Anyone who thinks that writing web content for a living is easy is delusional. Writing can come easily to some but there is so much more to writing web content that just the process of putting words together and making it interesting.
The past several months have been dramatic for people who make money writing web content. I can hardly believe how quickly and drastically things are changing.
The changes with Google were necessary and needed. There is way too much junk on the Internet and making it rank lower is a good thing. Maybe it will make people think twice about what they publish. The final demise of the WCP @ eHow was something I knew was coming...not just from writer friends who "tipped me" off but I just knew when my earnings started to rise that a good thing would be coming to an end.
Ehow was the first site I started publishing on. It gave me an outlet for the mental energy I had and it also helped me to find some really interesting people. I learned a lot about writing and about people because of it.
I am not sad to see it end. Not at all. I was never a person to "hang out" on the forums. It always felt like a high school clique that I didn't belong in. I tried now and again to participate but never felt like I belonged. No great loss, I didn't join ehow for social networking.
Ehow was a starting place and I quickly moved on. With my blogs I have the freedom to write whatever I want, whenever and however I want. I love the outlet. I can focus on whatever topic I choose and if I make some money doing it, all the better!
There have been some blog posts in the past few days that have touched a nerve with many people. Good- I like people to get as fired up about something as I am. It even turned into an article that I posted on Associated Content/Yahoo. I was thrilled when it was getting views and then dropped off. I didn't understand why because the topic about a North Carolina woman who lost custody of her children because she has breast cancer is an ongoing battle that continues to get more media attention. Then I googled Alaina Giordano and I figured out why my views had changed- people were copying my entire article and posting it to their blogs! Yes, they gave me credit as a writer but they were taking away my views from Yahoo.
At first I wasn't sure if I should feel flattered or annoyed. I worked hard on this piece, spending many hours and emailing back and forth to Alaina, getting her approval for every word. I want to share her story as I feel that she got a bad ruling in court. I know that time is of the essence here, she needs to file an appeal.
In the meantime, my hard work as a writer is being stolen by others. Yeah, I am annoyed. It just isn't right.
I was raised in a home where stealing was strictly forbidden. I still feel that it is wrong to take something that does not belong to you. If I add a link to someone's work, I make sure that I do it in a way that will benefit them not distract from their views on another site. I try to be decent to others who work as hard as I do.
On the Internet, as in the real world, there are all kinds. There are far too many people who call themselves writers but are really just out to make a buck off of someone elses' work. They have no morals and what they do is plagerism. Yes, my article on Yahoo is not copyrighted by me. I do control how long it can be displayed though.
When things like this happen, I consider the idea of quitting web content writing but the truth is that I need to write. People know exactly what they are doing when they copy another writer's work and publish it on their own blogs or websites. I guess they just don't care. They are only thinking about how much money they can make off someone elses' work.
Karma. It will catch up. It always does.
The past several months have been dramatic for people who make money writing web content. I can hardly believe how quickly and drastically things are changing.
The changes with Google were necessary and needed. There is way too much junk on the Internet and making it rank lower is a good thing. Maybe it will make people think twice about what they publish. The final demise of the WCP @ eHow was something I knew was coming...not just from writer friends who "tipped me" off but I just knew when my earnings started to rise that a good thing would be coming to an end.
Ehow was the first site I started publishing on. It gave me an outlet for the mental energy I had and it also helped me to find some really interesting people. I learned a lot about writing and about people because of it.
I am not sad to see it end. Not at all. I was never a person to "hang out" on the forums. It always felt like a high school clique that I didn't belong in. I tried now and again to participate but never felt like I belonged. No great loss, I didn't join ehow for social networking.
Ehow was a starting place and I quickly moved on. With my blogs I have the freedom to write whatever I want, whenever and however I want. I love the outlet. I can focus on whatever topic I choose and if I make some money doing it, all the better!
There have been some blog posts in the past few days that have touched a nerve with many people. Good- I like people to get as fired up about something as I am. It even turned into an article that I posted on Associated Content/Yahoo. I was thrilled when it was getting views and then dropped off. I didn't understand why because the topic about a North Carolina woman who lost custody of her children because she has breast cancer is an ongoing battle that continues to get more media attention. Then I googled Alaina Giordano and I figured out why my views had changed- people were copying my entire article and posting it to their blogs! Yes, they gave me credit as a writer but they were taking away my views from Yahoo.
At first I wasn't sure if I should feel flattered or annoyed. I worked hard on this piece, spending many hours and emailing back and forth to Alaina, getting her approval for every word. I want to share her story as I feel that she got a bad ruling in court. I know that time is of the essence here, she needs to file an appeal.
In the meantime, my hard work as a writer is being stolen by others. Yeah, I am annoyed. It just isn't right.
I was raised in a home where stealing was strictly forbidden. I still feel that it is wrong to take something that does not belong to you. If I add a link to someone's work, I make sure that I do it in a way that will benefit them not distract from their views on another site. I try to be decent to others who work as hard as I do.
On the Internet, as in the real world, there are all kinds. There are far too many people who call themselves writers but are really just out to make a buck off of someone elses' work. They have no morals and what they do is plagerism. Yes, my article on Yahoo is not copyrighted by me. I do control how long it can be displayed though.
When things like this happen, I consider the idea of quitting web content writing but the truth is that I need to write. People know exactly what they are doing when they copy another writer's work and publish it on their own blogs or websites. I guess they just don't care. They are only thinking about how much money they can make off someone elses' work.
Karma. It will catch up. It always does.
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