't know what I really wanted to apply my English Degree toward. Lots of people around me were trying to get me to look into teaching, but it just didn't feel right for me. Not to say that I won't look in that direction at some point, but not for a while anyway. I knew that an English degree could be worth more to me than that if only I could find the right way to market myself and my talents.

I learned that many businesses need good writers, but don't necessarily want them on payroll. They may not need them all the time, but they need them. This led me into freelancing, and the rest, as they say, is history, or maybe my-story.

So I told my friend, like I am telling you, don't let someone convince you that to use your English degree, you need to teach. You need to teach if this is what makes you happy, and what excites you. For me, this wasn't a path I wanted to travel on...yet.

I love that fact that I am a word nerd. I love being a writer. I don't mind that I write sales stuff and what some might think is boring--I find it challenging to be creative and effective--it is a true art form if done correctly. I don't even mind trying to explain what I do...because believe me, not very many people out there really know what an SEO writer does. But if this is the price I have to pay to do what I want to do for a living, so be it. There are much worse fates.

My English degree doesn't come up any more unless I am talking to students, or those looking to break into the business. And when they hear that I too, was peppered with this question repeatedly, they find solace in the fact that I have an answer. And my answer was (and still is) "No, I am not looking for a teaching career...I am looking to creatively help businesses with my utilitarian corporate communications."

That usually says enough--or, it is enough to make me feel better anyway. And with all those big words shoved together, it usually makes the questions stop too.

Avoiding SEO Traps, Part 2 of 2

Link Farms, or Getting Something for Nothing
One of the most common ways that I see some questionable SEO firms operate, is to cash-in on a farm of sites. In an email, they will offer something like "We have hundreds of sites, and we will focus and harness them to improve your website's rankings..." In a nutshell, they are offering you a paid link back to your site from their own farm of established websites.

I am relatively sure this works right now because there is such an emphasis on backlinks, but feel this is a tactic that will have a very short shelf life. It is too easy, and it will not last forever.

How and Why it Happens
Things like open source code, Wordpress, Blogger and social media have made it much easier and quicker to get a bunch of web properties out there.

So people launch site after site, looking for the ideas that stick. They may cycle through hundreds to arrive at ten that get some decent traffic. So they jettison all but those that work, and then start over and do it again and again. In time, they build a farm of a few hundred or even a few thousand sites. This is all about the numbers, so the sites all look pretty much the same, and they'll usually function pretty much the same.

Scraping content is simple, so someone can get lots of these sites going and not really have to do much as far as ongoing development. There are scripts that populate sites so no human ever gets involved in what the site says. So you can create it with a script, populate it with a script, and use another script to change the content dynamically. It's hands-free developing--which is why it is so popular.

Then, once a few sites are established, the owners sell space on these sites where they create links to other sites. Sometimes, depending on the skill and knowledge level of the SEO offering these links, they are niche-targeted. That's a best case scenario--like a farm of financial-related sites leading back to your financial website.

But more often, the SEO provider isn't as concerned with the link quality as the link quantity...which is actually something that could hurt your efforts as much as help them. This strategy may show some immediate and impressive short-term gains, but the engines aren't stupid. They will look at who, and what is linking to your site, and why. And if everything is not kosher, they remove the link juice. Worse still, they may penalize a site for using these so called "Untrustworthy" links.

Even though this flooding of content through "cookie cutter" sites is a strategy that is working right now, I don't see this surviving for very long. It is too easy to game the system using these link farms, and it has never really been the intention of a search engine to reward this kind of thing. My prediction, based only on what has worked in the engines (and why) for the last 6 years, is that these simple-to-game farming strategies will soon lose all power.

Links are meant to offer strong juice to content. So create more viable content, and as the value of link juice diminishes, the content will resurface as the pinnacle of truth. Amen!

Content Is, and Remains King
The search engine algorithms are at their core, all about content...and the best content will not lose long to the sites that are better at manipulating links. Links are much much easier to fake than good content...so mark my words, in time, the value of backlinks will diminish or at least refine itself to a point where these strategies have much less value, if any at all. Creating a million websites and passing out the links is free and easy--so a better content filtering system will need to be employed to separate the men from the boys, as it were.

If you are investing in SEO, invest in content. SEO is a little about manipulation. But it is more about understanding, and creating good, solid reasons for continued website interaction. In a word, SEO is about content. If someone promises anything more than this, expect to pay a lot. And good luck to you...you'll likely need it.

Avoiding SEO Traps, Part 1 of 2

I got another one of those emails today, offering "expert" SEO services. For a hefty premium, these guys promise first-page results and all kinds of beautifully esoteric things. Of course, I am not interested in this stuff...at least not from them. But it made me want to warn people about falling into one of these all-too-prevalent SEO traps.

Promises, Promises
The first thing I notice in these ads, is that they are quick to point out how the face of business is changing. True, true. The Internet has changed business...and this means, you must take advantage of new business methods like SEO to succeed. These authors tap an existing pain to offer a remedy.

Then they go on to promise that if you pay them, they will guarantee your first page ranking. It's the remedy. This is also a warning flag as big as a house. Why? Because they are sending this email out to hundreds or even thousands of "marks" so how can they possibly promise legitimate results for all of them?

They can't. They can promise page one rankings, but they can't offer any specifics around what that means. In the 6 years I have done this, I have a learned few tricks that can get most pages onto the first page of a targeted SERP pretty simply. It ain't rocket science. Whether or not they stay there on page one, is another question entirely. Getting there is one thing. Staying there is completely different. Getting there is easy, staying is not. So a promise of first page rankings may be truthful, but may mean less to you than you think.

