Thoughts on Real Estate Marketing…

Writers write. That’s what we love to do, and we love to earn our living doing it, as well.

So, even though the pay they offered was way low, my curiosity got the better of me and I followed the link from an email asking “Can we pay you to write something for us?”

When I saw the long landing page explaining how even a non-writer can make a bundle writing articles, posting blogs, and writing short stories, I knew there was a great big catch somewhere. I scanned the page, but didn’t find it so clicked the “register” button to learn more.

A-ha! There it was. For only $2.95 I could sign up for 30 days and have dozens of wonderful jobs coming my way. And then… I could pay a mere $75 per month to continue. I’m not going to sign up to find out, but my bet is that when these writers haven’t earned anything by the end of the first 30 days there will be some kind of letter telling them their account had to be seasoned first, or so far no jobs matched their interests and they should hold on. There’ll be some kind of hook to keep them, I’m sure.

Or, worse, their credit cards will be charged and they’ll play hell getting the charges reversed.

I know, there are probably legitimate job matching services somewhere, but the idea of paying to get a job bothers me.

Years ago I did pay a nominal fee to belong to Guru.com – but there was a difference. First, they had a strong reputation, so I wasn’t taking a chance on a fly-by-night.  Second, I could see ahead of time the variety of jobs that were posted there. It wasn’t a shot in the dark – a hope that something they had to offer might fit my expertise. And of course, Guru’s annual fee was less than this company’s monthly fee.

I don’t know why the idea of paying for a job bothers me so much – when we have all these political candidates paying many times more in campaign expenses than the annual salaries they hope to get.

But, the corruption in politics is not my subject. Helping my readers earn more and keep away from scams is.

If you’re a writer just starting out, do check out Guru.com. There’s a free option that will let you test the waters.  Then check Craig’s list for writing jobs and gigs – and even your local classifieds. Elance is another freelance site – I’ve never been there, but hear about it a lot.

One caution, however: Please don’t take any of those jobs that offer $5 (or less) to write a 500 word article. Set your standards high enough to earn (way) more than minimum wage. If you don’t, your own opinion of yourself, your writing abilities, and your worth will sink so low that you’ll never earn a decent living.

Keep learning all you can about self-marketing, by reading this blog, my marketing ezines, and others like them. Join writing forums and take advantage of other writer’s comments and advice.

You can sign up for my marketing ezine by visiting my copywriting site and entering your name in the little sign-up box. You can find more by doing a search for copywriting blogs and ezines.

Then, instead of spending your money trying to buy a job, spend it on some good books. One of my favorites is Start & Run a Copywriting Business by Steve Slaunwhite.

Yours for prosperity,

Marte