Associated Content Tip of the Day 31 Oct 2007: More on Topic Focus

The Associated Content Tip of the Day for 18 Oct 2007 was Topic Focus.  There I suggested that contributor to AC need to slice their topics into finer and finer details.  Doing so will prevent the dreaded “topic to general” rejection from AC.  Since writing that, several have asked me privately for more examples of “topic slicing.”

The first thing that came to mind was to send them over to ST’s page at Associated Content.   ST has been around the block with AC since joining back in July 2006.  He’s an ex-lawyer (thank God for the ex part) and now a full-time freelance writer.  More over ST is the king of topic slicing.  He has mastered the skill of devolving a generalized topic into articles that focus on one, tight aspect.  This is what AC is looking for and ST has figured out how to sell it to them.

Take the topic of horses.  Seems pretty hum-drum and not dollar-worthy until you start thinking about all the different things you have to know when you own a horse.  Obviously, riding comes to mind first, but when you start slicing care, feeding, training, buying, selling, and other horse-related necessities, a plethora of articles fall out.

Here’s a sample of what ST did with his horse sense.

1. Equine Escape Artists: How to Keep Your Horse Contained
2. Deworming Your Horse
3. 7 Time-Saving Tips for Horse Shows
4. Tips for Buying a Horse on the Internet
5. Top Five Horse Breeds for Jumping
6. Tips for Selling Your Horse on the Internet
7. Trail Riding Safety: How to Enjoy Horses Safely on Vacation
8. Horse Owner Tips: How to Choose a Dressage Saddle
9. Tips for Traveling with Your Horse in the Summer
10. Horses & ATV Safety: Riding on a Shared Trail
11. Stable Management Tips: How to Reduce Dust at the Barn
12. Is Your Horse Trailer Road-Worthy?
13. How to Find a Quality Barn & Breakfast
14. Horse Care Tips - Returning a Broodmare to Work After Foaling
15. Should You Let Friends and Family Members Ride Your Horse?
16. Horseback Riding Students: How You Can Get Credit for High School P.E. Classes
17. What’s Your Horse Saying? - Interpreting Horse Language
18. Teaching Your Horse “Whoa”: How to Stop Your Horse on a Dime
19. Tips for Riding Your Horse on the Street
20. Stable Maintenance Tips: Win the Battle Against Summer Stable Flies
21. Why Horses Kick
22. How to Safely Pasture-Board Your Horse During the Summer
23. You Can Lead a Horse to Water - Perfect and Easy Equestrian Drink
24. How to Store Hay for the Winter
25. Tips on Developing Proper Head Carriage in the Green Horse
26. Why Does Your Horse Have a Sore Back?
27. Equestrian Sports Guide: Preparing for Your First Combined Training Event
28. Is Your Senior Horse at Risk for Heaves?
29. Night Rides: Trusting Your Horse’s Night Vision
30. Understanding Your Horse’s Hearing
31. How to Disinfect a Foaling Stall
32. How to Handle Horse Head Injuries
33. Alternative Healthcare for Horses
34. How to Wrap Your Horse’s Hoof
35. Does Your Horse Need Horseshoes?
36. Equine Insurance: How Valuable is Your Horse?
37. Keeping Your Horse’s Coat White
38. How to Get Your Horse Used to Clippers
39. How to Stop Your Horse from Rearing
40. How to Care for Your Horse’s Abscessed Hoof
41. How Race Horses Are Trained
42. Top Five Horse Breeds for Children
43. Does Your Child Need a Pony or a Horse?
44. When You Should Call the Vet for Your Horse
45. Guide to Colic Surgery for Horses
46. Turn Your Love of Horses into a Career
47. How to Improve Your Horse’s Style Over Fences
48. Improve Your Horse’s Balance with Counter Canter
49. Caring for Your Horse’s Boots & Wraps
50. Leg Protection Options for Young Horses
51. Does Your Horse Need a Chiropractor?
52. Recognizing Learning Ability in Horses
53. Tips for Medicating Your Horse
54. How to Choose Hay for Your Horse
55. Top Horse Stables in Houston, Texas
56. How to Desensitize Your Horse
57. Does Your Horse Need a Martingale or Tie-Down?
58. Teach Your Horse to Bow, Paw and Perform Other Cool Tricks
59. Does Your Horse Cross-Fire?
60. How to Properly Clean a Horse’s Stall
61. Does Your Horse Sweat Enough?
62. How to Handle a Stallion
63. How to Catch a Horse in the Pasture
64. Should You Board Your Horse or Build Your Own Barn?
65. Tips for Riding Your Horse Bareback
66. How to Increase Your Horse’s Agility
67. How to Choose a Bit for Your Energetic Horse
68. How to Lunge Your Horse
69. How Much Should You Pay for Horse Training?
70. How to Keep Your Child Safe for Horseback Riding Lessons
71. Introduction to Endurance Horseback Riding

