The content-writing mistake: Don't tell people to look for their baby strollers in the mall

Web site owners tick me off with their often lousy pay rates. But, guess what? We content writers often tick off site owners, too, with our lousy work.

Don't believe me? Check out this blog post on It's Write Now by Emma Nelson, an owner of several niche Web sites and a person I often write stories for. Emma writes about some of the big sins writers make when composing niche articles. Some are fairly obvious such as repeating keywords over and over in a 300-word story.

Some are more humorous. Emma describes writers explaining what candles or Teddy bears are. Yes, we all know what these things are. But some writers are compelled to tell readers in great detail that a candle can provide light, but only when lit. (That, of course, can lead to a 100-word paragraph on what a match is.)

But one of Emma's last points resonated the most with me because I've been guilty of it. She complains about writers who fill their stories with paragraphs telling readers that they can find Teddy bears, candles, MP3 players, iPods or whatevers at their local mall or department store.

Thing is, the owners of niche sites don't want their readers to buy these things at a store. They want them to buy them at the links they provide on their sites.

So remember, folks, as much as we complain about lowball offers and unrealistic deadlines, the people we write for are complaining just as much about lousy writing, missed deadlines and idiot writers -- myself included -- who tell people to buy their crap at the mall.

Don't be afraid to contact publishers for work

To succeed as a freelance writer, you have to market yourself like crazy. It's unfortunate, then, that many writers tend to be shy folks.

They don't like bugging people. And that can be a problem when you're trying to dig up freelance-writing jobs.

The key to nabbing new jobs is to be aggressive. Sometimes you have to chase down editors and publishers to get new assignments. This is especially true in the world of content writing. The publishers who work in this field often work with dozens of writers. It's easy for them to forget about you, even if you turned in good work and met your deadlines.

So make sure they don't forget you. Don't wait for these publishers to contact you with assignments. Reach out to them: Send them an e-mail today asking if they have any work for you.

They might actually have a few assignments for you to tackle. Maybe they don't have work now, but they will next week or next month. If that's the case, you've just increased your chances of getting that extra work.

So put aside your natural tendencies and be a bother. It just might help you pay the bills this month.