carefully, and appear where your clients might see your byline. Q:What about writing for content mills, as a way to get first clips? A: I don’trecommend it, even for those struggling to land entry-level writing jobs. Therequirements of mill work are very different from what you’ll be asked to do inwell-paid client work, so it doesn’t serve as a very effective training ground.Often, you don’t end up with clips you can use — they’re ghostwritten for anend client who isn’t identified. Also, mills can be capricious about who theyban or give crummy ‘ratings’ to. You’re basically not in control of yourcareer. Meanwhile,
you could earn a living writing very fast on there…and the answeris no, you Chinese Thailand Phone Number List usually can’t. But writers get stuck writing for tiny pay in mills,for years on end. Mill work is also fading away, as there’s less call forshort, dashed-off, SEO-keyword-stuffed content, because Google doesn’t likethat anymore. So it’s increasingly a dead-end street. By contrast, doing probono work for small publications or small businesses for your first
samples gives you clips that impress, and keeps clarity that youcan’t earn this way and will need to move up. It also gives you real-worldexperience writing for the exact types of clients you want. Q: What about usingposts from my own blog as samples? A: It’s better than nothing, but not ideal.Clients know you didn’t have to please an editor or marketing manager and couldpublish whatever you wanted, so it doesn’t exactly impress. But if you writekick-ass headlines and get a lot of comments and shares on your blog posts, itcould help you lure those first clients. Q: Does it matter if the sample I dois for a relative or friend? A: Not really.
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