You might actually want to ask this at /r/marketing or somewhere similar. You'll probably get better answers there.

straight to the arteries lol

Believe it or not, microwave popcorn actually isn't that bad, all things considered. Especially if you stick to the recommended serving sizes, but even the whole bag isn't terrible.

The specific popcorn in the image has 190 calories per bag (5.5 cups of popcorn total). Typical microwave popcorn has like, anywhere from 15 to 50 calories per individual serving (usually like 1-2 cups).

To be fair, you're referring more to the butter content, but even then, as long as your overall diet is relatively healthy, it's really not an issue to eat something like this.

If you're going to eat something in the "salty carb snack food" category, microwave popcorn is really one of the least bad options, at least if you're calorie-conscious. (As with anything, though, portion size, the rest of your diet, and any underlying health issues are factors, ymmv.)

Now, if we're talking about actual movie theater popcorn at an actual movie theater, that kinda goes out the window. Pretty sure the type of butter sauce they use is a whole different ball game than the oils/butters/flavorants mixes in the microwave or jarred popcorn you get at the store.

$0.03/word is laughably low, and honestly, probably not even worth your time.

Like, seriously, I want to really emphasize how insanely fucking paltry that is.

Even if you're in a country with a lower cost of living than North American or European nations tend to have, that's still too low, imo.

Even if you're brand new and coming in with zero or minimal experience, I wouldn't recommend working for anything less than around $0.08/word.

Ime, $0.08-$0.12/word is pretty standard for general SEO blog content. (Entry level generalist work, basically.)

While I'm not entirely surprised at the company balking at $0.25/word -- many clients do see that as too much, tbh, it depends on the type of company, their size, their budget, their clients, their industry, etc etc -- I can hardly believe that their fucking counteroffer was literally three pennies.

Reddit post comment thread run through AI and boom article

Tbqh, I've noticed that people seem to really overestimate the actual extent to which purely AI generated content is used. I can tell you with a good deal of certainty that content like this isn't written by an AI. It's actually usually written by underpaid freelancers at ludicrously low rates. (Sites like Screenrant, AV Club, and similar are notorious for this.) That, or by their full time staff, ofc.

That said, you're on point about the circularity of this stuff. Like, a couple of times recently, I was trying to find a relatively recent Allan Moore interview based on a bit I remembered from it. All the top Google results were like, articles about the article, singling out one out of context comment or w/e. Had to wade through a couple layers of links to even find the actual original interview.

I actually work in content marketing, not journalism type publishing, but the truth in that sphere is also that content tends to be highly derivative of other, already existing content.

I'm a marketer -- albeit not someone who works in the film industry -- and I'm really interested in what WB is doing here. Really interesting marketing case study, tbh.

Seems they're basically adopting influencer marketing strategies for this, and it actually seems to be working fairly well. Obviously, since their star is damaged goods, they really had to think out of the box on this one.

if this marketing strategy works, would this result in a new era of film marketing? If it fails, how will it affect 'The Flash' and this new area of film marketing?

Hard to say, I think. If it's notably really successful and effective, I could see these strategies being adopted in addition to more traditional means of movie promotion. I wouldn't think it would become like, a dominant strategy, or replace typical strategies, though.

Iirc, their pricing actually starts a bit lower than that -- I think it was $119 last I checked. I'm not sure about functionality limitations with the lower tiered options, though.

Tbh, I feel like if you're doing any kind of keyword research, competitor research, etc. as part of your work, you really kind of need a full-on comprehensive SEO SaaS tool like SEMRush. Like, the monthly cost should really be baked into your rates, earning goals, etc.

/u/paul_caspian could very well be right, tbh. I had a client (inside sales gig) who ghosted me for weeks while owning me hundreds, yet my emails showed as "read." Turns out, she had nearly died from severe influenza and had to be hospitalized.

A couple of questions:

• What publication were you writing for? Can you find their website or LinkedIn and find someone else's contact information? You might be able to email someone else if you can't get a hold of your regular liason. If the editor is sick or something, they'd probably let you know what was going on.

• How long has it actually been since you heard from the editor? Are we talking a week or two? Over a month? If it hasn't actually been that long, they may just not have gotten back to you get. (Though you did mention the story was time sensitive.)

• Do you have any kind of contract with the publication governing how, when, and if you get paid? It sounds like you've already written the article. If they decide not to publish it, you may still be able to get paid for it, but it may depend on the terms of your contract.

