I also asked readers what we should do about this situation. Should bloggers start charging for content? Should we start a revolution? Should we do this, or that, or the other thing?

Then I realized we shouldn’t be asking what we can do. We should be stating what we can do, as a fact.

So here are a few of the things we can do, as bloggers, to address this issue – and many more issues we all face together. We can do these things right now, today.

And we should.

We Can Talk About It

Conversation is powerful. By putting a topic on the table and discussing it while listening to other people’s thoughts and opinions, we’re able to get deeper into the situation.

We might uncover ways of doing things that we didn’t see before. We might find new reasons for upholding the cause. We might reveal obstacles we didn’t think of, and then we can talk about how to overcome them.

Talk is cheap, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable. Talk helps create solutions. Talk is how you resolve issues with your spouse or your friends or your boss. Talking is the reason any of us know anything at all. Our parents, our mentors, our employers talked with us. We listened, asked questions, and learned more every time we did.

That back-and-forth exchange is how we get places. Try sawing through a log by stabbing it with a blade and you won’t get far, no matter how many times you stab it or how hard.

But try sawing back and forth. You’ll get a little deeper every time, and you’ll eventually bring that tree to the ground.

That’s how conversation works. Every time we throw an idea back and forth across the table, we’re getting just a little bit deeper into the problem. Eventually, we’ll bring that problem crashing down.

We need to feel comfortable discussing issues and being wrong, and we need to feel comfortable being persuaded to another point of view. We need to listen to one another and see if those new ideas have merit, or if they open up any other possible courses of action.

If we don’t, we’re just stabbing at that tree. All by ourselves. And that tree’s going to look like a pincushion by the time we’re done.

But it’ll still be standing there, still be in our way.

We Can Empower Ourselves

Some people out there take a “wait and see” approach. They might have a “not my problem” attitude. They might be one of those “just ignore it” people. They all do nothing, and they trust that others will work it out.

I think that’s a mistake.

When we choose to do nothing, we give other people permission to have power over us. Passivity is powerless. We shouldn’t let other people make decisions for us. Our lives are too valuable to be completely at the mercy of someone else’s whim.

Doing nothing means there’s no nudge to start the ball rolling. You can’t build momentum if you don’t start off with just a little bit of power.

If we do nothing about the problem – not even talking about it – we’re part of the problem ourselves. We’re saying that other people with louder voices should decide. And the problem with that is that even though other people might be louder, that doesn’t make them right.

It just makes them loud.

I teach my children that they do have the power to change a situation. That they do have control. They can provoke change. I tell them these things because I believe them with all my heart.

It’s up to us to stop allowing others to make decisions for our industry, our careers, and our lives, both as a group and as individuals. It’s up to us to take back control and to start making change happen.

Of course, that’s if change is what we decide we want after we’ve talked it over. I think it’s what I want. But I want to hear the debate. I want to hear all the sides. Then I want us to gather up all our power and direct it together in one solid course of action.

We Can Wake Up a Bit

It’s not like we have a choice, you know. Eventually, something somewhere is going to give.

Online business and blogging are changing every day. What used to work last year isn’t working so well anymore. “Traditional” income streams are dying. Adsense is over. Banner advertising isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Product launches don’t bring in the money they used to.

As consumers become accustomed to the internet and how it works, they also becoming familiar and acclimatized to what used to be new and exciting. They’re getting bored. They’re tuning it out and turning off.

So we’re going to have to work on evolving along with these changes. It’s time to ask questions, to look to the future and explore new ways of generating income so we can all make a decent living at this.

If what we’re doing now doesn’t work, then what will work next week? And next year? And the year after?

As the early-adopter generation of the internet, of blogging, of online business, we have an opportunity. We have the power to turn it all into what we want it to be, to change it, to see just how far we can take it all.

We just have to wake up and realize it.

What do you think?

Another rockin' post from the Men With Pens! Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved


Three Ways to Start a Revolution

The one thing you have in common is that you come around here all the time, for which we are profoundly grateful. You’ve become our little community, and we’re always glad to see your shining emoticons in the comments. Even you – yes, you – the reader who never comments or says anything, but who still shows up all the time – you’re a part of this community, too.

We’re very glad you’re here supporting us. It’s an amazing thing to have so many people find our thoughts valuable and worth listening to. You’ve placed a profound trust in us to give you sound advice, and we try to live up to that trust every day. We hope it shows.

You come here looking for a reason to keep on going. You come for some advice on how to do what you do just a little bit better. You come for insight and inspiration and a good debate, or maybe just to hear Taylor tease James for the fiftieth time about his inflated ego.

No matter who you are, what you do, or why you’re here, we want to tell you this holiday season that we’re glad that you are here, and we hope you’ll continue to come around for years to come.

And once all the presents have been opened and the seasonal beverages have been drunk and the relatives have gone home again, and you’re ready to get back to the business of rocking out whatever it is you do, we’ll be here ready to rock it with you.

From all of us at Men with Pens, have a wonderful holiday season, full of joy and merriment and laughter and love and wonder.

See you back here on January 4, everyone.

Another rockin' post from the Men With Pens! Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved


It’s All About You

The times when your head has been aching vaguely for three days and every bone in your body feels like you have early-onset arthritis. The times when you’ve forgone the boxes of Kleenex for 70 rolls of toilet paper. The times when summoning the energy to pour a glass of orange juice feels about as easy as lifting a small mountain.

Those are not good times to keep working. Even if you get the work done, it’s going to turn out lousy. Even if you technically manage to do a good job, it’s not going to be the best work you can produce. It’s also going to exhaust you physically and mentally, and that just keeps you sick for longer than you have to be.

How do you tell your clients that you need an extension on a project because you’re sick?

Warn Them of Impending Storm Clouds

If you feel like you might be getting sick (you get that vague sore throat and you seem to be more tired than usual), let your clients know immediately. Right away.

“I think I have a cold coming on… I’m feeling under the weather since yesterday…” Slip it into conversation. Mention it. You don’t have to panic and stop the presses, but you do have to point out the storm clouds looming on the horizon.

If you warn clients in advance that you might be getting ill, they’ll be able to take that into consideration and plan for it. They won’t be shocked and dismayed when you finally do announce there’s no way in hell you can get out of bed and that their project is going to be late.

You also won’t accidentally be rude to them because everything hurts and you haven’t slept. It’s really easy to sound snippy or short, or say something less than tactful when you’re right in the middle of a week-long virus. If you tell them in advance, you’ll have politeness to spare and you’ll get their sympathy instead of their shock at your bad manners.

