The fact that you are reading this should be testimony enough to the fact that internet publishing is changing the way businesses communicate with consumers. That being said, of the thousands of press releases and/or articles published on the internet every day, only a few are seen, let alone read, and for a number of good reasons. The vast majority of writers who produce these releases not only don’t know how to write, they know very little about the world of online press release distribution, let alone the value of writing optimized, compliant copy. search engines.
This blind spot provides aspiring freelancers with an extraordinary opportunity to generate substantial income by writing promotional copy that gets local, regional, national and international exposure, as well as continued readers on the first page of natural search engine results for months. . A well-placed release will generate 50,000-100,000 online readers in a week or less. A well-optimized one will continue to be read month after month.
As a freelance writing opportunity, knowledge of the intricacies of internet press release syndication and search engine optimization is even opening doors for veteran writers looking for a way to catch the eye of potential clients. Sharon Dotson, president of BayouCityPR.com and a well-respected publicist in Houston, can attest to that. “As a traditional publisher and website writer, I had been trying for years to get my foot in the door with a large national service provider here in Houston, but was turned down time and time again.
“That all changed after I completed Fast Track SEOP’s press release optimization and promotion training program. When I showed the company’s marketing director a press release I had written on my own behalf, sitting not only on Google and Yahoo News, but also at the top of Google’s natural search results, I caught his attention. When he found out that I had placed that pitch in less than a week, he gave me the proverbial key to the executive bathroom,” she says.
Freelance writing opportunities abound, but the process is cumbersome and the pay too often negligible. For the uncredentialed writer, it’s an experience often fraught with frustration and disappointment. Typically, the budding freelancer will send a query letter to several publishers in hopes of generating interest in a particular article. To add insult to injury, writers frequently have to enclose a self-addressed envelope that publishers use to send them a boilerplate rejection letter.
If an editor expresses interest, the writer will spend a couple of days, weeks, or months researching and writing a spec article, submit it, and then wait a month or more to find out if it’s been accepted. If jumping through those hoops wasn’t enough, even when a piece is accepted, the writer sometimes doesn’t get paid until the article appears in print and that can take another month or two.
As an Internet publisher, freelancers don’t have to serve publishers, let alone play the waiting game. By applying their writing skills to feature stories and promo copy, they can easily earn a fee of $500 – $1,000 for each piece they write and place. Plus, they get paid in a week or less.
“A skilled writer can write an 800 to 1,200 word press release in a day or two. Once approved by the client, it can be published and distributed to the world the next day. Even better, payment can be demanded immediately,” says Ron Scot, President of Fast Track SEOP.
“Devoting most of my energy to teaching, I haven’t been writing much lately, but when I have time to write, I get two fees. The first, an editorial fee of $399.95, is charged when the article first appears in Google News. Second, a $150 optimization fee is charged when the edited and optimized version of that press release appears in Google’s natural search results,” he says. “Professionals like Sharon Dotson charge even more.”
Recognizing that press release optimization offers a rare freelance writing opportunity, Fast Track SEOP has recently added mentoring to its portfolio of services. “We have every reason to believe that this particular freelance writing opportunity is sustainable, timely, and unique,” says Scott. “We give writers all the tools they need to make a quick buck doing what they love to do. Plus, the writing opportunities our program offers are virtually limitless.”
When Scott talks to freelance writers unfamiliar with press release promotion and optimization, he provides one example after another. It’s not hard to imagine the impression even a beginning writer can make on a prospective client who calls to inquire about her press release services. “As an introduction, our advertisers ask callers to Google a specific search term so they can see an illustration of what we can do for them. They can’t help but be impressed when, one press release after another, they rank at the top of eleven of the world’s most popular search engines, including Google.
“When we point out that these launches are not just at the top of search results, but are at the top of millions of competitor pages, we got their full attention. Needless to say, once they’ve seen the results we get, the cost of our services is outweighed by the need to know how long it will take us to get the same type of exposure,” says Scott.
And that’s not all. “When we also tell them that a release they’re looking at generated between 50,000 and 100,000 views the first week, and further explain that our customers don’t pay us anything until they actually see their release online, any resistance they might have put up is buried. . below the positive impression they already have of our ability to perform,” he says.
Most business owners and advertisers these days are smart enough to know that it’s to their advantage to post their releases on the web, but according to Scott, that’s not good enough. “Recognizing the value of long-term exposure, most of these companies now offer press release optimization services and charge up to $250 per release just for those services,” he says.
“Unfortunately, none of the articles published by companies that charge these optimization fees make it to the top of Google’s natural search results,” Scott says.
The market for an Internet advertiser is not limited to companies with websites. “The skills we teach allow freelancers to get top rankings for their clients even if they don’t have a web presence. A press release posted on Google News and on the first page of natural search results can just as easily make the phone ring as it can be used to drive traffic to a website,” he says.
Regarding the relative value of top search engine placement, current research shows that more than half of all Internet users give more credit to generic search results than to sponsored ads. “Pay-for-performance (PPC) advertising certainly has its place, but it also has its limitations. Getting top search engine placement assures a business owner that at least 85% of people searching for a particular product or service are going to see and read your release over an extended period of time. Of those searches, the vast majority find what they’re looking for on the first page of natural search results,” says Scott.
“Our personalized, live, online PR training course typically takes no more than four hours to complete and we are there to mentor our students through the process until they see one of their pitches get fully syndicated and occupy the first position in Google. Scott says.
Is the training affordable? “That gets to the heart of the matter, doesn’t it?” says Scott. “College students, most often journalism and English majors, pay thousands of dollars a semester to basically learn how to go to work for someone else. By contrast, Fast Track SEOP gives students the means to not only start their own publishing business in a week or less, but also the ability to recoup their investment and actually show a profit when they publish their first release.”
Writers who want to learn more about this career opportunity are encouraged to visit the company’s website: [http://www.fasttrackrankingandplacement.com]. “To introduce prospective students to the world of Internet PR, we’ve hosted a free introductory webinar,” says Scott. “It’s not a recorded speech, it’s a live interactive presentation that typically lasts about an hour. Attendees can interrupt the presentation at any time to ask questions,” she says.
“For more information, prospective students just need to visit our services page, download the conference software, and then email us to let us know when they’d like to attend.”