Also, it is important to recognize how competitive your keyphrase is. This makes all the difference. Ranking for "Viagra sale" is going to be infinitely more difficult than ranking for "South Milwaukee chain saw repairs" so this is not really comparing apples to apples. It is more like looking at an apple and a watermelon, and calling both "fruit."

So when someone promises to do something for your business, the first page sounds very alluring...but you have to also know what that means. It may be first page ranks for long tail keywords that never convert. I also sell siding, bridges, shoes, and used office equipment if you are interested.

Researching and understanding keywords that convert is waaaaaaaaaaay more important than being on the first page for ones that don't.

Use a promise of a first page result as a warning. I have dealt with some of the best people in the field of SEO, and they are hesitant to promise things like this, and I never do either.

Make it Real
I am realistic about the engines. I know a lot about what makes a site or a page or a file attractive--both to a user, and to a search engine. That doesn't mean I'll promise you first page rankings--even though I know how to get them. Don't trust people that do--more often than not, they game the system. My method is simpler and just as available--I (or other ethical SEOs) will improve your site, and how it is viewed by both the user and the engines. I'll promise progress, and promise to deliver better content...but promising something that is completely out of my control (like a SERP ranking) is silly. SEO can be offered in realistic terms. Demand it.

See Part 2 of Avoiding SEO Traps

Freelancing Independence: the Trade

Since yesterday was Independence Day, it seems like a good time to address one of the lures of freelancing--the freedom.

There is no doubt that freelancing can free you from the routines and necessities that others (those with regular jobs) must face. You don't have to go to a single place to work, you don't have to follow anyone else's schedule most of the time. Technically, you don't have a boss. In most cases, you alleviate the repetition and the "big picture" demands that cause professional boredom.

What you get in return is (among other things) projects in many different situations, the power to determine and set your own schedule, and an uncapped earning potential.

Pretty sexy.

But it is important to realize that this trade-off has some requirements. It also means that a freelancing lifestyle is not for everyone.

3 Things You Trade for Your Independence as a Freelance SEO Writer

1. Stable Paychecks. Getting paid every two weeks has its perks. I can definitely say, as a full-time freelancer there are times when the money gets very tight, and others when it seems to fall from the sky. But paying your own bills won't wait for you to collect from a hard-to-reach client, so how does a freelancer deal with stabilizing their cash flow?
   Freelance Solution: Scheduling work and billing cycles accordingly. A freelance seo writer should realize that they need to stagger projects and payments to always have work cycling through. Look at pending work, existing projects, and outstanding invoices. You should keep all 3 at a nice steady churn to keep things moving forward smoothly. Also understand that completing a project and getting paid are 2 completely different aspects to a project. If you know it takes 6 weeks to collect from a client, you had better know what you are going to do for those 6 weeks to pay for gas and groceries. It means knowing how to schedule your time and balance your workload, how to save money when needed, and how to follow a personal budget. Knowing that some times are going to be stronger than others, you need to work as much as possible when the work is there and save that money. You may need it later in the year if things slow down. Create a weekly budget, and adhere to it. Be careful--If a client takes 3-6 months to pay for a project, receiving an unusually large check can be very tempting. But remember that larger sums of money represent a lot of time during which you likely had to use other sources of income. This aspect is very hard to understand or manage when you are first starting out, but as time goes on, you will see how proper project scheduling and balancing your budget wisely plays into your overall success rate as a freelance seo writer.


2. Company Sponsored Benefits. One of the reasons you are attractive to a company is they don't have to pay for your benefits like they do with their full time employees. But what happens if you get sick and need a doctor? What about saving for retirement?
   Freelance Solution: Finding individual plans to meet your needs. Talk to a couple insurance agents and find a plan that answers your needs. True, this will create a monthly obligation...but you don't want to get caught in the lurch by something. Nobody plans to get sick, or have an accident. But smart freelancers have insurance plans and leave less to risk. Similarly, planning for retirement is something that a freelancer should take seriously. Talk to a financial planner to investigate CDs, 401ks, stocks, bonds, or other investment opportunities. Freelance seo writing can be a very hand-to-mouth kind of existence, so don't be short-sighted. Take control of your own future, and plan for it. Be realistic, and be aggressive. See part of every paycheck as an investment in your future.


3. Coworkers. A lot of freelancers I have talked to start freelancing as a way to get away from people at work. Though some people can definitely be a challenge to deal with, others make every day more fun. A work environment offers a lot of opportunity to develop new friendships and get to know new people, so what does a freelancer do to increase socializing and relationship building?
   Freelance Solution: Networking. Like I have stated many times, relationship building is a big part of freelancing. Since it is not as easy to make new friends without a structured environment to encourage it, you simply have to be a little more proative and conscious about making connections. Join professional networks in your area. Look into the Chamber of Commerce. Look at industry-specific organizations to which you might belong. Find some bloggers to engage with or forums to join. Reach out however it feels best. Most freelance seo writers are really busy writing and finding work. Make sure to take time to come out from this little shell, and get personally plugged-in--both to your local business community and to the industries you serve. By doing so, you can surround yourself with forward-thinking professionals who are great resources to share with and learn from on a regular basis.

These three things are only some of the trade-offs you'll encounter when choosing freelancing as a career path, and they illustrate the point that this is not the right path for everyone.

The trade-off is something you must welcome or freelancing is going to be tough. The benefits of freelancing certainly look sexy, but contrary to what people think, a life of freelancing is never easy. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of preparing to be able to balance everything properly. But when it feels right to do so and to make the trade-offs necessary for success, you honestly rarely think about the effort you are putting in.

Keep your eye on the target. Research and understand as much as you can before starting something. Don't take things too seriously or too lightly. Relax, and enjoy.