And the worst that happens if you’re not actually sick and you recover? It was a false alarm – that’s great news.

Give Yourself a Reasonable Extension

If you’re already on your way to being sick, you know that you won’t be able to jump right back in and start producing high-quality work the day you start feeling a little bit better. Most of us take a day or two to recuperate.

Factor that in when you ask to push the deadline back. Ask the client for enough time that you feel confident you can meet the new deadline. If you shortchange yourself and have ask for a second extension because you aren’t quite up to snuff yet, your clients aren’t going to be nearly as nice about it.

Err on the side of caution.

Let Them Say No

Most clients, on hearing the news, will be more flexible and say it’s just fine to deliver a week later than expected. But some clients really do need you to deliver on time to avoid some serious repercussions for their business.

So, let them know it’s absolutely all right to say no to an extended deadline, and that you will take care of it. Explain that you’re feeling lousy and you’re not producing your best work, so it would be nice if you could have an extension – but if you can’t, you understand.

That makes the client think that he doesn’t need to run out and hire another freelancer to take your place. The client will probably also be glad he has a freelancer who meets deadlines come hell or high flu season.

Once you know what you have to do and what you can set aside until you feel better, ask yourself if you can actually get the work done. If you can, great. If you can’t, hire someone who can help you. It’s much better to keep that client on your side and get a next assignment than to lose the person entirely.

I’ll add a caution, though: Be transparent with your client. Let the person know that you’re working with someone else to get the job done. That conveys honesty, integrity, solution-minded thinking and proactive attention. It’s a win all around.

Your Clients Know You’re Human

Everyone has been sick at some point, and especially at this time of year, it’s entirely possible that your clients have recently been sick or had to deal with a loved one who was feeling ill.

They’re sympathetic to your plight. They know there’s nothing you can do about being sick. It’s not like you’re having some sort of emotional trauma because your girlfriend just broke up with you and you wish you could just curl up into a ball. No client is going to feel like they should give you an extension for that.

But they do know that you can’t do anything about being slung over a toilet bowl with the flu or having your sinuses plugged so tight that the compression might explode your head. And their reaction is going to reflect that.

So go ahead. Ask for a little sympathy. And then go back to bed and sleep as much as you can, so you can get better and get back to kicking ass a little sooner.

Another rockin' post from the Men With Pens! Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved


What to Do with Clients When You’re Sick

So unless you’ve been living under a rock for last few days, you know that James Chartrand, mon esteemed capitaine, has recently come out as a woman. I’ve known about James’ true gender for some time, and we’ve had a lot of discussions about whether, in today’s day and age, such a choice is really necessary to command respect in the workplace.

After all, I’m a woman. James and I do the same kind of writing, and our male clients have been absolutely thrilled with the copy that both of us have written. So what made the pseudonym necessary for James and not for me? If I can do it, why shouldn’t James do it?

And isn’t it our job, as women, to keep on keeping on?

Not at all, and I’m willing to fight anyone who suggests it. There are a lot of differences between James and me when it comes to the question of women in the workplace, but the one thing we have in common is this:

No one, but no one, gets to tell us how women should behave.

The Generation Gap

One of the extreme differences between James and I when it comes to being working women is our backgrounds. It never really occurred to me that I shouldn’t be treated equally and paid equally in the workplace because I’m a woman. My mother was always the main breadwinner in our family, and her male peers (and all of her peers were male, because female company owners are still rare even in liberal places like the Bay Area) respected her immensely.

It would never have crossed my mind that I couldn’t do anything I wanted to because I was female.

I thought I couldn’t do anything I wanted to for other reasons. I actually thought I was never going to be as successful as my mother, powerful woman that she is. But the very idea that I couldn’t accomplish great things because I was a woman would have been laughable to me.

After all, the person I thought I couldn’t live up to WAS a woman.

That’s how my generation thinks. We’re much, much closer to the glass ceiling than our mothers. A study done in 2005 showed that women under 25 working full time earned 93 cents to every dollar a man earned.

Women over 25? They were still stuck with 79 cents to the dollar.

That means that if I take a salaried job today, I might be earning $32,550 while the guy next to me earns $35,000. And that’s not fair, and I would complain about it.

But it’s nothing compared to the $27,650 that James would be earning right next to me, under his female name.

James is 38 years old. I am 25.

That thirteen-year age gap makes an enormous difference when it comes to how women are seen in the workplace.

The Name Gap

James has chosen not to come out with his real name, and I am of course going to respect that decision. I will tell you, however, that it is a distinctly female name. It’s not a name that could be mistaken for a man’s.

My name, on the other hand, is gender-ambiguous. You can thank my mother (again) for that one. She specifically wanted to give me an androgynous name. I imagine at the time she knew just what a difference it would have made in her workplace to have been able to leave that question of gender unanswered when we were still at the resume stage of the proceedings. She didn’t have her own company yet, and she had been handing out resumes not that long ago herself.

And women still weren’t as hirable as men, 25 years ago. Not nearly.

So my name is Taylor, and if I had chosen to pursue a salaried job instead of a freelance career, I could have avoided the embarrassing situation many women find themselves in today – discounted because of their name, before their education and skills are even checked. Female names are less likely to get called in for interviews than male ones – to the extent that some resume experts often give the advice that women applying for jobs in a “male-dominated” field should consider going by their initials.

As a freelancer, I haven’t found it necessary to put any effort into keeping my gender ambiguous. The fact that I’m a woman is on my company’s website and all over my blog posts.

But by the time potential clients find that out, they’ve already passed that initial stage of deciding whether or not to keep on checking me out. We’ve passed the “resume” stage, and entered the “interview” stage.

At that point, we’re dealing much more with my merits than with my gender.

The Freedom Gap

As James put forth so eloquently in the essay, much of his decision to keep a male name had to do with being able to earn a sufficient income to support his family. If he earned twice as much as James, then that’s a done deal.

Makes sense. Many of you with families would gladly take on a job at twice your current salary even if it meant some sort of weird workplace problem. Let’s say your boss is a jackass who hates you. Every day he tries to humiliate you in some way that you can’t quite take to the HR department, but that makes you feel like crap.

But if it means being able to send your kids to a better school, to not have to worry when they grow out of their clothes, to buy them the Christmas present they want instead of the one you can afford, many of you would take the job anyway.

It’s not right, or noble, or fair. If you were the hero in a movie, you’d tell that guy to go stuff his condescension and his job. The hero would tell him he’s a human being who’s every bit his boss’ equal, and he doesn’t deserve to be treated like this. He’d stand up for what’s right, damn it, and there would be some very inspiring music playing in the background while he did it.