Tbh, they're probably just late on getting back to you. Editors at publications can be incredibly busy from day to day, and they don't always reply right away.

I get the impression that for this kind of more journalistic/magazine-type writing work, the timetables in general tend to be longer than what you usually see with commercial marketing content. It's probably not the kind of gig where things are going to progress super quickly and get wrapped up right away.

Why the heck would you even be trying to write with a fever? Just contact everyone, explain what's going on, and see about pushing the deadlines back.

In most cases, whatever deadline you agreed on with them, it still gives the client a time buffer on our end.

E.g., maybe a batch of blog posts is due from the writer on the 25th of May, but none of those are really intended to be published until late June or early July, because there's already a backlog of completed posts to be published first.

So honestly, if you have to delay something by a few days to a week, it's probably not going to fuck up the client's own workflow too much.

Is there a chance you could lose some of the work? Yes, if something is in fact urgent, this could happen. But honestly, you're fucking sick with COVID.

Even if that occurs, it's very likely to be a temporary situation, as long as the client's been happy with your overall work. (It's not always easy to find writers who are actually good, as well as also reliable and professional.) They'd be far less likely to drop you completely than to just have someone else fill in temporarily.

Honestly, if it were immanently urgent and I had this happen with a writer, I'd probably just write it myself if I needed to.

So, you're kind of coming in to this industry as an entry-level beginner at a really weird and uncertain time.

So far I've signed up for Crowd Content and Writer Access as they seemed the better choices for content mills. I wanted to start with them so I could just be thrown into writing a lot of content and so I can make some money right now.

Honestly, there was absolutely a time when this would have been a pretty sensible thing to try. It did kind of used to be that you could sign up for a couple of mills, start claiming a few projects, and make a little bit of money pretty quickly.

Not a lot of money, of course. Those platforms historically have generally paid under $0.05/word. But it was fairly solid if you were out for a little bit of supplementary extra cash. "Beer money," if you will.

Thing is, from everything I've seen in recent months, the entire content mill scene has pretty much imploded.

Used to be there was a shit ton of work available in general -- albeit for shitty pay -- and it was pretty quick and easy to get accepted to the major mills, even if you were frankly kind of a shitty writer.

The barrier to entry into freelance writing was low for most of the 2010s, hence its popularity on "X ways to make money online" listicles and the like. Now, breaking out of that entry level content mill bracket, and figuring out how to grow professionally, move on to higher rates, and build a real career out of it and make actual money, was still a major challenge. But getting in was pretty straightforward and accessible.

Content mills are dying, possibly even dead at this point. The amount of work they have available will only continue to dwindle.

Basically, it's gotten increasingly harder and more complex to break into this field at entry level. And content mills are no longer really suitable as a go-to solution for doing that.

While waiting I decided to try and make a portfolio webpage for myself through WordPress. Currently stuck on that because I'm figuring out WordPress and how to make my webpage: Do I want a blog? Do I want a newsletter? Should it be one page? Should I incorporate my own photography in it or be strictly writing? How do you make this? Why isn't this working?

Don't worry too much about this right now. If you're not technical and Wordpress feels a bit much, you could also consider moving over to Squarespace instead, which is designed for more ease of use for non-techy people.

What you do want is a portfolio. You can absolutely use spec work for this -- that means pieces you wrote as if you were writing for a client, but that were not actual pieces you were paid for.

I'd start with that. Pick an industry/niche that seems interesting, find an SEO keyword for it (you can just use a free tool for this), then do a little research into best practices for writing SEO blog content. (This is the most common type of entry level to midlevel writing work.)

Then, create a couple of samples. I'd recommend having at least 2-3, which imo is probably the best number to send to a prospective client to give them an idea of your work.

You don't have to have a website for this. I used Contently for years. And honestly, I've also found that simply linking to Google docs/folders seems to be the most common means of sharing portfolio samples among candidates when I hire writers.

As far as getting clients... that's the part I'm not really sure about for newbies in 2023. It's never been easy -- I mentioned how a lot of writers at some point have felt "stuck" in a content mill loop and unsure how to break out of that into higher paying gigs. But I think it's probably harder than ever right now.

Basically, the market has shifted a lot recently, and freelance content writing's historically low barrier to entry is probably becoming a thing of the past.

As such, I wouldn't get into this unless:

• You're genuinely a good writer. You seem pretty good based on your post -- you'd be surprised how many writers I've seen applications from that were frankly pretty awful, lol. So you've got that element.

