Since my article The Art and Business of Writing In Fitness was so well received, I wanted to follow up with another issue that plagues fitness writers: the missing paycheck. I am guilty of every charge against writers in this article. That?s probably why I can discuss it so blatantly. These are hard lesson for anyone to learn who wants to break into fitness writing, but it?s better to learn from my mistakes than to make them on your own. I am going to write this from an odd perspective, so bear with me.
My primary income comes from writing. I started writing professionally full time three years ago when I left teaching and moved to Arizona. Previously, I worked in marketing and advertising for small businesses? making the bulk of my work writing-intensive. At first, the whole freelance writing industry was daunting. With all the content mills and sweat shop-wages offered to writers, I wondered how anyone made it in the writing business.
Then I learned that like many other industries, the online world created a space that allowed the profession of writing to be exploited. Many successful writers make a great living doing what they loved, so I set out on a quest to figure this all out.
Though I made many mistakes along the way?namely getting paid far too little for the work that I performed?I have become a better writer because of these mistakes. Most of the work I do is for the corporate world. I write corporate blogs, sales material, website content, brochures, and presentations.
But what I truly love is fitness writing. Being exposed to other industries I am appalled at how little value the fitness industry holds in its writers. ?A handful of fitness websites pay writers between $10 and $15 an article. These aren?t your mom and pop sites being run by solo professionals. These are fully staffed corporate sites with big offices in California or New York. Granted, several well-paying sites exist, but I want to expose the trap that many writers fall into.
When a writer invests his time into a well-researched article, it can take him easily 5 to 10 hours to produce high quality content. Somehow that $15 an article just doesn?t sound lucrative (not that it ever did).? That?s why sites that rank high in the search engines for specific fitness-related keywords give you less than stellar results. ?Under-qualified writers are pumping out garbage so they can try to earn $15 to $30 an hour (for the record, $50 to $200 an hour is good pay for qualified writers).
What?s even more appalling than the $10 to $15 articles is the free content that is expected from fitness writers. Many fitness writers are also professionals in the industry. They?ve spent a considerable amount of years learning their trade and becoming experts in their fields.? Being that coaching is their primary expertise and writing comes secondary?and is often a taxing event?not only does asking for free content berate their years of knowledge and experience, but also the time they invest in writing the content.
For a trained writer, it can take 2 to 3 hours to research and write a great article. For the novice or inexperienced writer (which many coaches consider themselves), it takes 4 hours to sometimes days to perfect this content.
This may come as a surprise (subtle notes of sarcasm are purposeful), but writing isn?t a naturally occurring phenomenon for coaches. Even the ones you see regularly in magazines, or who write incredible blogs. It?s not effortless; it?s a very challenging process that causes their brains to make a jolting switch into gears they aren?t very comfortable using.
By nature, coaches are great speakers. They explain things well by talking clients through techniques and demonstrating with actions.? You would think that this translates well onto paper, but it doesn?t. Transversely, many technical writers can scribe in great detail how to perform a specific action, but their brains turn to mush when you ask them to talk you through something.
I was born with a writer?s brain. I only became comfortable with speaking when I threw myself into the fire as a teacher. Let me tell you, when standing in front of 30 eighth graders, the last thing you want is to be afraid to speak.
I was trained as a writer first and a teacher second. I am now comfortable in both roles, but it wasn?t always so. Many coaches are trained as teachers and the role as a writer isn?t a very comfortable place to be for them.? The knowledge is there. They are salient teachers in their fields and have so much to offer, but writing is a foreign practice that takes time to master.
Now that I?ve cleared up how time consuming writing can be for fitness professionals, I want to clear up something else. Exposure, recommendations, and pats on the back are not paychecks.
If you are making money from the site that you wish fitness professionals to craft content for, then you need to pay them. When you ask fitness writers to hand over articles for your site that you earn a living from (whether supplemental or your whole salary) you are basically saying, ?I want to use you so that I can make more money.?
Fitness and nutrition coaches spend plenty of down time during their day doing things that don?t directly translate to money. They answer emails, return phone calls, write posts for their own blogs, pay invoices, write programs, read, take continued education courses, sit in meetings, and research? the list goes on and on.