Except that’s not how it goes.

How it goes is that you get out the speech. and quit the job, and have to face your family when you go home. The family you’re supposed to be providing for. And explain how your pride was more important than their getting a new pair of good winter boots when they need them.

You’d swallow your pride. You’d keep on doing what you had to. And if you ever decided not to, it would be because your family told you it was okay to do it. That they understood, and they wanted you to. You would make that decision together. But you would never put yourself above them.

I, and I say this with a fair amount of smugness, do not have to do this. I am single. I am young. I am well used to living on a shoestring budget. I rent my home. I have few responsibilities and absolutely no dependents. I am responsible for me, and me alone. Hell, if I wanted to, I could live out of my car.

Which means that if I decide I’m okay with it being a little harder for me to earn the same income as the male freelancer down the street, then that’s my decision. Mine alone. That decision doesn’t affect anyone else in the world but me.

Which means I can decide.

Why Feminism Is Pissing Me Off

There have been a few blog posts and articles out there suggesting that James should have taken one for the team. That women have a responsibility to one another to keep fighting, to bust through the glass ceiling, to rip equality out of the hands of the men who are still (jeez, STILL) trying to keep it from us.

James didn’t help women, they say. He just stopped fighting.

Well, they’re right. He did. I can’t say as I see the problem with that.

The whole point of the feminist movement was that women should have the right to choose where their priorities lie. They should be able to choose to have a career, to live independently, to vote and own property and make mistakes and get famous and all the rest of it.

If they want to, though, they should also be able to choose to live exactly the way women had been expected to live for centuries – at home, taking care of the kids. They have the right to choose that life if they want to. And no one gets to tell them that they HAVE to get out there and hold down a job because women still don’t have equal pay in the workplace.

No one gets to tell a woman she has to do ANYTHING just because she’s a woman.

And that includes going by a woman’s name.

James chose to make his priority his kids, and that’s a damn fine choice. I choose to make my priority ME, and that’s because I have the extraordinary luxury to do so.

But neither of us is obliged, by virtue of our sex alone, to choose any differently.

The day we all recognize that will be a good day for women everywhere.

Let’s start today.

Another rockin' post from the Men With Pens! Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved


Taylor’s a Feminist – But So Is James

If you have a degree, you probably spent a couple of years getting it. You put hours of effort and study into learning a certain subject inside and out. In many cases, it’s a subject that you loved, one you felt passionate about.

And then you graduated, spent some time in the real world and ended up working in a field that was wildly different from the one you’d studied. You probably can’t remember when you last put the knowledge you learned in university to work in your everyday business affairs. You’ve probably forgotten half of what you learned, too. After all, you don’t need it, right?

Wrong.

Is Your Degree Useless?

You might think your degree has absolutely nothing to do with your current job, or maybe you feel it’s not very helpful to your career or even the slightest bit useful. Even Taylor, a Men with Pens copywriter, doesn’t really think she gets much out of her college degree when she does her job.

And she has a degree in ENGLISH, for Pete’s sake.

You might have a degree in archaeology and now you write code for a living. You might have your degree in biology and now you knit fuzzy hats for babies. Or you got your degree in comparative religion and now you write a blog about snow sports.

I guarantee that if you think hard about it, you can find a way that your degree applies to your current career – and if you do think hard about it, I guarantee you’ll get a lot more out of your hard-won knowledge.

Your Knowledge is Never Useless

I studied psychology for years. Opening a practice of my own had been a lifelong dream of mine.

Of course, all the best-laid plans go astray, as they say. My life changed and I found myself following a different career path – several of them, in fact, before I became a copywriter and settled in quite happily.

It seemed like running a copywriting and design business and the science of psychology had nothing at all to do with each other. I didn’t pay attention to what I’d learned. I had a business to build. I had work to do. I was a writer.

In fact, it took me quite awhile to realize that the knowledge I had in me was something I used in my business every single day, without even thinking about it.

When you get right down to it, I’m in sales. I’m in marketing. I’m in the business of getting people to buy whatever you sell through great copy and eye-catching design. And in order to make that all happen, I have to understand how the human mind works.

I have to know why action verbs are more likely to convince people to buy than passive verbs. I have to know that people feel soothed by the color blue and that a darker shade of it also reassures them. I have to know why the color yellow is a better choice for this target audience but not that one. I have to know why writing in little paragraphs is easier on readers’ brains than big ones.

What lets me know all this? If you guessed psychology, you win a prize.

Your Degree Can Give You a Brand

You were interested in that subject you studied all those years ago for a reason. Maybe you decided you were more interested in something else along the way and changed your focus, or that you just weren’t very good at that subject after all. Whatever. You picked that subject at the time because it spoke to you somehow.

Go back and look at your notes from college or university. Look at the names of the classes you chose to take. Remember what you did in them. What you liked best about them. What you really rocked at in each of them. Figure out what interested you most about every single class you ever took.

That’s what you should be playing up. That’s what fascinated you when you were young and naïve and full of ambition. That’s what you loved before you became all jaded and worn down. If you want to be kick-ass in your business, whatever it is you do, look back in time.

When I looked back in time, I remembered how I fascinated was by how people’s minds work and why they thought the way they did. What made them think that? Which events shaped them? And how did they change and evolve to think in new ways?

That fascination is one of the reasons why I’m now so interested in sales and marketing. Good sales copy can make people happy, sad, worried, frustrated… anything you want. Ultimately, good sales copy is all about convincing some complete stranger’s brain that whatever you’re selling is a great idea. It will change that person’s life.

Our archaeology degree-toting friend knows how society thinks, and he can code programs that take full advantage of the fact that we tend to be attracted to objects or shapes that hit our brains in just the right way. Our biology degree-toting friend knows exactly how bodies lose heat from the tops of our heads and can knit hats that make you even warmer than the next guy’s without making you sweat because of that knowledge.

Even Taylor, with her useless English degree, can tell us how sales copy appears even in literature to convince readers that the storyline is powerful and valid and real, and therefore of great importance to the reader.

You spent ages getting your degree. Isn’t it about time your business got some use out of it?

Think about it. How can your degree help you be better at what you do now?

Another rockin' post from the Men With Pens! Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved


Is Your Education Useless?

The intro to SMART freelancing
The first key: Specific
The second key: Measurable
The third key: Agreed Upon
The fourth key: Realistic

Today is the last in the series of freelancing SMARTer, truly a bittersweet moment for me. It’s bitter because I’ve had a blast interacting with such a SMART crowd of readers, and that interaction is drawing to an end.

