Content Generation

If you’re like me, and coming up with ideas for articles is the least of your worries, then feel free to skip over this section.  Your problem is more likely time management or promotion.  For those of you having trouble coming up with that groundbreaking article, please read on.

Now, this is not to suggest that your experience on Triond should be one of catering to the majority.  If you build a steady following writing prose/poetry or film reviews, for example, then by all means write about that.  On the other hand, if you’re willing to do a little research, you can delve into topics you didn’t even know would interest you!

First all, be aware.  As other users have said, pay attention to the “Hot Users” section and see what they are writing about.  To get into that section your article has to be something original that will capture people’s attention.  (Don’t forget a snazzy title as well.)  Take a look at your interests–what are some interesting things about, say, stamp collecting, drag racing, baking, or even writing that you think people may want to know?  Exploring your own interests first will also give people the idea that you’ve done your homework and you know what you’re talking about.  I’ve noticed that articles that seem to be thrown together some attention, but fade rather quickly.

Secondly, look into some new interests; or synthesize your current interests with something you’re unfamiliar with.  This can also help to produce original and thought-provoking content.  Let’s say you’re into stamp collecting, but you’re not that great with history–and perhaps you’d like to be.  A little Google/Wikipedia search could help you track down some well known people who were secret stamp collectors.  See?  You’ve taken your specialty and given it an intriguing twist!

Finally, a little healthy competition never hurt anyone!  If you’re cruisin’ Triond–and I suggest you do–and you come across an article to which you would like to respond, then that is another possibility.  You don’t simply have to comment, you can write an entire article as a response.  Rememeber, however, that displaying maturity is the best way to be taken seriously.

Quality and Quantity

One of my major problems is quantity, which is connected to the next topic.  Anyway, I like to think that I put a good deal of effort into writing my articles–editing them even after publication for clarity or the inclusion of additional information.  When it comes to content writing in the form of advertising revenues, it is important to have both quantity and quality.  In order to earn a decent part-time income from Triond, you’re going to have to write a few to several articles per day that will accrue a great deal of views and comments. 

Your articles are going to have to transcend time–meaning that they are relevant no matter when they are read.  For instance, should I write an article about the upcoming election, the fervor would most likely get me a good number of views, but as the election passes and passions cool, fewer and fewer people are going to be interested in my predictions of said election–for obvious reasons.  There’s nothing wrong with writing sometime time-specific, but you must understand that that time will pass.

On the other hand, continuing to produce content keeps an interest going in your overall content.  If someone reads an article you recently published, they will be more likely to go to your profile and read other articles that you’ve published in the past.  The longer your articles sit around, the less likely your other content is to be viewed.

About editing, I believe it is important to keep your content up to date, possibly responding to new media resources or reader comments.  For example, my article “How to Cope in an Interracial Relationship“, is one that covers sensitive material.  Thus, in order to ensure that my message was received as I intended it, I had to edit the first couple of sentences for clarity.  In addition, as I mentioned in “How to be a Bad Fiction Writer“, revision is your friend.  It will also ensure you keep your content fresh and interesting. 

Not to mention, if you think your content is killer, but for some reason people aren’t reading, try changing your title to something a little more eye-catching.  There’s nothing wrong with that!

Time Management

If you’re like me, constantly running around trying to get a million things done at once, then writing for Triond may serve as more of a hobby.  To combat the lengthy intervals between articles, I find it quite useful to keep a notebook handy.  It doesn’t have to be anything special, just something in which you can jot down article ideas–or even write drafts to be copied online at a later date.  In fact, this section of this article was written in a notebook during some down time.

Another good idea (for writers of all kinds) is to try to keep a schedule.  Perhaps setting aside a specific day or time of day dedicated to writing/revising your articles.  This is also a good way of being memorable to your readership.  If you only publish articles every two weeks, the articles you have already published will lose readership (especially if you are a novice such as myself).