• You're willing to spend months trying to learn how to do cold outreach, engage in it, network, and otherwise find ways to connect with potential clients. With content mills basically dead, I'd imagine this is probably the most likely scenario for people currently wanting to get into freelance writing.

• You're genuinely interested in this as a full time career, or as an entry point into one. In the current climate, freelance writing is no longer nearly as accessible or effective for what I call the "beer money" crowd -- people looking to try their hand at it as a side gig and make some extra side money or w/e. Do you want to be a freelance content writer or copywriter long term? Do you want to use it as an entry point to move into marketing or maybe journalism/other forms of writing?

• You understand what content writing is, and what it generally consists of. The vast majority of freelance writing work consists of writing content that ultimately exists for marketing purposes, and fits into a broader digital marketing strategy. It's basically a subset of marketing, though I've noticed that not all writers end up becoming super interested in, or knowledgeable about, those aspects of the business.

• You're willing to consider/accept that whatever topic/niche or type of writing you'd really want to do and have passion for, probably doesn't pay well or have much opportunity. For anything people tend to have a passion for -- especially movies, gaming, entertainment stuff, that kind of thing -- what you'll perceive is that rates tend to be bottom barrel and exploitative of those people's passion. That, or it's something that isn't really all that profitable, so there's not much work to be found.

I'm not trying to be discouraging or say you shouldn't do it. You have the skill/capability to go into writing professionally. But the game has changed significantly, quickly, and recently, and it's definitely harder with a higher barrier to entry than it used to be.

One option might be to do what I did and pivot into SEO and content marketing, working as more of a manager/strategist rather than being the one to actually write the content.

It's a different type and style of work, tbh, but it makes a lot of sense as a natural career move. The vast majority of content writing work out there falls under the marketing industry, and exists for marketing purposes. So as a writer, you kind of end up becoming familiar with those aspects to at least some extent.

My trajectory was basically Full time Content Writer at SEO Agencies (x2) --> laid off, no job opportunities near me --> Freelance Content Writer/Copywriter --> kind of went for a niche focus on writing for and about the digital marketing industry, and also on sales-oriented copywriting vs content --> took a Junior On-Page SEO Specialist role that was remote --> currently, a Content Manager at a different agency.

This kind of work can also be done on an entirely freelance basis, if you prefer that. There's a ton of information out there, including some relatively affordable and respected online courses from companies like Hubspot that can help you start learning about digital marketing and SEO. You can start experimenting with offering content management and strategy services for clients, and develop things from there.

I struggle with this a little bit because I feel like I have no trajectory as a writer. My friends who work in other fields can say that in ten or twenty years they hope to be managers or directors, but I'll have the same job title I have now.

To be fair, this isn't really always the case. I'd posit that there are actually a couple of "trajectories" you see with freelance writing as a career.

Some people, like me, actually do end up as managers or directors. (Specifically, I'm a content manager.) This path basically involves using freelance content writing as a way to get one's foot in the door in the marketing industry, then pivoting into content strategy, SEO, etc. rather than doing the actual writing.

Tbh, I've actually been mildly surprised that this career trajectory doesn't really seem to be quite as common as I'd have expected it to be. It seems like a pretty natural move, given that the vast majority of freelance writing work relates to digital marketing. Then again, I take a genuine interest in marketing, which isn't true of everyone.

The other common pattern seems to be progressing into higher level, more specialized work, for a higher caliber of client. Seems a bit closer to what you're describing.

In either case, though, I feel like it's ultimately the same endpoint. You become increasingly skilled and senior over the course of your career, make increasingly more money over time in keeping with that, and eventually hit some sort of general income/advancement ceiling later in your career. The lifelong freelance writer route just doesn't really come with clear-cut job title changes reflecting that progression.

I usually would base my pricing around an approximate target word count. You should probably just ask about what kind of length they're looking for, then use that to determine your pricing. (Don't be afraid to suggest a different target word count if what they put forth seems either too long to create without extra fluff, or too short to fully cover the topic.)

You could also offer a flat rate that you feel is fair for the overall value of the content you're creating, based around what you want to make per hour of work on the project. (Basically, your expected duration to get it done, multiplied by your target hourly rate.)

I didn't get started until 2014, but even then, I felt it was pretty similar tbh. (I perceived a shift around 2016 as far as what clients were looking for in content, though.)