And it’s sweet because now I get to discuss my ultimate, favorite topic: T, for Time-based, which has a great deal to do with project management. And project management is what I do best.

I could throw the text book definition of project management at you…

Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.

… but chances are that most freelancers would respond, “Huh?” In fact, I’d have to agree with you.

So, let’s start with what a project is. A project is anything you do within your business that includes the following two elements:

1. A start date
2. An end date

It’s as simple as that. In other words, a project is fully time-based.

A project is not about checking your emails each day. It is not about updating your bookkeeping or worrying about your finances. It is not about bringing in clients or finding partners to work with.

These are ongoing administrative tasks with no specific start and end dates. They aren’t projects. They might occur on certain days, but for as long as you operate the business, they’re there, with no end date in sight.

A project starts and ends. It’s a post you’ve agreed to write for a client. It’s a design you’ve agreed to create. It’s an ebook you’re writing for your business. It’s an overhaul of your services, a marketing blitz or a course you’re building. It’s a joint venture that you’re collaborating on.

If it has a start date and an end date, it is a project. And it needs to be managed properly to turn out well. To begin well, to progress well and to end well.

Project management, therefore, is about:

1. Identifying the start date
2. Identifying the end date
3. Identifying all the steps that need to happen to get you from the start date to the end date.

Here’s where it gets really exciting. To accomplish the ‘T’ in SMART for project management, you have to use the S-M-A-R in the SMART acronym that we’ve already discussed. Let’s recap:

S – Specific

What is the specific product or service you’ve agreed to deliver? When you know that, you can establish all the steps you need to take between the start and end date of your project. Very often, there are more steps involved than you think, and you may uncover additional, smaller steps you’d missed.

M – Measurable

What can you measure for each step? How long will each of those steps take, reasonably? When you know that, you can better pinpoint and establish the end date of the project – one you can actually meet comfortably without scrambling. (Trust me, you might be surprised at how often you short-change yourself.)

A – Agreed Upon

What arrangements have you agreed to with any outside party, such as a client, a partner, an outsourcer or staff? When you know that, you can establish which steps other people are responsible for, and how long it might take them to accomplish. This is especially important for the domino effect – if Joe needs to do X before Kim can do Y, you need to know when you and Joe have agreed he’ll deliver.

R – Realistic

How much work can you realistically take on at any given time? What’s your available work schedule looking like this week and for the coming weeks? When you know that, you can establish your project start date and know when it’ll all begin.

The beauty of it all brings tears to my eyes.

By the time you get to that last letter T in SMART, the rest is pretty much a no-brainer. You know when your project starts, how long it’ll take, how much time you have available to work on it, when you’ll work on it and when you’ll be finished. You’ll be able to commit and complete in full confidence.

And then, you’ll be managing your project properly. Project management is simply the glue that binds all the elements of SMART into place for something solid.

All you need to do is write everything down. You don’t need a fancy-schmancy project management tool either (although using one does make life a lot easier). Just follow these simple steps:

1. Check your workload calendar or spreadsheet and write down when you’ll start your project.
2. Create a to-do list that shows all the steps you need to take, including their due dates
3. Based on the time involved for each step, figure out your project end date
4. Check your to-do list each day to stay on track, marking tasks complete as you go along.

And that’s it! Congratulations. You are now one of the SMARTest freelancers out there. Go forth and conquer.

Another rockin' post from the Men With Pens! Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved


Keep the Freelancer Clock Ticking

There are lots of other people out there getting seriously up in arms about it, though. They’re saying bloggers who ask for payment are betraying their readers, compromising their ethics, and generally being all-around jerks. It’s as though they believed our very moral compass is broken, and that bloggers simply don’t understand how to be in a secure and loving relationship with their readers. To hear them tell it, bloggers who don’t give it away have turned positively abusive.

They are really quite unfriendly about it. Dear me. Such uncouth behavior. I think perhaps it’s time we discussed what is and is not appropriate in blogger-reader relationships, don’t you? Yes, I rather thought so myself.

How Relationships Work

When you’re a tiny little kid and you don’t have any friends yet, the grown-ups around you explain what is and is not friendly behavior. “Friends share with each other.” “Friends play nicely together.” “Friends don’t set each other’s hair on fire OH GOD GET THE BURN OINTMENT!”

Like that. Most of it is totally harmless, and most of it held true as you became an adult and had more complicated relationships. Other people explained what was and was not acceptable behavior for romantic relationships, work relationships, and familial relationships (though everyone mostly ignored the part where you were supposed to be nice to your parents).

What’s more, if you encountered someone who didn’t behave the way you were told they should behave, you decided right away that this person shouldn’t be your friend (or boy/girlfriend, or colleague) anymore.

This is all fairly standard stuff. A lot of you are reading along here thinking, “And? What’s wrong with that?”

Ah, you poor naïve little soul. Everything is wrong with that.

Confusing Action and Intention

While other people were explaining to us how relationships worked, they also explained why they worked that way. The reason they did this is that your formative years are a big time for the “Why?” question. When they told you friends don’t hit, your first reaction was probably not, “Okay, then I won’t hit.”

Your first reaction was probably, “Why?”

And they told you something that would make you stop doing it. “Because mean people hit. Because no one will want to play with you if you hit them. Because hitting isn’t nice.”

They gave you a reason. Forever, in your mind, those two were linked: the action and the reason.

Now, there are lots of other reasons people hit people. Everyone has seen a good man’s man comedy or drama in which the main characters whale the heck out of each other. And it isn’t because they’re mean or because they don’t want to play baseball with each other. It’s because they love each other, man.

Professional fighters fight because they like it. They really, really like it. They enjoy the feeling of winning and getting beat around and beating the other guy worse. They like the glory and the big shiny belts they get to wear. That’s why they hit.

You swatted the dog last week because he did something bad. Not to be mean to him, but so he would pay attention.

Now, most of the time, your initial response is correct. Hitting is usually an indication that the hitter is trying to be mean to the hittee. It is a pretty logical assumption.

But it’s not the only possible reason. Hitting does not equal meanness. Hitting may indicate meanness, but they are not one and the same.

How the #$!!* Does This Apply to Blogging?

My word, what a foul mouth. My mother always told me that people who cussed were ill-bred and not to socialize with them. She also told me that if I see a man I’m dating talking to another woman, he is clearly cheating on me.

Oh, and she told me that if a blogger starts to charge for their content, he’s a greedy, money-grubbing Scrooge.

No, wait. That wasn’t my mother. That was everyone on the internet. Silly me. I always get them confused.

