Why it doesn’t make sense to charge less

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These days I’m constantly trying to draw strategies for better targeting for my website. I get all sorts of queries from my online writing services; some have no problem with what I quote, some expect more than what I’ve quoted, and some are looking for writers that will simply provide them $2 or $3 per article service. I’m trying to target clients that are looking for good content at decent rates, not very low rates.

Although I operate from India, I never try to attract clients who are looking for cheap writing services. It doesn’t mean I’m an expensive writer — I simply charge what I think I should get, according to the quality of writing I provide, and according to the prevalent rates in different countries. Some clients think that just because I am from India I’m going to provide my writing services dirt cheap. It is not their fault actually because that’s what they are looking for in the first place and they know that they can get good writers at extremely low rates in Third World countries. Even clients from India think that I have no business charging them the amount I quote.

I consider writing to be just like any other service that you can use to enhance your business prospects. When I am writing for you I am helping you communicate effectively so that you can get more business. Isn’t it a service worth paying for? Fine, you can say that you can find writers who charge a lot less then what I normally do, but then you can say this for every service. You can hire a web design company that charges $50,000 for your website and you can hire a web design company that will charge $50 for the same website. The difference will manifest in the way your business grows or doesn’t grow.

So why doesn’t it make sense to charge less than what you can charge just for the sake of getting work?

When you start charging less both you and your client get trapped in a vicious circle. You never earn enough and your client never gets the quality that he or she needs to do decent business. Since you are working for pittance, you want to do more and more projects in the limited time you have; you can only work for so many hours. You are always in a hurry to finish your project because you simply cannot afford to spend 2-3 hours writing a document that’s going to get you $5. Consequently, the quality suffers. Some writers don’t even write, they simply plagiarize and their clients either never realize it or they simply ignore it because anyway they are not looking for high-quality content when they are paying $2 for an article. These types of clients rarely succeed in their ventures and they have a similar attitude towards your service.

Similarly, since you are always working for less money you never have time to grow and evolve. You are always busy doing the patchwork and trying to get new, low-paying assignments. You never become an expert people won’t mind paying a higher fee. You will always be writing low quality stuff. You will never be taken seriously for your service. Okay, there will be a few people who will admire your rates and the amount of work you can churn out but it won’t fetch you a stable livelihood. You will soon burnout and you quit as a failure.

Again, I am not saying you charge more than you are worth for. Just don’t under charge. Charge a justified amount and keep improving yourself so that you can deliver value and then charge for that value. There is a reason why some companies bill so much. Using their services clients can make a lot more than what they are investing and this is how the true worth of a professional service is gauged. So instead of providing a cheap service, provide a better service and then charge what you truly deserve.

Maximizing Your Web Presence in a Tough Economy

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As we all watch the economy go from terribly bad to even worse, many are left wondering how to make the most of their existing company resources. For many companies, the idea of investing in marketing services of any kind is offensive as so many face major cutbacks and even layoffs.

However, the show must go on and every company must examine the marketing materials they already have developed and how they can breathe new life into them without taxing scaled-down budgets. One of the best marketing vehicles to leverage in new ways is the company Web site. This highly-versatile medium allows huge flexibility and scalability, cost-effective updates, and worldwide reach.

The idea of a fluid, regularly-updated Web site is foreign to many businesses where Web copy remains static, with only the most vital information provided. The reason for the bland copy on most sites is a lack of internal resources to dedicate to writing new content.

Web content is time consuming to develop and requires a skill set and understanding of how the Web and Internet searches work. If the writer does not understand the complexities involved, the Web site’s content will be ineffective and it will not be found quickly through Internet searches.

While it may seem counter-intuitive to outsource Web writing, it can be a very cost-effective option for Web copy development and one with a significant return on investment. But, all Web copy writers are not created equal. If you choose to work with a freelance Web writer, be sure they possess the following skills.

SEO. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves embedding industry-specific keywords into Web copy to help prioritize it in Web searches. If this is not done, the Web site will be buried several pages into a Web search.
Editing. While good writing skills may seem like a no-brainer as you choose a freelancer, it is also important that they be strong editors. You do not want to edit your own Web copy and a typo is inexcusable on the World Wide Web.
Selling. Web sites should spur sales (or at least inquiries about your company). Spinning a great company story that drives home its unique differentiators will garner more interest than “Contact Us.”
Blogging. Talking about your company and industry is a great way to build thought leadership. Good freelance writers know how to leverage news and industry trends to develop effective blog content.
Communication. Freelance writers work offsite and the client has less control over the time they spend on projects or how they are billed. Demand good communication and frequent updates from your freelance writers.

Creating a page not found 404 error page if you are managing your website with WordPress

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About a couple of months ago I put my entire website into WordPress…now every page on this website is actually a WordPress blog post. This makes it very easy to add new content and modify existing content, and it is also good for SEO (it is already manifest in my stats). Besides, whenever I want to change the layout/design, I simply have to create a new WordPress theme, and then activate it using the WordPress control panel/admin area.

After a few days I noticed that my 404 page was not working. Wondering what’s a 404 page? 404 is the error number that is generated when a visitor comes to your website using a link that does not exist on your website. For instance, on my website, if you click on a link http://credible-content.com/doesntexist/ you will be redirected to http://credible-content.com/404-page/ because "doesntexist" doesn’t exist on my website.