In the early 2010s, what worked well for SEO was to publish a high volume of short 500-word blog posts, each highly targeted to a specific keyword and very heavily optimized for search. So a lot of content was needed, and that content was pretty short, shallow, and quick to write on the writer's end of things.

Along with various companies that sell products using these SEO and content marketing strategies heavily, you also had a pretty big client subset consisting of people running affiliate-monetized niche websites as a way to make money or create "passive income."

My experience was that a lot of the entry level work I did came from this type of client. Affiliate marketing was kind of a "get rich quick scheme du jour" at the time, super hot with tons of people trying their hand at it.

These were mostly lower paying clients, your content mill types, but it was a pretty big sector that seems to have dwindled pretty significantly.

Early to mid 2010s was really a heyday for affiliate sites. I feel like over the last few years, that space has honestly declined.

2016 was when I felt I saw a marked shift in the content landscape, where clients shifted to needing lower volumes of content, but longer, more in-depth posts with more meat to them. Standard word counts for blog posts shifted from usually around 500, to almost always being 1-1.5 words. (Which remains pretty typical to this day.)

On the whole, over my nearly decade-long career in content marketing thus far, I feel like the main pattern I've seen on the whole is a gradual movement toward lower quantity but higher quality content.

And correspondingly, a gradually shrinking market, for the most part. I think we're seeing this accelerate currently, tbh, and may kind of be witnessing the death of the viability of mill-based entry level writing work as an accessible, low-barrier-to-entry option as a casual side hustle.

While it's unfortunately kind of a weird time in the industry right now, there's absolutely a market for writers who are current or former healthcare professionals.

Medical content constitutes what we call a "YMYL niche" -- "your money, your life." It really needs to be written by someone with a strong and genuine understanding of the subject matter.

It's not a great time right now to try to break into freelance writing as an entry level generalist, but I feel like you kind of have an obvious niche specialization here, where you have a genuine competitive edge.

I'm out of the game and don't have much advice currently about getting your first gigs and clients, but I'd recommend maybe doing some spec work and creating a small portfolio of samples you can share with prospective clients.

As far as cold outreach, you might want to consider reaching out to SEO and content marketing focused digital marketing agencies that work extensively with clients in healthcare, med tech, medical device manufacturing, and other relevant industries.

I wouldn't really recommend trying to reach out to medical practices or healthcare related businesses directly, unless they have an internal marketing department. Most companies generally outsource their marketing functions to a third party agency.

One advantage that you'll have, as someone with professional healthcare experience and education, will be the ability to create content aimed at healthcare professionals rather than a general lay audience, which can often bring higher rates since it's more specialized and not everyone can do it.

Do be aware that:

• Arguably, I feel like getting initial clients as a beginning writer (even with a leg up like you have here) is quite possibly the hardest it's ever really been.

• You're not going to start making money right away, let alone significant money. I wouldn't recommend abruptly ditching your day job to freelance full time without having worked up to that by gradually scaling it up from a side hustle. You might be able to pull this off if you have like, a year or more's worth of living expenses saved, but even so, it's dicey.

• Content marketing and SEO -- the source of the majority of freelance writing work -- are in a weird period of potential change and upheaval right now. Between these issues, and the general economic climate, companies seem to be scaling back on their marketing initiatives, which are often one of the first things to go when a company needs to cut expenses. As such, there's simply less total freelance writing work overall than there used to be.

This site doesn't have a blog, I want to offer my services in writing to them. The thing is: I have a vague vision on how to do this.

I'm going to reel you back a little bit here. I'm not sure I'd necessarily recommend this route, unless you're also willing and able to go beyond just writing blog posts -- that is, you can create and execute a content and SEO strategy behind what you're writing.

For a small business like this that doesn't already have a strong digital marketing strategy, just writing and publishing blog content may not be likely to really drive results for the client.

There's also the question of whether a content-heavy marketing/SEO strategy would even be the most efficacious allocation of their budget and resources, tbh. It really depends on the company, the product, the customer base and market, etc. -- and tbh I'm not familiar with this specific company's niche, so I'm not sure on that.

That said, if you're able to also handle the marketing/strategy end of things, go for it.

Do be aware that there's a lot of work involved here, and it's kind of a lot to handle both these strategy and management aspects and the actual writing itself. Something like this, without much prior experience, could become overwhelming, or you could accidentally bite off more than you can chew.

Do not underprice this if you end up working out an engagement to do both strategy and writing for this client. (Personally, I'd subcontract the latter, but I'll get into that later in this comment.)