Somewhere along the way, the conventional wisdom decided that any blogger who deemed his advice worthy of payment was contemptible. It’s not true. In fact, it’s ridiculous to assume such a thing. I’m sure there are bloggers out there charging for their content who ARE shameless money-grubbers, but that is by no means the rule.

It’s a little like this. Let’s say I am dating a man, and he is talking to another woman, just like my Mama warned me. Now, it’s possible that my man is cheating on me with this woman, and I’m sure there are men who would do such a thing.

It is also entirely possible that they’re having a nice platonic friendly chat about the Mars landing. If my man is normally a good guy, why would I assume he has bad intentions?

The same applies for a blogger. If this blogger has always pulled out every trick in the book to get money for things totally not worth the price, then it is safe to assume the worst and that he is probably out to scam you.

But if this blogger has behaved very well and has given you great advice for years and years, why would you assume he has the worst of intentions and has suddenly become like that money-grubber scammer?

No One Made You a Deal

The other part of the argument made in the comments of the Blogging Sweatshop post that gets me is that bloggers are betraying their readers by starting to charge for some of their content.

Let’s talk about that word betrayal for a moment.

Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive social contract, trust, or confidence, says Wikipedia. That basically means you were trusted to do something – keep a secret, deliver a soldier across the border, fulfill a promise – and then you did not do it.

If someone could kindly point out to me where on the web bloggers promised their readers that all content would always be free, I would be much obliged.

This assumption is rather like the one made of that poor gentleman up there, talking blithely away to some other woman and getting into serious hot water with his girlfriend for doing so.

“How could you betray me like that?” she says, and stomps off. Meanwhile, our guy is looking all bewildered, because he never promised his girlfriend he wouldn’t utter a word to another girl so long as he lived. He had no idea that was part of the deal.

Expecting someone to fulfill a promise that you were never actually given by that person is not betrayal.

It’s delusional.

No one made you a deal. If a blogger wants to change the rules of the game, he or she has every right to do so. It’s certainly courteous to inform readers it’ll happen, and of course if the reader doesn’t want to play by those rules, then that reader doesn’t have to.

Readers are free to accept or deny the terms bloggers offer them.

They cannot tell bloggers what to do, though. They certainly can’t tell bloggers that they’re all betraying, backstabbing bastards for deciding to charge for their content. And they cannot confuse the action of bloggers asking for fair payment in exchange for sound advice with the conclusion that those same bloggers are being complete and utter dicks.

Well, okay, they can. But they look pretty silly when they do.

Another rockin' post from the Men With Pens! Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved


Have You Been Betrayed by Your Blogger?

I was having a conversation with Deb Ng of Freelance Writing Gigs on Twitter, and I smirked at her comment.

“We get to retire? No one ever told me that…”

We both know there’s no retirement fund in what we do. We’re bloggers. There’s here and now, and there’s trying to make a decent living that supports us for years to come.

It’s a bit of a joke. We blog our hearts out, pouring creativity, knowledge and advice into each post we write. We work tirelessly to put up good content that people can use to improve their income, and we don’t get paid a penny for it.

Why the hell not?

Blogging is bloody hard work. It’s long-term, it’s tiring, it’s creatively exhausting and it’s completely unpaid. It’s free. It’s done out of the goodness of our heart, our belief that we can help other people earn a better living. And from it, we get nothing.

Take this blog, for example. Set aside the services we offer, strip away the great ebooks, the recommended resources, everything but the content. What do you have?

You have a site that, three times a week, as regular as clockwork, gives readers a 700-word value-packed blog post full of insight and knowledge that’s fully tailored to benefit and improve people’s ability to earn more income and have a successful business.

Did I mention it’s free? Completely, undeniably, 100% no charge.

That’s like being able to attend a workshop given by an expert authority three times a week and learn how to improve your business without paying a penny. You get actionable value, great tips and practical advice, and plenty of good stuff that helps you succeed.

Now, that’s great. We want you to learn, to better your business, to succeed. That’s our goal with each and every post we put up on this site. It’s the reason why we put in effort to write worthy posts that each take an hour or two to create. These aren’t your average 15-minute fire-offs, folks, no matter how fast Taylor and I can type. They’re the wisdom culled of years of experience, study, and labor.

And they’re all free.

No One to Blame But Ourselves

Blogging started as personal online journals. It was free because it was idle; it wasn’t supposed to be the sort of business expertise that many companies would shell out good money for in the form of a consultant.

But business blogs started to grow and then became essential, and all the while no one stopped to think, “Wait a minute. Why are we giving away this valuable knowledge?”

Well, stop to think now: Can you walk into your local garage and ask them to teach you mechanics for nothing? Can you go to a lawyer’s office and become his apprentice without paying a dime? Could you walk into any business in your town and say, “Hey, will you teach me what you know for free? So I can do it myself and not have to pay you to do it for me?”

Of course not.

Yet blogs do just that. And we can’t go back now.

Or can we?

We’d be considered renegades to ask for payment. Selfish, even. Wrong. How dare we? Readers would be offended and insulted, according to some. Some would simply go elsewhere – pay for quality content when the next blog hands it out for nothing?

It’s not just the readers that hold us back. We’d be uncomfortable with the thought of asking readers to pay, too. No one wants to upset their readers. There’s so much hype and push these days about giving first and never asking for anything back. In fact, it’s becoming the rule, the “must do”. Everyone wants to be seen as generous and selfless.

Who said we were supposed to do that? Who started this myth that information and knowledge should be free? Who said it was smart to give a one-hour free seminar, speech or workshop almost every single day? Not authors who sell books in stores. Not experts who sell consultation time. Not businesses who sell services.

We did it. We did this to ourselves. We created our own personal sweatshops. We’ve taught people that our knowledge is worth nothing. How can we expect to charge for it now?

We can’t.

Support Sweatshop Labor

I don’t think bloggers and writers realize the mixed messages they’re giving the world, and I don’t think bloggers realize what they’re doing to themselves. Case in point…

“1$ an article! I would never accept that pay rate! That’s preposterous. That reminds me – I have to go write my free blog post now or my readers will be mad.”

“Sweatshops should be banned. They’re horrible. They take advantage of people, and mistreat them without offering fair wages. I read about them over at this blog – you should go check it out. There’s a new free post that goes up every day.”

“Charge for premium content? For a blog post? Hell, no. I won’t pay if you do that. But I will soak up any free knowledge and education then apply it to my freelancing so I can make more money…”

Yeah. This is wrong, people. Really, really wrong.

