websites
Would you work for free?
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 | Technical writing, consumer culture, content, websites, writing | No Comments
I recently corresponded with Company X regarding a job writing game reviews.
Game reviews are not my normal venue, but what the heck; I like gaming, I like writing and it seemed like a fun way to make some extra cash occasionally (plus, a cool addition to my portfolio).
So I sent an email in with my details and some questions and received the standard response asking for a sample review. It was this part of the response that concerned me:
“Submitted articles become the property of Company X.com, Inc. and may at some time be published in its submitted form or altered by Company X.com, Inc and subsequently published at some later date.”
The “submitted articles” are actually the writing samples they require to make a hiring decision. In other words, you send them a sample review written to specification based on an actual game and they get to keep it, alter it, and use it whether they hire you or not. Bonus for them, they don’t have to give the writer credit or pay them.
I emailed to confirm this interpretation and got the following reply:
“That is correct”
That was the entire reply – no lead-in or sign-off.
I replied that most places requiring samples asked for mock-samples but in the cases where proper samples were required that there was usually something in place to ensure the sample would never be used without full permission of and recognition to the author.
This was the reply I received:
“Thanks for your comments, however, that is our policy. The choice is in the hands of potential freelance candidates whether to submit their sample or not.”
Admittedly, he’s got a point. Anyone reading that ‘policy’ can always make the choice to not work for free. They can choose to write for a company that does not use ill-gotten content.
I was still a little appalled at how much they devalue writers – as though writing isn’t an actual occupation or, for some of us, the only thing we want to do for a living. If you write for a company, you should get paid a fair and decent wage for it – not find it published in an altered form where you get no credit.
Writing for free doesn’t pay the bills – so always read the fine print and ask questions!
Why “Me Too” Blogging Can Be Useful
Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 | blogging, content, education, websites, writing | 2 Comments
I checked in with Twitter this morning to see what was new and noticed Justin Whitaker’s Tweet saying that he’d received his first nasty comment on his blog.
That made me curious so I went to his blog and found a post about “me too” blogging.
Justin is of the opinion that blogging is “incestuous” and that most bloggers “treat other blogs [as] grist for their own mill, as mere sounding boards for their own work”.
I agree that much of the content on blogs seems repetitive – and often these repetitive posts offer no new insights or information whatsoever. I’m not sure anyone could argue that all blog content is fresh and original.
However, I agree with Michael Durwin’s comment on Justin’s post that “me too” blogging does serve a purpose. “Me Too” blogging provides more access to content that is useful and relevant to people who might not see it otherwise:
I too often forget that most people in the world aren’t as tech savvy as those I talk to everyday. I talked to a recruiter the other day who wasn’t on Facebook because: “isn’t that site just for college kids?”. So before you accuse bloggers of writing “me too” posts to drive traffic, or to just regurgitate what other have already said, consider that not everyone has read all of those other blogs that you have. I live in Boston, arguably one of the most high tech cities in the US, home to countless colleges. I have 3 family members in college. I regularly speak at my alma mater. You’d be SHOCKED to know how few use Flickr, Facebook, or even know how to use Google.
It would be great if everyone could write new and fascinating content, but can’t blogging be a sort of conversation? You write something and I say, “I agree with that (me too!) and here’s my version and why I agree.” Does it matter that I’m “playing the blogging game” without bringing an “original voice to advance the discussion”?
I don’t think so.
If I were talking to someone in real life over coffee and I agreed with something they said and wanted to pass it along, would it be OK for them to say: “You’re not adding value to this discussion – you should stop talking.”
Again, I don’t think so.
A blog post has value if someone reads it and gets something out of it – who cares if 400 other people wrote about the same thing and hold the same opinion. The point is that the reader saw it and it was useful. It doesn’t matter if the other 399 blogs have the same information because the reader didn’t go there (and now doesn’t need to).
Justin suggests making a “concerted effort to kill “Me Too” blogging” in 2009 – I think our efforts would be better spent on making those “Me Too” posts well-written so that wherever a reader’s travels through the blogosphere lead – they lead to intelligent writing.
As a point of interest, Google “me too blogging” – there are lots of posts about this (including Justin’s), but since Justin’s post was the first one I came across, I stopped there.
How is boot shopping like your website?
Monday, December 29th, 2008 | consumer culture, design, websites | No Comments
Vancouver is melting. We got an incredible amount of snow over the holidays and now there are deep pools of water pretty much everywhere – and I haven’t got a pair of rain boots.
So, I went out to various shoe stores and found that they come in two distinct varieties: great and terrible.
Scene:
I walk in and am immediately crowded by aisles so narrow they only allow for one person to be in the aisle at any given time. There is a mish-mash of shoes directly inside the door to my right, both men’s and women’s and I have no idea where to begin looking for rain boots.
There are four employees; a surly looking woman behind the cash register ringing up a purchase and three young ladies standing at the end of the counter talking. When I finally get to that area I hear them discussing plans for New Year’s Eve and the various states of inebriation they were in a few days ago at some house party.
Fascinating and work appropriate.
I turn back towards the left hand wall and wonder if I passed the rain boots altogether. Perhaps the only pair they have are the ones in the window? I pass three people, two men and one woman, each holding a single shoe or boot looking frustrated and lost.
I see a lone rain boot on the shelf – too bad it’s covered in the words “Juicy Couture”. I put it back on the shelf.
On my way out, I nearly topple a display of stacked shoe and boot boxes. The display is covered with various bits of footwear that probably belong on the display wall, but were dumped on the boxes by other people who left the store.
I look back as I leave and one of the young ladies at the front makes eye contact, shrugs and turns back to her conversation.
Pretty terrible, but not unusual.
Another store, another scene:
I walk into the store see a cheerful sign that tells me all the boots in the store are on sale. If I buy a pair, I get a second pair half off. To my right are leather wingtip shoes and on the left are some very nice looking high heels. I turn to the left side of the store. Clearly the women’s footwear section is here.
I walk in a few steps, when I’m approached by a friendly looking young woman. “Hi!” she says. “Just to let you know, we’re having a buy one, get one half off sale on all boots in the store. My name is Sarah and if you’d like to try anything or have questions, let me know.” I thank her, she smiles and goes off to help someone else.
There is a woman behind the cash register patiently explaining the store’s exchange and return policy to a rather harried looking man. The man’s young son is driving a small car across the front of the counter while making traffic noises.
I pick up a black rain boot and notice another sign that says “Our boot sale includes rain boots too!” Sweet.
After considering the boot for a few minutes – simple, black and decent price – Sarah approaches. “Would you like to try that one on?” I give her my shoe size and she brings back not only the size I think I need, but a half size above and below that just in case.
The half size smaller fits perfectly. She tidies away the other two boxes of boots and says “If you take those, you’ll want to store them on a tray in the open after wearing them. If you put them in a closed closet right after wearing them, they get a little smelly. Rainboots don’t breathe very well, and your closet will smell like feet.”
I laugh and thank her for the tip and then go to the front and pay for my new boots.
I think you can guess where I’m going with this.
How your site looks and the content it houses matters a great deal. It’s not enough to say “I have a web presence now and my site has the top Google ranking.” If your site is the equivalent of a pile of shoes in a closet labelled “shoe store” – it won’t matter how well ranked you are – no one will go to your site more than once.
Simple and clean design with a well organized layout and content that makes sense is the best way to keep people coming back.
Also, waiting around for inattentive store staff gives me far too much time to think about shoe store/writing analogies.
Now if you’ll excuse me – I’m taking my new boots out to jump in a few puddles!