When Your Payday Arrives
I have been blogging for just over five years now and have written close to 9,000 articles over that time. Yes, that is a lot of writing, but many of those articles were of typical blog length, which means that they averaged about 400 words in length.
When I write off of the top of my head, these kinds of articles can be completed in about 15 minutes, sometimes less. Then again, if I want to make sure that my grammar, sentence structure and even my topic makes sense then it would benefit me (and you) if I spent some extra time crafting an interesting if not compelling piece.
Six Blogs
At this moment I maintain six blogs which means that I supply the majority of articles for each. Three are updated daily, Monday through Friday, while the remaining three are updated here and there. I write for pay on two of the blogs and make some income, not much, on the remaining four.
I maintain four blogs because they involve topics I am very familiar with and passionate about. If I had no interest in these genres–automotive, writing, and Christian/inspirational—it would not be possible to maintain such a pace. Yes, I derive income from other sources, but that is not what I plan on sharing with you today.
Instead, I want to mention a bit of encouraging news for those of you who blog but do not see many results, at least recognition from beyond your peers. Peer recognition is important—I am sustained by people who know me more than those who pass by, but it is rewarding when something you wrote gets attention far beyond your normal circle of influencers.
Toyota Recall
Yesterday, I wrote an article about Toyota’s recent misfortune and published that article to my flagship The Auto Writer blog. The topic is tops in the news, but I also wanted to include a “can’t miss” headline, therefore I titled the article, “While Toyota Flounders, GM Delivers A Fresh Kick.”
No, I am not going to rehash what I wrote (please visit the article and take note of the doctored picture), but I will share with you that it got more than the usual retweets and it was picked up by TheStreet.com where it was included with three other articles about Toyota’s massive recall and gas pedal problem.
The Street is Jim “Mad Money” Cramer’s site and, although I did not get a page one listing, an excerpt of my article and a link back to it is included.
Extra Work
So what helped this article get noticed? Several things, but the headline and picture certainly helped. I also spent about 2 ½ hours researching and writing the article which, although not particularly long, gets to the point in a morbidly humorous fashion.
Humor, by the way, seems to always play out well if handled properly. I am not fond of mocking people or putting others down, instead there is a way to take a tough or peculiar situation and turn it around. I like to believe that I succeeded on all points, thus the beneficial pick up by a top notch site.
Your Payday
I have had other articles get noticed, including several which also brought me work or opened me to other opportunities. But getting noticed by a highly visible website is also very rewarding, something you can achieve too by working hard for your own special payday.
Tags: Jim Cramer, Mad Money, payday, research, TheStreet.com, Toyota
SEO, Writing | Matthew C. Keegan, 29 Jan 10
By LD Jackson, January 29, 2010 @ 6:30 am
Wow, Matt. I knew you had been online for several years and had more than one blog, but not six of them. You must really stay busy.
I had an article that was picked up once by FOX News as being related to one of their news articles. I did not link to them or use their story as a basis for my own article, but I noticed I was getting a lot of hits with FOX as the referrer site. I went to check it out and found my article listed at the bottom. I received a lot of visits from that and never did figure out how they found my article. If I knew how it happened, I would surely do it again.
LD Jackson´s last blog ..Scott Brown and the conservatives
By Matthew C. Keegan, January 29, 2010 @ 6:49 am
Larry, I am busy. All of the time. But I am able to manage what I do by staying focused.
That is good you got picked up by Fox News. Sometimes an article shoots up to the top of the SERPs for certain key words, which means that your article must have been in the mix that day. Obviously what you wrote struck a responsive chord, which led to your article being linked.
Finding that ‘sweet spot’ isn’t always easy, but when the time comes the benefits can be wonderful. I think your blog is definitely on that path.
By Lillie Ammann, January 29, 2010 @ 8:09 am
Congratulations, Matt!
Lillie Ammann´s last blog ..Interview with Aggie Villanueva
By Matthew C. Keegan, January 29, 2010 @ 1:25 pm
Thank you, Lillie!
By Dominique, January 29, 2010 @ 8:04 pm
Wow! Congratulations. I cannot imagine my articles garnering that kind of attention but I know the recognition would be very nice.
I knew you had six blogs and to be honest I try not to think about it because I get tired just thinking about the amount of up-keep alone … and then there is the writing!
Larry – Congratulations! I didn’t realize you had an article picked up by Fox! Way to go! You deserve the recognition! Both of you!
Dominique´s last blog ..I am not alone…
By Mikhail, January 30, 2010 @ 4:46 am
You seem to be a great person whose passion is work. The way you are committed towards your work seems great to me. Writing is not a easy job and take a lot of energy out of you. Great post and i am sure that many people will gain some knowledge from it.
By Tundra HQ, January 30, 2010 @ 2:05 pm
Matt – Congratulations. I think your “While Toyota Flounders” article was so popular because the intro was LOL funny.
By Matthew C. Keegan, January 30, 2010 @ 4:13 pm
LOL. I had to inject some humor as explained what was going on with Toyota. I still cannot believe how poorly Toyota has handled their PR crisis.
By Andy Andersen, February 1, 2010 @ 2:41 am
WOW,9000 articles in 5 yrs. That’s an average of 5 articles a day…everyday:O Impressive indeed!
I think this could be a good time for the Big 3 to take the “most reliable” in public perception, away from Toyota. The Big3 has been gaining in recent years. Win some quality awards this year and next and they may well win the consumer’s confidence again. Cheers.
By Matthew C. Keegan, February 1, 2010 @ 5:47 am
Thanks, Andy. Ford and GM have the products in place or arriving this year which can help their cause. Chrysler, on the other hand, appears to be a lost cause at least when it comes to taking advantage of Toyota’s misfortune. Plus, Chrysler brings up the rear in quality; no Toyota owner wants to exchange what they have for an inferior product.
By AndyAndersen, February 1, 2010 @ 11:19 pm
Matt, indeed, I shouldn’t include Chrysler for improved quality. According to a 2008 Consumer Report, they were 32nd place out of 34. The overpriced Land Rover was 34. Toyota was 4th. Cheers.
By CarChickMWB, February 2, 2010 @ 12:38 pm
Matt-
Admittedly, I loved the Toyota piece and forwarded it to a bunch of people.
This post is especially inspiring to someone like me who loves to write and hopes to improve not only my skills but also my online presence. I’m a grammar nut (insert plug if you ever need editing assistance!) who enjoys the same topics you do – autos and religion. As someone who is new on the scene, it’s encouraging to know that in time I could be as successful of a blogger as you!
Also, I want to thank you for your ongoing support of my blog. I appreciate that you read, comment, and share it with your Twitter friends.
CarChickMWB´s last blog ..It’s not Easy Being Green
By Matthew C. Keegan, February 2, 2010 @ 1:22 pm
Thank you for the kind words, Melanie. I may need to hire you…the grammar gremlins have been giving me fits of late!
Thank you for sending the link to that article to your friends. I know I needed to inject some humor, especially after reading the stories about people injured or killed by their runaway Lexus or runaway Toyota, I knew that something lighter needed to be included. After 4 consecutive days of focusing on Toyota, however, I wrote about the Hyundai Sonata.
We’ll be in touch. I like your blog a lot; well written and thought stimulating.
By Kim, February 16, 2010 @ 3:06 am
words are not easily come by. i started to wrote 3 years ago and i’m not making a lot of senses. when my payday arrive, i only can save a little less than my bills. sometimes when i read those articles kind of make me amaze. for i usually didn’t have a lot of things in my head.