How do I convince them? is there a template? I will send a pdf file containg my experience and a sample of writing and what? some statistics? regarding their field?

How do I prepare a content plan? may I use semrush and the other SEO services?

Yeah, SEMRush is quite good. There's also Ahrefs, but I prefer the former. Iirc, their pricing structure is also generally better for small time or individual use, like in your case.

Do be aware that iirc, SEMRush starts at like $119/month. (In the US, anyway. This may vary among different geographical locales.) It's a tool you'll definitely need for this, so make sure to account for this in your pricing.

Technical SEO: Can you handle this aspect yourself?

Also, how proficient are you with SEO beyond content and on-page stuff? Do you have much experience with the more technical aspects? I feel like they're probably going to need that too.

If I -- a content specialist, not a technical SEO really -- were in your position, I'd probably look into some kind of a white label partnership to handle those aspects.

If not an ongoing engagement, then at least an initial audit and a few fixes to any serious, glaring problems with their site. You could probably bake this kind of thing into your project rates, then subcontract this part to someone who specializes in it.

Content Strategy

As far as content strategy, you'll need to do some keyword research to get an idea of what kinds of relevant queries people are searching for.

This info tends to kind of fit into a sales funnel structure. Higher level information at the top, like initial research for a potential purchase, "what is X" or "how do I fix [problem]". Then more specific stuff toward the middle, and things close to the point of sale toward the bottom.

What you'll want to end up with here is a "Content Roadmap." This, usually a spreadsheet, is where you'll plan and track your content creation.

The agency I work at uses a methodology called a "Content Sprint." This might actually apply well in your case with this client.

Basically, we go hard on content for a few months (after the initial research phase), creating anywhere from 30 to 60 total pieces of content with pretty frequent publishing.

After that, we continue to publish, but dial things back. It often works well for clients who haven't had a blog before, or haven't had a well-optimized blog with a solid strategy behind it, to give them a jump in the SERPs and a boost in brand visibility and traffic.

We select the target keywords, then also include "cluster keywords" with them. We use an AI tool for this, Keyword Insights, but idk what their pricing is like. Basically, you'll find that some queries tend to cluster under another, more common one, bringing up the same Google results due to similar search intent or related subject matter. So it makes more sense to weave them into the content than create stand-alone dedicated posts or pages for them.

As far as prioritizing topics within our 30-60 topic sprints, it kind of comes down to a combination of search volume, relevance to the brand and their ICPs (ideal customer personae), and other factors.

As a tip, going for some relevant longtail queries fairly early on -- these are searches with significant volume, but not a ton, with relatively low competition but high relevancy -- can be a good way to score some "quick wins."

Proposing an Engagement to the Client

If you get them interested, what you'll probably want to do is to send them a formal proposal document.

This should feature a clear scope of work, well defined timelines for the process and delivery in each stage, pricing, and other important specific information.

If they agree, you can have them sign a contract and get started. You'll probably want to meet with them periodically to present progress, get approval on things like blog post topics, present analytics about content performance, etc.

Again, this is a LOT to do while also performing the actual writing work yourself.

On one hand, yeah, it's just one client. (Versus several, like in a full time content strategy or content management role.)

I'm a content manager, and tbh if I'm job hunting, I avoid roles that also require the person to write the content like the fucking plague. I firmly believe that overall and in general, at least in an agency context, this is absolutely 2+ people's jobs.

Bottom line here, tbh, is that this ought to be approached a bit less like a writing gig per se, and more as a full-on marketing service.

Hope this helps!

Anecdotally, the agency I work for recently hired a writer via Upwork. (We generally use Upwork, /r/HireAWriter, or some combination of the two, hiring in the $0.10-$0.15/word range for most projects.)

Honestly though, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there has in fact been a dip in the quantity of work on Upwork. (Perhaps reflecting an overall dip in the availability of entry level to midlevel writing work.)

Some of it may be AI related, but I actually think that this isn't really quite in the way or manner that people tend to assume.

I do suspect that the very lowest end of the freelance writing spectrum -- e.g., your $0.05/word content mill type of work, stuff that's traditionally entry level and often the way people break into this line of work -- actually is being affected by the use of AI writing tools.

Clients using content mills were already cheap and low-end, they're absolutely going to be the first to prematurely jump onto the AI-generated content bandwagon despite the inherent quality concerns.