People even imply and suggest (or at least the Twitter gang did) that bloggers should be ashamed of asking for money, for any kind of payment for that solid advice and knowledge. Bloggers should be ashamed of asking for money for the posts they write, the ones that take anywhere from 3 to 15 hours of work a week.

Yet, no one feels ashamed reading their favorite blogs every day. They feel no shame learning, benefiting and profiting off someone else’s unpaid labor – without ever having to dig out a penny.

People get upset over sweatshop workers slaving away – but they think nothing of being the sweatshop owner that profits every day from every blog. In fact, many people think that’s okay.

What do you think?

Another rockin' post from the Men With Pens! Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved


Are Bloggers Creating Their Own Sweatshop?

People always ask, “If there was one person you could have a conversation with, who would it be?” Well, there’s been someone I would’ve loved to sit down and talk to for a long time – nearly a decade, in fact.

This person caught my attention years ago with his creative words, his ability to reach out and touch people and his perseverance. (Oh, and he’s a fair hand with an acoustic guitar, too.)

His work and creative career stirred my curiosity. I could see the parallels and similarities between his life and my own – and that of writers, freelancers and bloggers everywhere.

So one day I decided enough is enough. Time to pursue that conversation.

And today, we have something very special for you here at Men with Pens – please enjoy my interview on creative careers with Québecois singer/songwriter Kevin Parent.

Wait, what?! Did you just say, “Who the hell is Kevin Parent?” Wow. Okay, time for an update:

Kevin Parent is one of those English-French blends (like myself) from a small town in the Gaspé region of Québec who chose to pursue a creative career in 1995. He’s been working hard at it ever since, with albums in both languages and nearly 20 years of experience under his belt.

(Oh, here’s my favorite album, Compilation, and here’s another fav of mine, Fangless Wolf Facing Winter – in English!)

His latest self-titled album has been in the top ten for weeks, and he’s been jetting around for television appearances and popping into radio stations all across the land.

It was an honor to speak with him – and now I’d like to share that conversation with you.

You see, celebrity-stardom aside, Kevin Parent is just a guy who lived through many of the same struggles you’ve had (or are having), from pursuing a creative career to building an audience to despairing you won’t make it to rejoicing you will to contemplating giving it all up.

Here’s what he had to say about it all when we sat down to talk. Enjoy.

James:Those of us who make a living as creative professionals often have a really hard time finding a balance between our base needs and our creative selves. For example, you’ve mentioned that you want to be paid for what you do, for the hours that go into your work and exposing yourself so much to your fans. Do you see your work as more art, more business – or something in between? And how do you balance those two desires, art and money?

Kevin Parent: I embrace the business side. I get it over with, because you know what? A lot people out there want to be real, true artists and pure and blah blah blah. But yet, they’ll apply for a grant from the Conseil des Arts, and that’s taxpayers’ money paying for that.

If you really, really want to invest time into creativity, you have to have money coming in from somewhere. You can’t live on thin air.

I may as well put it right up front. “Okay, here’s a show. It’s $30 a pop. Come and see me, sit down and I’ll sing for you all night long – but I have to pay my bread and butter, and I want my kid to go to school.” You get it out of the way, and then you can be yourself and let the creative juice flow.

I have no problem picking up a cheque. I don’t feel guilty that I’m selling my soul. Not at all. No.

Many artists don’t just feel guilty about the paycheck, they feel insecure about putting their work out there at all. What do you say to people who want to be creative but are holding themselves back?

I think it’s good to be insecure. It’s good to question yourself. Not in an egocentric way, but to put your own barrier pretty high up there to make sure of your quality of standard and that you’re freely being honest with yourself.

It’s a big mirror, criticism. It’s a very big mirror. It doesn’t embellish. You see your lines, that you’re tired, you see your grey hairs… Everything is amplified. But when you experience that, I think it’s a great window of opportunity for change and evolution. I think it’s wholesome.

My main concern are the more frustrated authors or singers or songwriters who have public power and who are critics. THOSE are the ones that I’m scared of, because THOSE people can really help you or hurt you.

I understand that they’re filters. Their job is to keep the crop healthy and send away the bad weeds. That’s good.

But I think that’s where we take it personally, when somebody really nails at our work publicly.

Sometimes you really want to grab the guy by the neck and say, “You fucker. Go get laid, come on. This is frustration, this is not called for.“

Does it ever get easier to be publicly tested in that way? You’ve been in the spotlight for over 15 years – does it get better?”

No, you don’t, and it’s good that you don’t get used to it. It’s like stage stress, before walking up on a TV show or a big opening act. It’s good not to get used to it because if you do, you start taking it for granted.

People respond to humans. They don’t respond to machines. They want something to be spontaneous, to be lively, to be spicy. If it’s expected, well what’s the point? “Here’s another singer or here’s another article…” Where’s the spice?

I think the spice comes from not taking it for granted and always wanting to be competitive towards yourself. Not competitive, but you know, to…

Always ask more of yourself.

Yeah! And it’s good. I think that’s what we’re there for.

Many people take advantage of that openness on another level, which is to say we’ve all had trouble with copyright law and keeping our work our own. How do you deal with copyright infringements and people stealing your work?

It’s funny. It’s a contradiction in that we want to use the vehicle to promote ourselves, but that same vehicle is used for piracy. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, you know? It’s complex, and at some point even incestuous.

Here’s a way to compare it. You kneel down on your knees, sow seeds in the ground, work for your crop to grow and then you harvest. Alright, you have a pound of carrots that you can sell for five bucks.

But for bloggers or singers or artists who have digital material, there’s no control. That’s very frustrating. I hope it’s just a phase, and I think we’re just in the “creux de la vague “.

We’re being very hypocritical about it. We want to seduce people, we want to be nice, we want people to like us. If we have that, we’ll have their respect. We try to be low key, we can’t burst out in anger… but we do have frustrations, and god knows our girlfriends and boyfriends and children suffer from that.

I think it’s even worse for bloggers or authors because readers aren’t attached to the person, they’re attached to his way of writing. It must be even more frustrating.

I don’t know what’s going to come out of it, but honestly, no bullshit, it makes me really think about going back to school and finding a real job. If I’m an electrician and work for three hours, then I get paid for my fucking three hours, you know?

You put a lot of yourself in your songs. They’re very intimate. Intimate stories, intimate lyrics, intimate scenarios. Is there a particular reason you do that?

No, that’s venting. That’s self-therapy more than anything else. It’s just a way of making a personal update. Not all my songs are that deep or introspective, but it’s important for me to do that. It’s about fan bases more than project per project, so people grow with you and they grow through you. And you grow through them. It’s generational. And you know, that’s good.