It?s highly unlikely that the surge of adrenaline they feel when you ask them to write free articles for your site causes them to immediately set a new deadlift personal record. In fact, their blood pressure likely shoots through the roof at the thought of adding one more thing to their ?I Am Not Making Money Doing This? list.
This is not a common practice that you see in any other industry. My writing colleagues pay guest bloggers and they get paid to guest blog. My writing colleagues also get a paycheck for every single article they write, whether it?s a 300-word post for a blog or a 1,500-word article for a magazine. It?s how they make a living. Fitness professionals should view their writing the same way.
I do see a couple of exceptions to this rule. It?s perfectly fine to swap blog content with colleagues whom you know will return the favor. It?s also fine to offer content up to sites that you are deeply passionate about, but know they cannot pay you. ?I?ve had many occasions when I?ve read articles on blogs or sites that compelled me to craft a response. I always offer this response or supplemental article to the site free of charge.
Interviews are good exposure, too. Typically they only require that you answer questions that directly relate to your work.? Website and blog interviews are also great practice for when magazines and newspapers call you up for quotes. This will happen!
Do not undervalue your time and expertise for anything else. Ever.
Let?s look at a basic scenario of writing free content for a popular site. Say BigNameStrengthSite published articles from any coach willing to invest time into writing a piece for them. They don?t pay, but offer to place a link to your site in your byline.
You spend 6 hours writing the article, shoot it out to a couple of your colleagues who spend 30 minutes reviewing it to provide feedback. Then you send it in. No one contacts you. You wait. You email the editor 3 days later to see what?s up. Another 3 days goes by and the editor emails you back and say, ?Hey, you?re at the bottom of a long list of free content I need to put up. It will be 3 to 4 weeks.?
A month later you happen to be reading the site and notice your article is up. No one told you and it was posted 4 days prior. You check Google Analytics and notice your traffic has gone up a bit. You also receive 10 new subscribers to your site and get an email inquiry about your training service.
Of course, that same guy emailed 6 other trainers on BigNameStrengthSite too. This guy didn?t respond to them either.
So, now your 10 subscribers richer and 6 hours behind on work because you wasted it writing that article.
What if you took that same idea and wrote a query letter to the local health editor of your newspaper? Or to the editor of that magazine you always pick up by the front door of your gym?
Why is your content good enough for the web but not for magazines and newspapers?
It?s better for magazines and newspapers, and here?s why. They pay you for it.
The worst thing that can happen is the editor doesn?t accept your idea. But all you did was send in your idea. You didn?t spend 6 hours writing the article yet. And if the editor thinks you?ve got the chops but you need to polish up a bit, she or he will tell you. She or he will probably even give you tips or tell you have to make the article more relevant.
Heck, this editor may even assign you another article that the publication doesn?t have a writer for. Then those 6 hours of free labor turns into a $300 paycheck. Maybe even more.
That sounds worth it, right?
And, holy crap, you?re a published writer!
These small articles from local magazines and newspapers lead to bigger things. Most of the big named magazines want to see what you are capable of. Sending in these clips shows that you can actually write, and write content relevant to the magazine.
But, to let you in on a little secret? smaller publications and trade magazines pay well and offer more work. It?s always nice to see your name in lights, but consistent money usually lies in the smaller publications.
Not only that, but local exposure brings another advantage: more clients. People in your area are more likely to read the health section of your newspaper than BigNameStrengthSite anyway. More clients translates to more money.
What they heck were you doing writing for free in the first place?
I can easily joke and laugh about it now because I spent a good amount of time hoping and dreaming that all that free writing would lead me to better gigs. It doesn?t. I hope this spares you any pain and suffering that you might have experienced in the future.
All the exposure in the world doesn?t compare with a paycheck and continued work.
So, next time someone contacts you to write all in the name of exposure, stamp a value on your time and expertise and tell them no thanks.
?
?
What?s your take on writing for the fitness industry? Do you feel trainers are undervalued as writers, or are they fairly compensated?
Source: http://www.motherfitness.com/fitness-professionals-stop-pimping-out-your-brain-as-a-writer/
naacp glen campbell jerusalem artichoke bud shootout aretha franklin stevie wonder new orleans weather
mike brown jacoby ellsbury jacoby ellsbury lionel richie morosini death kenny rogers avatar the last airbender
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.