October 23, 2007 22:31
Category: Writing
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Brian Clark's excellent 22-page report sets me thinking. Is free content really an unsound business model? Brian's eloquent narration almost convinces you that this is so.
I though feel even if you're to sell your knowledge, you still need to convince buyers about your ability. And a part of your convincing effort will be none else than free web content.
Coming to think of it, while in our profession we rarely believe in offering free lunch, we however do write lots of free content in our websites and elsewhere. There is a dichotomy here. We know that, yet we do. Pray why?
One reason is perhaps that free content helps us, the writers, to maintain an online identity. How nice it would have been if you didn't write often yet people knew you as a good writer! That unfortunately is not to be. You have to write to simply remain in the reckoning.
If content is what decides the fate of a website, you've to blame Google for it. When you add content and more of it to your website on a regular basis, it stands to gain from better exposure that the search giant may accord to it. How does that happen?
It's just that Google sees your website as a busy junction where there are frequent arrivals of contents to take the place of those that came earlier. Perhaps there is some logic in Google's algorithm that if a site has an unending stream of fresh content, it must be an ideal location for more visitors to find meaningful information.
Taking this reasoning as a gospel truth there has been a rush of article directories that store free web content by hundreds everyday culled from contributions by writers who like backlinks from their articles. But how successful are they?
My hunch is except for some early birds like Ezinearticles, not many johnny-come-lately article directories have made much of a cut in achieving top search rank. In sharp contrast, many blogs are proving to be lot more successful in getting higher visibility both in search results and visitor interest.
Blogs attract more visitors because (a) it offers viewers to exchange ideas through writing comments, and (b) the feeds are broadcast via blog search engines as soon as the posts are made. The second one is a major contributing factor for blogs' popularity.
But then not all blogs are popular. And the reason perhaps is that not all blogs offer 'value' to readers as perceived by them. What however is more important for a blog's popularity is sustained networking, both online and offline.
Herein lies the utility of free web content. Writing a piece in your own website is okay. When you offer the same content in various blog sites you start gaining by way of networking.
My favorite blog sites where I like to post my free content are Performancing, HubPages, Associated Content, InstaBlogs, and American Chronicle to name a few. Each of these is a destination worth considering.
Finally, to come to the title of this topic, here is a nice observation by Amrit Hallan (excerpted from his article):
Making money off free content doesn't always have to be about making money off advertising. You can make use of free content to generate lots of traffic for your business and to build your brand around your profession; even if you decide to sell information products from your website you need to generate lots of traffic first.
Okay, before I let you go, take a look at Ahmed Bilal's 10 simple rules for online success. What do you think Ahmed does for his success? Well, for the most part I guess it is by writing what else but free web contents. How about you?
