by Marty | Apr 1, 2011 | General Pearls of Wisdom
Maybe you know about the trial happening right now for James Arthur Ray. He is on trial for 3 counts of manslaughter. Three people who believed in James Ray paid for it with their lives, and now it is time for the courts to decide if Ray is guilty.
I personally think James Arthur Ray is a cold-hearted manipulative monster, who actually led four people to die through his ignorance, greed and vanity…not just these three innocent victims (I will not forget what I see as his center role in the death of Colleen Conaway). I hope that justice is for once, swift, and this bastard pays with a life spent behind bars. It won’t even the score by any means – 4 good people will still be missing, and he won’t be – but I hope it does offer the families of his victims some form of relief, watching this beast get locked in the cage he deserves.
The trial started on March 1st, and is being offered in live video feeds and news streams. I was going to write something about it, but I am not as well informed as many people are on this matter – so I want you to go to them to learn more about it. My own thoughts on it are simple: guilty – lock him away forever. But there is of course, much more to it.
Visit the Salty Droid’s Blog
On the Salty Droid’s blog, Ray has been a topic of discussion since this whole thing started. Not only is the fake robot himself perpetually in a full-on attack to the monster known as “Death Ray,” but there are many very intelligent folks that have chimed-in along the way with additional background and evidence, as well as ongoing support for the victims’ families. These folks are now commenting on the trial and offering insight and links to help shed more light on it all. The comment thread is already over 650 strong, and it will continue growing as the trial continues.
The ‘droid has really created a great resource here for James Arthur Ray trial updates. Expect potty talk and lots of stirred-up passions. There are audio and video clips, he is doing day-by-day summary updates, and like I mentioned – the comments have some really interesting stuff too – some of those offering opinions are really super-sharp folks.
I applaud ‘droid for his work here, and in hammering on other assholes that take advantage of innocent believers. We need more fake robots, willing to take a stand. In the meantime, go catch-up on the JAR trial.
And I am sincerely looking forward to you rotting in Hell, James Arthur Ray. Can’t wait to watch you pay for what you’ve done.
by Marty | Mar 29, 2011 | Freelance SEO Copywriting Tips, Work Tools
Lately, I have had more than one occasion where an aspiring young writer asks me some questions about creating an invoice for their copywriting or SEO work. This page is going to serve as a dump for information about creating an invoice for whatever, and I’ll drop in a link to resource templates too, so you can skip to them if that’s all you need.
Why You Create Invoices
You create an invoice to bill a company for the work you do for them. They receive it, approve it, and put it into their payment cycle. The duration of each one is one of those things that depends on the company you are dealing with, but no matter how they handle it, many companies want an invoice to complete the project. You send this after a project to mutually agree you are finished, and you are now waiting to be paid.
They will use the invoice on their end to complete internal paperwork – assigning the value to a specific department, or sometimes a specific representative.
You will likely use it for record keeping too, but maybe just in an e-format.
Because both parties will use this document for tracking purposes, the information in it must be kept clear, and straight-forward. Offer exactly the information you need – nothing more, nothing less. The following things are going to be pretty standard things in the invoice information:
- Your company name and contact info in the header and footer. The mailing address is important – a lot of people will mail your checks to you. Also, the phone number/email is important, because if there is an error or something they need to be able to reach you quickly to sort it out. Every day the mistake exists is another you are not being paid.
- Their company name and specific contact information e.g., “Attn: Paul Jones.” The specific contact is used to identify your contact in a larger company – it is a good thing to know. They’ll often shuffle it around and get people to sign it – so be on the ball, and know where it needs to go.
- A specific invoice reference number – one that is unique.
- The description of the services/deliverables, potentially itemized. I like to keep this pretty general and simple…so something like “50 pages of original content and research @ $75/page – $3750 total project fee” or something like that works. Put the itemized things in the left, the right column tabulates all the individual items being invoiced.
- Any additional costs/considerations/notes. If there was scope creep, delivery charges, outsourced talent or something off the grid of what you originally determined to be the project, state it if you want to get recognized and paid for it. All of the phone calls in the world don’t hold the same power as a written, signed invoice. Put it in writing.
- A total now due. Make this a very clear number using a font that is big, red, bold, exciting – make it work like a fork jabbed in their eye. There should be NO DOUBT how much they owe, and when. That is the only purpose of this document, so make it work.