We writers tend to change over time and find our place in the world, our voice. Do feel the flavor of your music has changed over the years you’ve written songs?

I think I played it safe with my last album of eight years ago. I think my next album might have more anger in it, because anger can come from accumulation, from not being able to let it out.

In my personal life, I think I do express myself a bit better than I did. Before, when I hit emotions, I had to channel and catalyze. I had to sit down and say, “Okay, let me get this right. What word could I use to say this? How am I feeling right now?” And I would vent through writing.

Today, if something aggravates me or pisses me off, I voice it. I don’t have to write it. I don’t accumulate as much, and I think my work is affected by that. My certain zenness or happiness or fluidity in my day-to-day life influences my work for sure.

Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote a book called Eat, Pray Love, once gave a TED speech that suggested creative people are pretty emotionally twisted. Do you think that’s true?

Definitely. I do believe that, and I don’t know why we do that. If there’s a nice paved road, I might take the detour that has thorns and bumps in it just for the fun of seeing how I’m going to get out of here.

If I imagine someone said to me, “Kevin, thank you very much for your services. It’s been a pleasure working with you, but we no longer need you. Here’s your retirement cheque, go build your house, put in a pool, and stay with your girlfriend for the rest of your life,” then I would probably kill myself.

[laughs] You wouldn’t be very happy, eh?

I wouldn’t know how to do that! Stability and emotional stability is something that is unknown. It’s freaky! I need a week, a month, but… It really saddens me, profoundly saddens me, and I’m unhappy to think of that.

I have to keep things going. I have to look out for others. I have to get in there. I gotta get back in the game. I have to be active. I have to be helping somebody else or asking somebody to help me or getting something done.

I have done that – I’ve walked through street after street in a snowstorm, looking for somebody who needs a push!

And yet, you’ve mentioned often, in your songs, in your interviews, that you feel a strong pull to recharge your batteries. Why is this quiet time so important to you?

I get fed up of seeing the same faces. I think it’s good to change, to reconnect and adapt to whatever environment you fall into.

There’s this contradiction that’s really part of us. Just look at our environment: nighttime, no sun, the moon. Daytime, the sun, no moon.

I find that even in a living environment, it’s also good and healthy to both stabilize yourself and then just change. “Okay, this pillow is different. Okay, this bed is like that.”

People tend to be caught up in their own personal image and their persona, and they forget that the water they’re drinking, the food that’s on their table or the table itself comes from elsewhere. When I reconnect with that source, I have a better understanding and a better respect of things in general.

Creative people often have sudden bursts of inspiration, and they often happen at the worst moments – when you’re in the shower, when you’re in the car, in the middle of the night… when do they happen to you?

Right before I wake up in the morning. Oh yeah, right before you open your eyes and your conscious kicks in, that cusp right there. It’s like, “Oooh, I have a symphony in my head and my god are my phrases fluid and connected and I’m so in awe with nature and life and the universe… Oh. Okay, I think I’m sleeping. I don’t think I have the energy to write it down.” It goes so fast, you can’t grasp it!

And when you do get up, then you think. Then your analytic brain kicks in, and you have so many distractions that you just lose that purity.

I think that when we’re writing, we’re trying to emulate that, trying to synthesize the purity we know we don’t have. But we know it does exist. And it’s kind of tough to… You know, if I could ….

Just grasp that moment, eh?

Yeah! Just once in a while…

I find I have those moments as well, and if you’re not right there with the pen or the keyboard, then you’ve lost it. And it feels like you’ve lost it forever.

I know!

And it’s kind of sad.

Yeah, but that’s our ego. That’s because we want to say, “Oh, I got it!! Heeyyy, I got it!”

To compare, think as if there’s a few canoes in the river, and the question is, who’s going to catch that salmon? Who’s gonna pull it… “Heeeyy, I got one! Heeeyyy, look at m-… Ahhh I lost it, ahhhh…”

A lot of people fish. Not everybody’s lucky, but the fish are there, and the fish will always be there. They always were there. It’s just a question of luck and of sharing, to each our turn. It all evens out at the end.

You know, some people are really lucky at catching those fish… but they have such twisted lives that it’s like, “Oh, keep it.”

You recently wrote in a medium that’s probably more familiar to our readers: an article about your home in Miguasha that was published in National Geographic Traveler as one of the world’s 50 destinations of a lifetime. That’s pretty impressive!

Well, my agent called me up and asked if I wanted to do that, and I said yes… but I didn’t really know what it was. So I didn’t have the pressure.

If I would’ve realized what we were talking about, I would’ve probably asked for help from others in trying to be clever and sly… But I didn’t, so I’m glad for that. It came from my heart.

My pride was that not many people from my hometown read it, but the people who did felt that it was a great token of appreciation for the region and that it can even help for economical reasons, for tourism.

For environmental purposes, it can be a tool, too, an added, “Okay guys. Don’t forget this nuclear uranium waste dump that you fuckers want to put in Bathhurst, New Brunswick on the Baie des Chaleurs, which is protected by UNESCO.”

You use your work to speak out on things that you feel are unjust, don’t you?

I try! You know, what’s the goal? To be alive, to be out there, to be in contact with people… I don’t write songs just for the purpose of packing time or to furnish empty spaces. I don’t write music for that. I want to write songs that mean something and at least have voice and opinion.

Just art for the beauty? That’s not for me.

How different was it for you to write that article versus writing a song?

I think it was pretty much the same. On my last album, there’s a song called Mon Pays, which is a song of hope I wrote to translate a portrait of how I see through my eyes, how I see my home town. It was good for me to reflect on family and my past, but it was more nostalgic for me to write that article than it was for me to write this song.

Plus, I was writing for people that I don’t think knew who I was, so there was a certain freedom in that. They had no concept of the person writing.

Is it nice to have that pressure off-…

It’s beautiful!

Writers and artists and bloggers often have times when they have to talk to themselves and say, “Don’t give up.” Can you tell me about one of those moments, for you?

Actually, it’s every morning when I wake up. I say thank you, every time… (sigh)…

That’s a tough one, isn’t it?

It is, but… I don’t really know what keeps me going. When I think of my family, that helps a lot. But if not…

You know, writing a song is like paying bills. You get fed up of seeing the bills and the invoices come in and once it’s paid, you feel good about it. You feel… better after. You feel accomplished. The desire of feeling accomplished is what stimulates me to stay alive.

Bloggers and writers have some rigid schedules they have to follow. On our blog, for example, we write three times a week, regularly, religiously. Do you ever burn out?

