Guerilla Web Content: How to get articles without paying
Not everyone can afford to pay for web content writing. In fact, even if it’s a $1.50 article, you can’t afford it either – the quality is so bad that you have to spend hours fixing it (or figuring out what it’s about). In this case, it’s better to do it yourself. You may not be as good as the pros, but there are some easy and free ways for you to get the website content you need.
(As a content writer, sharing this may be bad for business, but the quality of the following tactics is not guaranteed – whether it’s for reader enjoyment, conversions, etc. That, my friend, is totally up to your talents. Of course, everything I mention below borders on plagiarism, so be warned. If you’re not good at projecting your own voice and adding your own thoughts, use the following techniques with caution.)
- Grab free articles from article directories and tweak them. With a little creative use of a thesaurus and a “Find and Replace” tool, you’re on your way to having your own article. Just insert your own sentences, phrases, and anecdotes from your personal experience.
- Look at blogs related to your topic, and copy important comments. Blog readers who love to comment actually add to a blog’s content. Of course, don’t copy the comments outright – just the ideas.
- Ask existing users to contribute. Duh. A lot of websites do this. User created content is free and oftentimes engaging. Plus, with the popularity of Web 2.0 business models, it’s so obvious that people like seeing themselves online – whether it’s through a byline, a video, or photos. Ask them to send you a photo, list, or video they made related to your topic. Voila! Instant content!
- Go to a chatroom about your topic. Shoemoney (I think, I can’t remember for sure) does this. He goes to a chat room, for example, about Ebook Publishing. He asks a question related to his article “Where do I promote my ebook?”. Guess what? Everybody chimes in with their answers. Of course, you need to verify the facts with more credible sources, but at least you have someplace to start.
- School essays. You know the essays you have to write for school? If you can hit two birds with one stone by writing on a topic related to your website, you’ve got a winner. It’s free, original, and you get to do your homework at the same time. Unless of course you just copied off of someone else…
- Guest postings. Same as asking contributions from users. If you have a blog, you can announce that you’re looking for guest posters. In exchange, it’s customary to give guest writers at least a short bio on the post and a link to their own website. But this only works if people are actually willing to guest post for you.
Now for the downsides. Of course, these methods have their own “cons” attached to them. Remember that nothing in this world is free – you have to pay one way or another.
- Time. Instead of attending to more important aspects of your web business, you’re tweaking existing words. True, writing the articles yourself may take longer, but if you require a high volume of written content, I don’t think these methods are worth it.
- Quality. Professional writing services often have an edge when it comes to quality – and it’s all from their education or experience. They know how to make articles that convert better, encourage readership, and make readers want to click that “Digg it!” button. If you can get a professional writer to post for free via the “Guest Postings” method, good for you!
- If you don’t do it right, it’s stealing. Getting ideas using the above methods is one thing, but if you don’t modify the copied phrases enough, you’ll get into trouble. You can avoid this by directly quoting the speaker and by being upfront with people that you’re collecting data for your site content.
Share your thoughts!!!