- Payment preferences. You can state how quick you want the turn to be – I state net-10, meaning within 10 days of my final approval, they need to pay me. The common deal with bigger companies is closer to net-30 – this is important to know when you are just starting out. Demand all you want – but it doesn’t mean much to stomp your feet. It is truly better to wait it out, painful as that can be. Way back a long time ago, I actually had a client owe me over $10k for a month’s work because they were pushing hard quickly, and I was simply working hard to meet it – but when I balked to get paid in the middle of the second month (yeah-$10k+ is a LOT of dough, and my bills weren’t waiting), they “paused” with me to work it out and hired someone who was evidently more patient. The terms of our agreement stated I was to be paid every two weeks, yet I was 8 weeks in, and still waiting for an installment. They were never waiting for copy though – I met my deadlines, and their client loved my work. I could have simply shut-up and knew I’d get my money eventually – but I made a stand (sticking purely to the terms of our agreement) and essentially got moved aside. I got paid in a few weeks, but this was the last time I worked for them for a while. It meant more to me then – but in retrospect, the additional $10-20k I could’ve earned for another month would’ve been nice. Not to mention the additional work from this connection I likely flushed away with my indignant (however justified) “demand.” I was right according to our agreement, but who cares – I still got all-but-fired, and they didn’t call me again for almost a year (but they did – they always come back!). We made nice, and I eventually had more work on better terms with them, but it was definitely cooled-off for us both for a while. Learn from my mistake…stay on the job, get paid, and don’t leave your fences in a state needing attention. Act like a grown-up. I was mad, so handled this worse than I think I would’ve if I was not angry. It was years ago, but became a lasting lesson.
Creating an Invoice for Freelance Copywriting or SEO Work
Now that we have covered the basics in “why” you do this stuff, it’s time to look at the “how.”
Great news – you need to know nothing, and everything is free. Just grab the right template and Go.
Use this link – the big G has provided: https://docs.google.com/templates?q=invoice&sort=hottest&view=public .
When I make invoices, they are done in Word documents or Excel spreadsheets. I create them as a template (much like the Google ones), edit them with the specifics of the project and save them as a document and then create a pdf to send the client. You want to pdf them, so the client can’t change something on-the-sly before a signature or something creepy like that. It happens – sorry. But also keep it in editable format, as there might be something you need to change later and it helps you to not start over from scratch every time.
So that’s it really – use that link, and find a service-oriented invoice template you like. Save it as a template, and create all your invoices from the same one. If that is in any way confusing, email me directly, and I’ll help you sort it out.
Creating an invoice is a necessary skill to know if you are to be working for yourself at any point. But they are so frighteningly easy, it makes no sense to fear them. And needing to create an invoice is a great thing – it means you’re about to get paid!
Later edit: a Blank, company-less invoice template
Had more than a couple comments and questions about what to do if you have no business, and need an invoice – the short answer, is you do the same thing, just substitute your personal info where the company info would have gone. Just to keep it easy, I made you guys a little blank template you can download and modify: invoice-no-company-blank
by Marty | Feb 17, 2011 | General Pearls of Wisdom
I admit, I have not spent a great deal of time wondering about the Attorney General of Utah, but the Salty Droid sure seems to think that Mark Shurtleff is Corrupt. He is offering a lot of often pointy words to talk about what is happening out there in Utah – and I would imagine people are getting a little upset about it. But the Salty Droid promises this category of posts will help you to better understand the man behind the media, as “it contains so much great information about Mark Shurtleff’s leg and his midlife crisis motorcycle accident”. Fake robots can be hard to argue with, so I would recommend checking it out.
As to why these references to Mark Shurtleff’s corruption are reaching outside of Utah (why should you care out there in Armchair America, right?), think of a roomful of very nice strangers, all of them on telephones meeting dialing quotas. Hammering on, pushing on new ways to erode people’s natural reluctance to pay for something that sounds too good to be true. Sweating and smoking. Dialing, and selling. Utopian dreams, cooed out soothingly, incessantly, looking for better ways to weasel into unsuspecting bank accounts. Now multiply that exponentially, and how long before they are calling your parents – your friends – and promising them Unicorns and Rainbows? Convincing them that for a low monthly rate, they can have their own Internet cash machines? Utah’s boiler rooms are at the root of some very bad businesses staying around longer than they should. And as the Salty Droid is pointing out, it is often through high-level corruption and protection that these systems stay in place.
I appreciate the Salty Droid’s willingness to point out things that often get him into trouble. He is a funny writer, and offers a truly unique style. Whether he’s talking about corrupt Attorney General Mark Shurleff, internet marketing scams, or the wispy sexlessness of Julian Assange, it’s usually a lot of fun over there.
If you’re like me, no matter what brought you, you stay for the pretty giraffes!
by Marty | Feb 4, 2011 | Freelance SEO Copywriting Tips, Reviews of Stuff
This is just a head’s-up on a series that started this week on Search Engine Land about linking that is gonna be a good ‘un.
http://searchengineland.com/a-link-building-blueprint-the-foundation-62784
Authored by the zenfully talented Debra Mastaler, this promises to be a great primer for anyone who wants to know something about linking. A Link Building Blueprint is a fine idea…coming from Debra, it becomes a must-see.