Yeah, you know what? I’d rather keep it spontaneous. For me, it’s like sex. Same thing. If I have to have it at certain hours in a certain part of the routine, forget about it. I’d rather not do it often, and when I do it, I mean it!

Many of our writers and readers feel it’s a struggle to convince their family that a creative career is a good choice. How supportive of your career choice have your friends and family been… especially during the tough times?

Mm. That’s a good question. I quit school because I wanted to write songs. But I had writing grants that helped me. They’re tough to get, but when you can get one or two, you get a bit of recognition from your friends and family who say, “Oh! Well, that’s good…! You got a grant?”

But you’re still on your own until you make something sustainable that’s worthwhile.

Did anybody ever suggest you give up your dream?

Oh, totally. In the beginning, I remember… [laughs] This guy, this guitar player… I wanted to ask him to gig with me. I didn’t even have time to open my mouth! He said, “Kevin, forget about it. Get a real job.” I could see the frustration and the lines on his face and the deception and all of the downsides.

But I think that when you’re true to yourself and you don’t bullshit yourself, fuck ‘em. You gotta do what you gotta to do. It’s like swimming across the lake. If you stop swimming, you’re gonna drown.

But you know… I honestly think sometimes of returning to school and getting a real job.

What job would you take up?

I don’t know. Probably something that gives me the same quality of life, the same balance – even pruning trees. I’d like to do something where I can stay in contact with the public, but have someone say, “Okay, 50 hours? Here’s your cheque.” I’d love that. But… that’s not the way it works.

At the end of the day, I think that there’s a certain beauty and reward of being able to take the pen and put down how you feel, to feel alive through lines. There are people out there who are happy to read you or get pissed off or have a reaction. We exist through writing, and that’s part of the reward.

On my deathbed, maybe I’m going to be glad that at least I gave it a shot. At least I cared. At least life meant something to me and I expressed it.

Because what you write down will live on, and there’s a beauty in sharing and of making part of history, even if it’s a little drop in the ocean. We’re making history when we write. It’s archives, it’s passing it on to another generation.

So it’s worth it to you.

It is. I think so. I do think so. But like I say, “Je peux pas parler pour les autres.” I can only speak for myself.

I just have one more question for you before you go… What’s the one question you’ve always been wanted to be asked?

That’s a tough one…

I really feel that a lot of people just don’t listen. For me, it’s not a particular question. If a question is linked to the present moment and there’s follow-up and interest on the follow-up, I think there are no wrong questions. They’re all good.

But I think there’s a lot of space-filling in what we do – at least, in what I do. And that saddens me a bit too. I feel that sometimes there’s this great, great opportunity to go deeper into certain subjects and to get to know somebody at a deeper level that would be even more comforting for a lot of people.

So whatever little snippets that I can pick up, or if I can find a little window that I can fit in, or reach out and create bonds with other people, I cherish those moments.

Thanks for the conversation, Kevin. Here’s to picking it up again soon.

Special thanks go to Éliane Lévesque of Tandem for her patience and assistance!

Another rockin' post from the Men With Pens! Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved


Which Person Would You Talk To?

It’s a lot better than sounding too soft, too unsure, too pleading. Begging people to like you and hopefully hire you will get you nowhere. Telling them you’re a good idea for what they want to achieve is the way to go.

However, all too often this confidence turns to cockiness. From there, it moves into plain jerkiness. We’ve had some pretty great clients, and they were amazing, wonderful, inspiring people – but their copy gave their target market the impression that they were… well, kind of a dick.

This happened because the clients crossed a line. Instead of building themselves up, they started tearing their clients down. They tried to make themselves seem good by comparing their awesomeness to the mediocrity of their clients.

The idea is if the service provider is great, and you’re measly, then of course you want to hire the great person to fix you, right?

Ehhhh. That’s true if the service provider is great. But it’s never true if the service provider comes off as a jerk.

So how do you know if there’s too much tough love in your copy?

Drawing a Line Right Off the Bat

First of all, never insult anyone that you want to hire you. This means no name-calling. Yes, even in jest. No telling them that they’re wusses, or cowards, or anything of the kind, even if it’s supposed to fire them up.

It may very well fire them up, but it will fire them right up to wanting to take you on, destroy you and all you love, not to start sending you money via PayPal.

Not insulting anyone also includes any times you sort of vaguely insulted them by insulting all people who do a certain thing. “Hey, look, you could not hire me. But the people who don’t hire me are stupid morons with no brains. You don’t want to be one of those people, do you?”

No. Don’t do that. Only a few select people can pull off name-calling. You’re not one of those people. Name-calling is out.

What else is out?

Pretending You’re More Important Than They Are

This is a tricky one. On the one hand, you want your potential clients to think you’re savvy and cool, totally worth hiring, because that’s what you’re trying to accomplish with your website copy. On the other hand, you don’t want to come off as an utter ass.

Here’s what doesn’t work:

“If you want to stop wasting your life and being a wuss letting people walk all over you, you need help. You’re not going to make it on your own and you need someone to help you do it. Of course, if you’re happy where you are being a loser, that’s your choice. I’m not going to try to convince you. My time is valuable.”

See how that went right over the line? That’s bad. Don’t do that.

You can tell them what people you’re interested in working with, and what people probably aren’t ready to work with you. You could write something like this:

“If you’re ready to kick butt, give me a call. If you’re still not sure, I’ll be honest – I’m probably not going to be able to help you yet, because this takes confidence on both sides. Go read my blog for a few hours and get psyched up. Then come back.”

That’s a crappy example, but you get the point. Right?

Being Confident and Powerful Without Being a Jerk

Now, there’s a reason that a certain level of “I just don’t care” works well sometimes. It demonstrates self-confidence. It’s not begging for clients. It gives a message like, “Look, I don’t need to do what I do for a living. I’m just trying to help you out.”

That’s a good message, even if you do really need to do whatever you do for a living. Acting like you don’t need work is one of the surest ways to get it.

You could be funny. You could make your potential clients laugh. You can make them see the foolishness of their ways without calling them idiots.

The whole idea behind a slightly aggressive route is convincing people that you’re powerful, which is all well and good, but you also need to put some of that confidence into the people reading your copy. Otherwise, you’ll just make people think twice about contacting you, because you might laugh or condescend their measly lives and then take their money.

Your potential clients need to think you’re confident, so they believe you know what you’re doing. You also need to make them think they know what they’re doing, which is making the good decision to hire you.

How about your copy? Can you make it more authoritative? Or does it need to be toned down a notch?

Another rockin' post from the Men With Pens! Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved


Are You Too Tough With Your Website Copy?