That’s 71 articles all centered around horses, but each with it’s own very tightly focused theme.  Why is this important?

• You only have 400-800 words to really get your point across.  More than 1,000 and you’ll probably lose your reader.  Staying on target with a tight theme will wrap up your article quickly.
• With the keywords in your title, you’re going to be picked up in more searches. It is unlikely that someone goes to Google and types “horse.”  It is likely that they type “horse stable clean” or “cleaning horse stables”.
• AC can place ads more easily when you have tight topics.  It gives AC the ability to put not only ads for horse care, but horse equipment, training, veterinary services, etc.  If AC can’t place ads, therefore not make money with your article, they won’t pay you for it.

I hope this example shows the importance of mincing your ideas down to tiny bits.  Once you have pieces, it is easy to assemble a article that AC will pony up the bucks for.  (yes, you may groan at the pun).

Holiday Daze

Having just come off my Columbus Day blockbuster (and by blockbuster I mean AC paid me a couple of bucks for it), I got to looking at some of my older articles with holiday themes for the up-coming season. Here’s what I found, dusted off, and present for your strong disapproval.

Top Ten Gift Ideas for Zombies >> This could work for Halloween or as a guide for Christmas shopping. You know they are coming back…for the holidays. You don’t want to donate your brain, so buy them this!

Anti-Psychic for Hire >> A fun Halloween romp. Learn my dirty secret and how I started a lucrative business. Are you haunted by ghosts? Does unexplainable fear run your life? Are supernatural powers out to get you? Hire the Anti-Psychic today and reclaim your life if not your sofa.

A Handy Guide to Surviving Thanksgiving >> Thanksgiving can be exhausting, but these tips will get you through the day, especially if family is coming. Memories, food, and fuzzy memories await.

New Christmas Songs >> Tired of singing the same old Christmas carols? I’ve rewritten some of the old standbys with new lyrics in the spirit of Christmas, joy, love and in memory of Tom Cruise (inarguably the worst actor ever and a man who supplies endless fodder for ridicule).

Holiday Shopping Hints or How to Serve Your Country >> These are simple rules to make your holiday shopping experience better. Learn why everyone should be compelled to serve their country either in the military, the Peace Core, or behind the retail counter at least once in their life. You’ll learn so much about yourself.

And just for some non-comic relief:

When Veteran’s Day is Personal >> Soldiers are a breed apart. We would not enjoy our freedoms without their sacrifices. One day of remembrance each year is not enough. I remember my soldier 365 days a year. Here is why. Nothing humorous to read here. But since Veteran’s Day is also coming up, I thought it proper to include my very personal ode to Dad.

Associated Content Tip of the Day 18 Oct 2007: Topic Focus

I see way too many broad topics at Associated Content. That’s fine if your reward for writing is seeing your words on the screen. If you’re looking for AC to pay for your writing, you have to keep your article on track…one track.

