If you’ve been writing very long you know about rejection.  It really doesn’t matter how you’ve been writing either–you’re going to get rejections.  One of the most painful parts of rejections happens when they come in waves.  I’ve received more than my share lately.  It’s reminded me that Stephen King received an ungodly amount of rejections before his big break, and it also reminded me of a post that Angela Swanlund did recently.

But even knowing all of this, the sting of rejection still takes a little bit of soul away, or it seems like it does.

Enjoy Angela’s article:
Dealing With Rejection

Happy Writing!
Patti Stafford

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File this one under the sad but true category, folks. We are considered the ‘bottom feeders’ of the freelance writing industry – by the freelance writing community. The two main reasons are this:

1. Regardless of the topic of our content, a heavier focus is paid to the key word density of the article than the actual informational value of the piece as a whole. In other words, our buyer sometimes doesn’t even care if we use proper English or good grammar, as long as we use a good key word saturation. This all too common practice reduces the overall merit and value of web content articles in general. Nay, you say? Ask yourself these questions. Have you ever wondered how in the world a blog barely in English, with the worst grammar you’ve ever read – had a PR of 5? Or how a landing page of nothing more than links to eternity and one center frame piece of content could pull a PR4? Have you ever stared in utter disbelief at what just sold on a content marketing website – and wondered why anyone, anywhere, would have paid a dime for that piece? Hello.

2. Paid to post text link ads within our blog that are completely irrelevant to the content we present. We’ve learned how to link computer stores within the content of a post about decorating an infant nursery by slapping the a href tag around the word “monitor” in the phrase – set the baby monitor within two feet of the crib. Yes, a clever bunch we are! Not.

 It’s no wonder we take such a beating in ratings by the freelance writing community, we‘ve brought this wrath onto ourselves. But it does not have to be this way! We can take back the control of our content and raise our own personal standards to beat this bum rep.

 How?
When you begin a web content article writing assignment, literally forget that list of key words your buyer supplied. For the moment, focus solely on your topic. Approach this topic as if you, yourself, were in search of the information. What would you want this article to tell you? After you have the general concept in your head, do your homework. Research. Have you fully answered the questions you had concerning this topic? Have you covered this topic as thoroughly as your word count allowed?  Read your article aloud, does it flow with a good cadence? Is it an easy read, or did you stumble? Next, correct your grammar. And last – absolutely last – work those key words into the piece. In other words, write a real article.

When you log into the admin of your favorite paid review website, don’t let greed overwhelm you! Decline the tasks that do not specifically relate to a normal topic addressed in your blog. Respect your own readers more than this! Only accept tasks that you feel would be of real interest or importance to your readership. And when you write these reviews, do your homework. Visit that website, learn about those products or services, and present this information to your readers in a concise and informative manner. In other words – write a real review.

That takes Too Much Time And I’ll Lose Money!
Oh really? What would you say if I told you this method guarantees you’ll be approached personally by advertisers instead of through the paid link marketing website? What if I told you this method guarantees you’ll be approached by content buyers personally? Then would you be willing to take the risk? Then would you be willing to decline those mis-matched tasks and tighten up those web content articles? I bet you would. Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee you squat. I know, horribly anti-climatic, my bad. But I will offer this challenge. Try this method of writing for 6 months and if you don’t see significantly better offers and gain significantly more readers – I’ll personally feature your work on my websites, and help to promote you. Deal?
Angela