Advertising Age ran a piece this week called Newspaper Death Watch. I find it quite ironic that it appeared in the print version, but the content of this article amuses me even more. It’s true that the industry is getting its collective ass kicked by internet news, RSS, mobile phone content and other factors–ad revenues are down across the board and the revenues companies find online aren’t as satisfying as the rates for a print ad in WSJ at its peak.
A look beyond the headline of this Ad Age piece reveals a practice I have loathed from the beginning of my days as a writer–the desperately sensational headline which is directly contradicted by the content of the article. For starters, the Ad Age piece quotes Jeffrey Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California at Annenberg, who predicts the industry has twenty years left in it. Hardly a rallying call to throw in the towel. While there’s a major market correction going on in the print world, it is by no means time to call in the newsprint version of Doctor Kervorkian just yet. Continue reading Advertising Age on the Death of Newspapers→
The economy is scarier than ever, and it is very easy for an underpaid (and unsuspecting) freelancer to fall prey to predatory lending and credit practices. Case in point–when I signed up for an Amazon.com credit card earlier this year, I thought I was doing myself a favor. I use Amazon in a number of ways and when the credit card offer popped up, I filled out the form on a whim. “Cut out the middleman!” I thought…
OK, so these are MY top five editor complaints. As in, when I have to edit the work of my fellow freelancers–these are my top gripes. I’ve gotten some decent money revising the work of other writers when my poor harried editors simply don’t have the time to do it themselves. Trust me, when the time comes for YOU to sit in my place and do a bit of freelance editing (or when you take a job as an editor yourself) you will find your own list of major pet peeves. At least ONE of my list will end up on yours, I have no doubt:
I’ve been testing the waters in a variety of unscientific ways to satisfy my curiosity about the freelance game in our current economic mess. Is freelance writing a viable career choice in the midst of all the talk of recession, foreclosures, layoffs and other woes?
For me, the answer is still yes. I am actually seeing growth in freelance opportunities in the right sectors, but it takes a lot of looking to find those gigs. There are startups investing money in new ventures even as I write this, and these companies are looking for YOU. They don’t have unlimited funds, but I can tell you from experience and some insider knowledge of current investment behavior that there will be many more writing gigs to come–but there are a few caveats. Want to peer into my crystal ball and see what I see for the future?
Why, yes, I am about to go on a screed here. Why does every writing site in the world (especially the crap ones) put stuff about writer’s block in a prominent place on their pages? It’s starting to annoy me no end. Maybe I haven’t had enough caffeine yet, but looking over some sites on today’s morning hunt for new and interesting things to write about. I see a massive collection of articles about writer’s block, every site I visit. You’d think it was an airborne disease.
Do people really worry about this stuff? Me, I worry more about whether the checks are coming in on time and how much is going to be held over til next month. I’m more worried about avoiding carpal tunnel syndrome. Where are all the articles on THAT? It’s far more of a REAL ISSUE than frickin’ so-called writer’s block. But it’s just too easy for people to write about, and so every wanna-be writing site in the entire world is crammed full of info on the dreaded WB. Nothing about that godawful recurring pain in your hands and wrists that makes it nearly impossible to use a keyboard without pain though.
Most of our non-Chicago readers might think we’re blowing things a bit out of proportion, but there’s a sales tax controversey here in Chi-town over leglislation that would make sales tax in Cook County (where Freelance-Zone.com is based) one of the highest in the U.S. if not the world.
I’ve long been a proponent of buying online, especially if you are buying from a big-box retailer. I do spend my local dollars on small mom-and-pop outfits whenever possible but it’s not a political act for me so I don’t beat myself up if I buy a Starbucks latte when the local hangouts are full. That’s just silly, and besides–competition is a good thing. It’s just too bad the Bucks is quite inferior to my local–and often full–favorites.
