Are You Planting? Or Just Digging a Hole?

Those of us who write for a living like to be paid for our talents. Is it counter-intuitive then for professional writers to launch a blog that could drive prospective clients away, and never return a dime for the trouble?

Photo credit: foxtongue

Jeffrey Seglin evidently thinks so. Mr. Seglin writes a weekly column on ethics for The New York Times entitled The Right Thing. He also maintains a blog, entitled Observations, that’s associated with his column. As Seglin closes one recent blog post:

“But if you’re going to… write something for free, then make sure that whoever reads it can’t tell the difference between it and the stuff for which you got paid.”

Bravo. Couldn’t agree more.

Being a writer can be a little like being a celebrity. People love to catch you in mid-stumble. Maybe I’ve got a little of that too because, while Seglin’s blog post includes several statements that I fully endorse, like the one above, the entire piece somehow manages to fall one spell-check short of bass-ackwards.

Seglin’s post makes two assertions. First, he proposes that writing for free is a bad idea because it can breed bad habits. This implies a sort of buddy ethic, wherein writers can’t be trusted on their own, and need the constant supervision of an editor lest they damage their careers.

The risk in launching a no-income blog to showcase your work, says Mr. Seglin, is that some editor might actually read it and – gasp – find you’re a lazy writer, or that you lack talent. (Right. Best not to tip your hand until after you’re hired.)

But Mr. Seglin follows this cautionary bit of advice with an even more dire warning. He writes:

“Your work has value. If you start giving it away for free, then it diminishes that value and makes it harder for others to charge for their work as well.”

So… writing for free not only breeds bad writing, it breeds bad writing with the power to threaten the job security of competent writers, like say, NYT columnists.

Stating that blogging devalues writing is like saying Flickr devalues photography. It’s an apples to aardvarks comparison. The professional business copy I get paid handsomely to write does not serve the same function – and is therefore valued by an entirely different measure – as what a blogger writes.

Seglin flippantly dismisses any and all possible counter-arguments with the magical words: “Forget all the talk about ‘new revenue models.’”

Okay, but what about the old revenue models? Like, for example, marketing your talents by putting them on display? Or committing to a regular blog to distinguish your established freelance business from the million or so freelancing-until-my-next-real-job dilettantes out there?

According to Seglin’s model, my local baker devalues muffins worldwide by putting pre-baked samples on display. Forget those new revenue models though. Instead, he should stand idly behind his empty countertop until you sign a purchase order for his muffin-creation services.

Yes, I’m being glib. But, at least my logic is sound.

Look, as a professional writer, I aim to compose everything – from formal client proposals to Linkedin Q&A’s – so that it reflects the same standards that I apply to my paid work.

Does any of this generate a dime for me? No, not directly.

Should prospective clients ignore my writing services if I can’t compose my simplest communications articulately and well? Yes.

I launched this blog with the express intent to demonstrate just how readable my writing is. But it’s also intended to provide a signal to prospective clients that I actually study my craft, and work constantly to improve it BEFORE they ever hire me.

Mr. Seglin says my free content devalues his paid writing… I sincerely hope it does. Perhaps The New York Times will recognize talent when they see it.