Community/Networking

No matter how many articles you’ve written–even if it’s just one–it’s absolutely important that you connect to the Triond community.  This is not to suggest, on the other hand, that you befriend Triond users for no particular reason.  It would be much more productive to add people who share the same interests you do, guaranteeing that they will at least glance at your articles, and you can genuinely comment on the content they produce.  Stronger bonds are built this way and you can establish your own publishing niche that will support one another.  Many users do this already–without even noticing it.  Unless you’re very rigorously promoting your work outside of Triond (to be covered more extensively in the Promotion section below) most of the advertising revenue your articles are going to attract are going to come from other users, mostly out of curiosity or in an attempt to get tips for their own writing endeavors.

Another “tips” article for Triond suggested that users copy-paste links to articles that may be relevant to articles on which they are commenting.  I would say this is definitely a good idea for someone with a busy schedule.  Since the name you use when you comment on people’s articles is not linked to your profile, it may make sense for your to post a link to your similar/related article so people can get a chance to check you out without having to search the users.  So far, I haven’t tried this technique, because I have no been able to connect as much with the community with my busy schedule.  Another means of improvement for me!

Tags

As I’m sure you’ve read in other Triond articles articulating tips for additional success, it is extremely important that you embue your articles with relevant tags that can be Googled and read by people from as many places as possible.  I would suggest placing as many relevant tags as possible, and once your article has been published and gotten some views, try to Google it and see how long it takes to find your article.  Now, try this with other content that is listed at “hot” and see how long it takes you.  This is just as much as a “Promotion” problem as a tag problem–these things are not mutually exclusive.  If the tags on your content cannot be adequately searched for, then people who don’t read your blog, don’t use stumble and other networking sites are not going to be able to find you.  It’s just as important to establish niches on Triond as it is to attract people who might not have found you otherwise.  I’ve been trying to work on the “searchability” of my articles since I joined Triond–which wasn’t that long ago.

Promotion

Again, in my opinion, the single most important think you can do with your content is to promote it.  No matter how little content you have or how poor you believe the quality to be.  Undoubtedly, the more frequently one produces content, the more practice one has as to what works stylistically and tactfully.  There are a few ways you can actively promote your work–and even ways you can let your articles virtually promote themselves. 

A few of the suggestions on other “Tips” articles has been to use social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon, Technorati, Digg, Facebook, etc.  Go for it.  Use all of them.  They certainly help get the word out there.  On the other hand, if you’re looking for substantial comments on your articles (especially if you’re a creative writer), you may not be able to get that from mere stumbles or clicks.  It will help your revenue, but it won’t provide any helpful criticism–if that’s what you’re looking for.  If you’re a creative writer looking for criticism, I would suggest posting your stories on writing forums/groups that specialize in such, with the occasional stumble here and click there that would surely help to benefit you monetarily as well…

Another way to help promote your content is to start a blog.  I know at times it seems blogging is so “passe,” but it actually helps to get people to feel a deeper connection to your work.  They get to know you (or your ideals) and then they find an interest in the content you produce; thus, gaining yourself another kind of niche outside of the Triond community.  With Blogger, you can add various kind of HTML to the page and include various social networking subscriptions to your comments–killing many birds with just one stone.  In addition, if you really find yourself passionate about the blogging community, you can join sites like Blog Catalog that help you favorite blogs of interest, join groups, and get in contact with other bloggers from all over the place.  So, whether you’re interested in starting a monetized blog for promotional or personal purposes, you can connect with more people who will undoubtedly provide you with more readership.

One tip that will seem quite obvious–even though I have yet to utilize it myself–is to have your content promote itself by having time sensitive content.  When Halloween starts rolling around, produce content about costumes, haunted houses, or scary animals.  When Thanksgiving/Christmas gets near, start publishing content about family gatherings, toy reviews, shopping tips, etc.  Once Valentine’s Day makes an appearance, produce articles about flowers, gifts for her/him, love, relationships, and all that good stuff.  What do I mean when I say your content is promoting itself?  Well, the arrival of these holidays prompts people to search for themselves, but if they don’t have to search (if you’ve befriended people with similar interests on Triond) then their “Friends’ News” will supply them with all the holiday information they could want.

Well, I hope these beginner’s tips have been of some help.  I will continue to update it as I find more useful things to share with other beginners–or even old timers who could use some article rejuvenation!  Happy writing.