On normal websites you can add the following line in your .htaccess file:

ErrorDocument 404 http://credible-content.com/404-page/

You need to store your .htaccess file in the root folder I guess. But this doesn’t work if you are managing your website with WordPress; somehow it doesn’t redirect the page using .htaccess file. After some research I found that WordPress uses its own 404.php file to display the "page not found" page and you have to store this file in the folder where you’ve stored all your theme files, like /blog-url/wp-content/themes/your-theme-folder/404.php.

But what if you want to display a page or blog post that you’ve already created, if someone comes on a non-existent page? It’s very simple. Delete whatever you have in your 404.php file and instead, have this php line inserted:

<?php header("Location: /404-page/"); ?>

Please remember that /404-page/ is something what I’ve created for my website; you may have something else.

What’s in a Typo Anyway?

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Believe it or not, we used to write letters by hand to one another using an instrument called a pen. Today we use mobile phone texting, social networking, email, internet blogging, chat rooms and anything else electronically ‘plugged in’, to copiously communicate.

And what about the infamous spell checker, huh? But there isn’t anything wrong with that though, is there? No, of course not, I for one embrace technology. As Jack Aubrey of the Surprise said, “What a wonderful modern age we live in!”

However, in my online writing, lecturing, design, and research ventures I do see one continually, rather disheartening element present. Too often I see evidence that we seem to be writing as though we are less educated than the millennium we live in would represent, and much less sophisticated than the technology we use to communicate with. Typo’s, misspellings, and bad grammar seem to have become an everyday occurrence!

It is not at all unusual for someone to ask a friend if this outfit or that tie looks alright, or to proudly show off ones new mobile phone, or boast about your latest computer upgrade. Chances are pretty good that today or yesterday you talked to, texted, or emailed someone about the latest blog you wrote or read, but when was the last time you asked someone to proof read something for you? When was the last time you took a moment to check if that email you just wrote really made good sense? Eh?

You are most likely here at Amrit’s online writing website because you are interested in professional web content and writing services, whether you are a potential customer or a writer yourself seeking to learn more about SEO content, blog writing, or professional online writing of any sort, no matter which side of the proverbial fence you are on, I think we all agree that good spelling and grammar are important, no matter how stuffy it might feel to say it out loud.

By now you might be asking, “Gosh, what kind of people does this person associate with anyway?” Well I’ll tell you that just yesterday I received an email from an esteemed, university educated colleague who erroneously used the word ‘right’ for ‘write’. Need I say any more?

My experience with Linux, especially Ubuntu

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I have a geekish streak that is perpetually lurking in my subconscious and comes to the surface twice or thrice a year. This is a time when I normally, completely destroy my system and almost lose my computer files (fortunately I have always been able to save them eventually for I have some files as old as 1999). For a few months I have been playing around with Ubuntu, perhaps the most advanced version of the Linux operating system in terms of user interface. As it normally happens, I ended up obliterating my hard disk partitions. Being an experienced computer user (yeah, of course!), I took full backups before starting to install Ubuntu.

After wasting a few days and spending some money somehow I managed to install both Windows XP and Ubuntu on my laptop. Every week I spend a couple of hours working in Ubuntu, especially when my wireless connection conks under Windows XP. In Ubuntu, I can easily check my e-mails, send replies, work on my documents and occasionally write blog posts. For instance, I am writing this blog post in Ubuntu.

Why did I want to switch to Ubuntu when everything was working perfectly fine in Windows XP? In fact some of the software that they use in Windows XP is far superior than the Ubuntu alternatives both in terms of graphical user interface and functionality. My first reason was that Windows XP is quite slow and it crashes often. On top of this I had been reading for months what a great time Ubuntu users are having with no crashes reported for months, no need to reboot the system, stability and reliability, and a great interface. Anyway, here are a few observations of mine regarding Ubuntu:

Great interface of course and I love the way Ubuntu renders fonts. For many weeks I have been trying to make Windows XP render fonts the way Ubuntu does but haven’t succeeded yet.
Ubuntu recognized all my hardware on its own and my wireless networking connection never stops the way it does in Windows XP.
I haven’t used it much, but Ubuntu has never crashed. Of course there are many programs that have crashed, but Ubuntu is not affected by that.
Ubuntu is definitely not as easy to set up as many people on the Internet claim. Be prepared to have nightmares. It is not for the fainthearted, at least not yet.
Windows programs, as claimed, can work if you install Wine on Ubuntu, but my experience has been horrible.
Not everything is graphical user interface. If you are a power user then you will have to resort to some command line operations and this may involve lots of research on the Internet.
Don’t switch to Ubuntu if you are a busy person, at least not yet (I am a busy person but my geekish doppelganger sometimes overtakes my judgment and it always culminates into a disaster).
Windows XP doesn’t seem all that bad once you have spent a few days banging your head against the wall and trying to make Ubuntu perform even the simplest of tasks such as recognizing and mounting another partition.

A new version of Ubuntu is going to be released next month and I hope things will improve. I am very much open to switching to Ubuntu but there are many crucial applications that I use under Windows XP that simply refuse to work in Ubuntu.

I wrote this blog post after reading 25 Reasons to convert to Linux.