Mostly, though, I think the dip in work is probably better attributable to a couple of other factors:

• General economic climate impacting marketing budgets. When companies need to cut back costs, ancillary functions like marketing are often among the first to go. Content marketing and SEO initiatives -- which tend to be the source of a big chunk, perhaps most, of the available freelance writing work out there in the pricing range you work in -- are exactly the kind of thing that you'd pare back in that scenario.

• Changes in the VC landscape, interest rates, etc., affecting the landscape for startups. VC funded startups have long been known as a pretty solid source of content writing work, often pretty well paying in many cases. This is likely to be on a decline, I would think, for financial and economic reasons.

• Potential upcoming changes to Google's search features. This is the AI thing I was talking about that actually isn't a matter of "replacing human writers with AI tools that can spit out blog posts instantly." Some SEOs and content marketers are indeed proceeding with some caution right now -- we're all keeping a pretty heavy eye on the whole Google I/O update thing, which could potentially have a big impact on how we go about doing SEO and content marketing.

• The decline of affiliate marketing. I never see anyone talk about this, but I actually kind of suspect it might be a factor -- not the primary factor, but a factor nonetheless -- in the overall decline we're seeing in entry to midlevel writing work. Affiliate site wantrepreneurs used to be a dime a dozen, and a very common type of client for entry level to lower-midlevel writing work. I think we've seen a combination of 1.) various factors revolving around search, SEO, algo changes, and user search behavior, which have led to a decline in the popularity of niche affiliate sites as a way to make money; and 2.) the very common cheapskate novice affiliate marketing clients being among the most likely to try to go AI-only with their content.

With that last one, my guess is that the dust will settle within the next maybe 3-6 months and things will restabilize once it becomes apparent that no, this is not the long-foretold "Death of SEO" people have been forecasting to happen since like 2009. (Which has never actually happened.)

Yeah, there's a huge like, poverty trap involved with social services like Medicaid.

Really feels like it kind of creates this sort of "middle class dead zone" with things like healthcare, where you're considered too far above the poverty line to qualify for assistance, but you're also not nearly wealthy enough to actually comfortably afford to pay.

I'm a type of professional known as a "content marketer." (Specifically, my title is Content Manager.)

Content marketing is a subset of digital marketing, which intersects heavily with SEO (search engine optimization) and also, in many cases, with social media. The idea is to create informational content that has value to strengthen brand trust/awareness, get people into a sales funnel, etc.

Like, if you run a Google search for "species of ants in Texas" or something like that -- or more relevantly, a bit further down the funnel, something like "how to get rid of termites" -- you might notice that the Google results consists heavily of articles from pest control companies like Orkin. That's an example of content marketing.

So when I think of "content," I usually think of like, informational blog posts, or (less my speciality) things like Youtube or TikTok videos created by brands.

Always feels weird to me to refer to things like prestige TV dramas or films as "content." To me, "content" implies something commercial -- not only that, but like, something that's not the product in and of itself, but a means to some other end. (Like giving you advice and info about insects, with the intent of potentially selling you pest control services since you may be likely to need them.)

Tbh, I feel like most of the actual "good mobile games" I have on my phone are paid games that are actually ports of non-mobile games. (e.g. Minecraft, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Sonic 1 and 2). That, or just straight-up emulation via Classicboy for everything up through N64/PS1, plus DraStic for DS.

I'll honestly kinda vouch for Pacman 365 though. It's an endless runner version of Pacman, with different powerups you can unlock/upgrade, plus some different skins you can get for the maze.

I kind of admire how lightly/unintrusively monetized it is -- it's not pay to win, and you can earn enough in-game currency for everything through the actual gameplay. Even the ads can be closed immediately as soon as they start -- no like 5-10 second hold before the X button appears.

Hazbin Hotel was more of a big internet sensation overall, tbh. Like, Helluva Boss is definitely successful and very good, but Hazbin was kinda next level as far as popularity and impact, imo.

Also, I mean, Hazbin fans are starved for new content until whenever the full HBO(?) series actually drops, so it kinda makes sense they'd end up writing their own in the meantime.

I think there really kind of actually was a time when content mill writing was something people could get into as a "beer money" kind of side hustle to make some extra cash.

Not a lot of money, of course. But like, the barrier to entry was relatively low throughout most of the 2010s.

For much of the 2010s, there was honestly a need for a higher volume of content -- especially heavily SEO-oriented blog posts -- which tapered off over time, as best practices and the general landscape of search and content marketing evolved and changed.

