So, earlier today I was knocking around one of those “get paid to write and show people advertising” sites (I know, I know). And I decided “hey, why don’t I write an article about job interviews!” After all, I’ve been on enough of them last year, right? Every time I go out to try and get a contract, it’s a glorified job interview. Plus, it’s information I would probably give away for free, so signing over my soul to a penny-a-click site seemed okay at the time. Of course, when some horrid SEO-bot nicks it, I’ll be pissed…. but that’s a story for another time.
Anyway, I cracked out the word processor and started writing. And writing. And writing. It turns out, I had a lot to say about job interviews! In fact, I had so much to say, I decided that what I wanted to say really fit into a couple of different main “ideas.” So I split the one long article into three shorter ones (note: article titles are not mine… that’s how the site’s set up):
- The importance of first impressions in getting a job
- How to be prepared for a career change
- How to find a job that doesn’t make you miserable
This kind of repurposing of content is the lifeblood of freelance writing. Most writers do about twice as much research as they need to for anything they write. For instance: if you need to write something for a newbie audience, you need to know more than they do, just so you can write coherently about why something works the way it does. If you want to write for an experienced audience, you have to research the new-user stuff for yourself, so you know what you’re talking about when you get to the more advanced topics. In the first case, the advanced information isn’t actually used to write the beginner article. In the second case, the beginner stuff isn’t needed for the advanced article. If, however, you research the same subject for both articles, then you can write two articles instead of just one.
Re-using your research and knowledge applies to freelance writing, blogging, and any form of entrepreneurship. A successful brick-and-mortar retailer is already a wealth of expertise in bookkeeping, customer service, management, and inventory control, all without an MBA. Can you turn something you already know about into an expertise in some other area?
You can read the above articles for absolutely free (with the dreaded ads on the page…). If you decide you want to join the site and write for pennies, too, let me know so I can send you an invitation (yeah, I get site cred for that, and you like me and want me to get cred, right?)
Oh, and remember the site Hot or Not? If you sign up with this site, you can hot-or-not the articles against each other. Let the games begin!
Good post, gave me some points too.