Ghostwriting, Content Creation and Write-for-Hire Work.

The current economic climate is like the proverbial "weather" -- everybody complains about it but nobody does anything to change it. Mind you, I'm not talking about governmental influence (and wads of cash and credit being flung at too-big-to-fail businesses). I'm addressing those of us who are doing business or looking for work.

My own work with promoting local businesses here in Scranton, PA has suffered from a nearly complete lack of faith on the part of business owners. They just don't think they're ready to grab a bigger market share with proven marketing techniques that "cost money".

Never mind that their ad spend isn't giving them proven (or even measurable) results, in most cases. They want to stick with what they know, rather than experiment with something that fear tells them is just confusing. "The confused mind says NO!"

I know from comments and feedback from my colleagues that many areas and locales are not burdened by this narrow view of things. In fact, some local and regional markets are eagerly implementing Direct Response Internet Marketing methods to increase their market share now, before the economy recovers.

Since that's true, I've returned to my roots, offering write-for-hire services. Rather than limit myself to working solely through the Warrior Forum for Internet Marketers, I've chosen oDesk as my platform for freelance work.

I'm actually looking forward to sharpening my skills in Social Media Marketing, SEO and SEM. Perhaps I'll stumble across a like-minded content buyer who actually needs my full array of local business promotion tools. Until that happens (or the economy warms up), I'll be doing what I do best -- creating written content that works hard in the search engines.

The Hannah Montana Fans Blog

I found this interesting blog at MyBlogLog: Hannah Montana, and felt it deserved some attention. While I am not an avid television watcher, Hannah Montana is a name that I recognize. Obviously, there's more to this than simple name recognition.
     I'm very curious to see if this particular link will affect my ratings at Technorati, since links determine authority, and I DESPISE authority, other than my own and those I respect.
     I'll pop over to my Squidoo lens and add the link there, along with my WordPress mirror. [Vince dons a lab coat and takes up a clipboard] Let the experiment begin!

Where's the beef?

The late Sarah Peller, (in)famous for the line in the title, nailed it. When you want something of substance, you ask for it.

I just posted a blog entry over at eBay - you'll probably see it in my eBay blog links on the left. In it, I was asking for feedback (but avoid using that word in eBay blogs - you get a lot of comments about EBAY feedback, which is a touchy subject to many) on two listings I am testing through Sunday.

The silence was deafening. IMNSHO, most bloggers over there are social animals, beggars for bids or compleat lunatics. The notion that I would ask a marketing question to a bunch of marketers and buyers and get NOTHING is telling.

Perhaps postcards2go will notice and respond to that and this.

[Sigh]

1. What is Squidoo? 2. What is a lens? 3. What is the meaning of life?

1. Squidoo is a social networking site. If you're familiar with MySpace, imagine it without the rowdy teenagers running amok. It's a focal point for your interests, pursuits, charitable work, pet peeves or whatever else you imagine. Each member can have as many focal points as one wishes, called lenses.

2. A lens is a focus on a given area - expertise, opinions, business, charity, etc. You can have as many lenses as you want (and have time to maintain). The lens itself is a jumping off place to websites, blogs, physical destinations, communities and so on. Here's an example: suppose you search on Google for information on a given subject. You get 2,000,000 possible links - but which ones are best? A Squidoo lens is pre-screened info on what you may be looking for. If it ain't there, maybe YOU need to fashion a lens and become the "inpert" (like an expert, but in one focus) on the subject.

3. Depends. Here are two contenders:
a. If it's a first offense, with good behavior, you're out in 10 years.
b. "The purpose of intelligent life is to shop!"