I know a little bit about linking, but I always pay close attention to everything Debra shares. (Yeah, she’s one of those.) I have never regretted it. I pretty much always agree with her too, which is a plus, if you’re me. She can always defend herself well if challenged, and is not driving by ego – something that appeals to me every time. Really sharp, very measured, and always as nice as anyone you’ve ever met. But she always tucks little value nuggets in her posts and writings out there – yeah, she’s definitely a nugget-tucker too.
As illustrated: Even with this introductory post, she hipped me to using DMOZ better than I am, and supported my current approach to directories is not too bad.
Debra’s been doing this for a long time, and she tells it like it is – no matter what the platform. She is the resident Link Queen moderator in the SEOBook forums where I hang out. In there, she is more candid than she is in her articles for Search Engine Land – but her articles are always just as honest, just as straightforward and just as warm as her most personal posts.
You’ll like it. And it’s good for you, too.
I’d also use this time to remind you to look at the post I did last July covering Rae Hoffman’s seminal linking post – there are a lot of great things in there to make a companion to Debra’s Blueprint.
I am going to update this post with the updates she offers to this series.
[EDIT]
Here’s the second installment: http://searchengineland.com/a-link-building-blueprint-utility-linking-66202
Here’s the third: http://searchengineland.com/proven-ways-to-use-content-to-attract-links-73610
by Marty | Jan 12, 2011 | Freelance SEO Copywriting Tips, General Pearls of Wisdom
I was reading some favorite old posts today and came across this one, from all the way back in 2006 by Stuntdubl: http://www.stuntdubl.com/2006/11/24/stunttrain/.
Mr. Malicoat offers a lot of good things in here, but the one that made me want to scribble was this:
9. Blackhat is lying to clients, customers, partners, or vendors.
Whitehat is proactively discussing risk tolerance, process, expectations, and contribution to a community instead of just bilking people into teaching you to think.
A lot of things have changed in search since he wrote that almost 5 years ago – but I think this point is more salient today than ever. Thankfully people aren’t talking about this as much as they used to…but some still insist on climbing on a soapbox, and pretending that there are altruistic means behind their sweeping statements and judgements.
Defining what you do by some broad-stroke term is limiting at best. But the argument between whitehat and blackhat SEO techniques has always been that – an ultimately limiting and self-defeating approach.
I should know:
Hi, my name is Marty. I am a recovering whitehat.
In my own case, my couple years of chest-thumping whitehattedness were eventually replaced by data, and logic. But while it had me, I really drank that kool-aid, hard.
Here are some of the many misconceptions it created:
- Buying links is bad, and will result in penalties. The truth is, buying links is commonplace and often results in success. Discretion.
- Automating is bad. Impersonal approaches to web development scared me I think, because I was building sites, and didn’t want to see it all go away. It did anyway – open source changed everything. And it only made me run faster to catch-up once I finally decided to get in the game.
- Google is going to reward the best content.{Bwa-ha-haaaaaa-ha-ha-ha}
- Link spam gets punished. Truth is, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve seen link spam work well, I’ve seen it (apparently) sink sites. Truth is, good sites get punished too.
- Good content is required to top the SERPs. Sigh. As much as I would love for this to be the case, no such luck.
Now, believing in whitehat came from a good place. I wanted to only do what my clients wanted – things I could be proud of later. But I was not taking Stuntdubl’s approach, and simply understanding risk tolerance better. I couldn’t communicate it to my clients, because I was too busy shunning things, because they seemed “shady.”
Flash forward a few years, and I don’t wear hats anymore – I now prefer scarves. Hardly gets cold enough in Atlanta for me to indulge, but I digress.
It may have taken me close to 5 years since I first read this post from Stuntdubl, but his last point is the one that now makes my bald head shine:
10. It’s all about the results
Yes it is…as long as those results are accompanied by the immaculately clear conscience that you are not screwing people over to get them. It is not by any means necessary – but it is by any reasonable means.
Bottom Line:
If you insist on actively defining yourself as either a blackhat or a whitehat SEO, chances are you are simply an asshat. Just do what is best to get the ranking you are after for you or your clients – and make it less about you. Remember what Stuntdubl said: It’s all about the results.
Late add: found another one, worth adding here. In the historical review of how this separation in the SEO industry devolves, I found another winner here: http://www.paydayloanaffiliate.com/blog/LateralVsTraditionalSEO.aspx and here: http://www.johnon.com/220/white-hat-sissies.html