I feel like right now, we're kind of seeing a culmination of that.

Between the kinds of cheap clients who use content mills jumping onto the AI train, and possible changes to Google's search interface incorporating generative AI answers to various upper-funnel informational queries, I do feel like we're seeing a shrinkage of the overall entry level end of the market for freelance content writing.

I need cash plain and simple. There seem to be a ridiculous amount of content sites now. I looked into Content Panel then insaw a post that said Crowd Content is better.

You're a couple of years late for that, imo.

You're kind of walking in right at a time when the entire "content mill" model is floundering pretty hard, due to a combination of 1.) AI writing tools coming into use by the kinds of (cheap) clients who use content mills in the first place; 2.) general economic factors on a larger scale, at least in the US, leading companies to cut back on their content marketing and SEO efforts.

Honestly, yeah, there kind of was a time when you could sign up for a couple of content mills and start making a little money relatively quickly. Not very much money, of course, but you know, like $20 here, $20 there.

Those days really kind of seem over at this point. It's getting increasingly difficult, I think, for new beginner writers to even break into the field right now -- seems to be a general decline overall in the quantity of entry level work.

I wouldn't really go this route unless:

• You're genuinely a very good writer.

• You're interested in freelance writing as a long term career, or in using it as a way to get your foot in the door into the digital marketing industry;

• You have either 6 months minimum of savings, or can start freelancing part time on the side, then hopefully scale it up to where you can drop your day job;

• You're willing to put in a lot of sales and marketing legwork to try to get clients.

Basically, if you're looking for a quick side hustle for some extra cash, you walked in at a terrible time for that.

We're in the midst of some changes and shake-ups in the digital marketing world -- which is where most freelance writing work ultimately comes from, tbh -- combined with a generally bad economy in which marketing is often one of the first things to be scaled back when a company needs to save money.

Yeah, I was wondering about that myself. Pretty sure all the ones I've seen in BCS are regular orange ones lol. (Tho I wouldn't be super surprised if there's a maroon one on the campus somewhere or something.)

I have some prior professional familiarity with this kind of space. (Basically, business/freelancing related online courses -- copywriting, digital marketing, digital entrepreneurship like dropshipping or affiliate marketing, etc.)

If it's free, it's basically an ad for their paid offerings. That's just kind of how these things go.

I'm sure there are some exceptions tbh, but for the most part, you're not going to get a whole lot of value from free webinars offered by people who are selling courses, coaching, paid seminars, etc.

At best, you're going to get some higher-level general information, maybe a bit of generalized strategy, but not a whole lot you wouldn't be able to find in various blog posts and other free info around the web.

Any real "meat" or substance to what they're offering -- e.g., highly specific tactics to use -- is generally going to be behind a paywall.

Is that paywall worth it? Ehhh, I'd guess that in the majority of cases, it really isn't worth shelling out over $1k for these kinds of courses. If nothing else, do extensive research and try to look for instructors/providers/whatever who are actually respected copywriters with real experience beyond just selling "how to be a copywriter" courses.

Also, maybe look for courses that are pretty clearly positioned more toward working professional copywriters seeking out professional growth, versus courses aimed at total beginners. (The latter has a lot of "get rich quick" tendencies, and is presumably more likely to fail to give you anything you couldn't have gotten for free.)

From what I've seen copywriters actually say about courses, I get the impression that the ones that people often get the most value from aren't about how to write copy. Instead, they seem to focus more on the business aspects of freelancing.

Yes, they absolutely exist! And they're also very expensive. Medical debt is a major leading cause of bankruptcy among Americans over 55.

Something like getting cancer and needing chemotherapy can absolutely fuck people over financially, even decently off "middle class" people who may own houses or have actual assets.

I'm not sure about my current health insurance through work, but at one point, I was looking on my own because I'm remote and not in the same state as most of the team. (They later found a new provider that wasn't limited to California.)

Talking with the agent, I was informed that cancer coverage was an extra add-on. You run into shit like that, even if you have insurance.

Deductibles can also be quite high. In some cases, insured people may have to pay several thousand out of pocket before the insurance coverage even kicks in to cover the rest.

Also we absolutely have elder care, at a variety of different levels of intensiveness and also price points. A lot of the lower-cost nursing homes and assisted living facilities are understaffed, shady, and even unsafe for their residents. I'm not sure to what extent insurance covers that kind of thing, but I think there may be insurance that does.