Don’t wander off topic. Don’t add new topics to the article halfway down page two. And here’s the real tip of the day: think out side the box.

Slice your topic into tiny, focused topics. Don’t even think once that “Things to see in Washington D.C.” will attract any money from AC. Maybe, just maybe, “Top Ten Smithsonian Exhibits” will.

So you took a trip to D.C. You now have 20 different articles to write, not one. Slice that trip up into all the minutia you can.

• Write a review on your hotel.
• Write a visitor’s guide to the D.C. metro. Include the ins and outs of the stations that a tourist would be interested in.
• If you’re going to write about the Smithsonian, put a slant on it. “Best Cheap Food in and around the National Mall” is something every tourist needs.
• If something unique happened on your trip like a special tour of the White House, you better know you have to write that.

Getting the idea yet? Don’t generalize! Get out your magnifying glass and dissect your topic. Boil it down until you’re covering one and only one topic.

New Words are Trickier Than They Look

In my last post, I threw out a question that concerned creating new words for the many forms of coffee. Well today I’ve thought better of that.

A car dealership commercial on the radio got me thinking about how creating new words is very, very tricky. The over-volumed voice was proclaiming a wide selection of “pre-owned” cars. Somewhere, a few years ago, in a marketing galaxy far, far away, some non-English speaking, yet fast-talking salesperson decided “used car” had a derogatory connotation. In an effort to increase sales, s/he came up with “pre-owed” to supplant “used.” Speedy Lips sold the boss on the idea and the commercials began, signs were changed, investments were made, and now there is no going back.

Those who understand the roots of languages, including English, know that the prefix “pre” means “before, prior to” as in prefix: something attached to the beginning of a word to change or enhance its meaning. Little did our mental midget of marketing know that s/he had just created a word that really means “new car.” If something is pre-owned, it has never been owned; it is new. A pre-owned car is a new car by definition of the prefix “pre.”

Now that the car dealerships have co-opted the word for their own designs, we as unwitting consumers have accepted their definition of “previously owned.” Here lies my conflict.

Should language be a democratic exercise? Is natural evolution really the best way for a language to grow? It gives English an amazing ability to adapt to the changing world while simultaneously making English the most difficult language on the planet to learn and/or master. I’m certainly not advocating what the French have. Them and their silly Societé with their pens out, running about, giving an official stamp of approval to every new word behavior. I call your language police a silly thing.

But there is something to be said for the simple clicks and whistles of a bushman in the remote wilds of Africa. It all comes down to communication. I don’t care what language you speak or which alphabet you use, on some level we can all communicate. As long as you get your idea across, does it really matter? Playing word games can make your message more or less ambiguous, but is it really just the thought that counts?

The English Language Let Me Down

As I was preparing to brew my coffee this morning, it struck me how context changes the meaning of an English phrase. It has to be a constant frustration for non-native speakers.

The particular phrase, “making coffee,” started the various voices in my head, none of whom had had their coffee yet, discussing how English doesn’t do coffee justice. What does “making coffee” mean?

In English we use the word coffee to symbolize all the various forms of coffee, the bean, the grounds, and the elixir. Does “making coffee” mean I’m growing a plant? Am I playing God and synthesizing a bean? Am I grinding the beans? Am I assembling the grounds and water in the brewer? Am I some how condensing the dark liquid from the air?

Any native speaker understands that “making coffee” is the act of brewing. That’s where the contextual modifiers come in to play. If I was “growing coffee,” it’s understood I’m working on a plantation. “Grinding coffee” is the act of changing the beans into grounds. Of course, before I can grind, I have to “roast the coffee” to change the raw beens into magic little bullets of life.

Confused? No? Then you are a native English speaker. Yes? The Baptist church up the street offers ESL classes.

English has different words for the various states of water. Solid water is ice. The liquid form is just water. The gaseous form is steam. Those three words encapsulate the properties of water without needed modification. Ice is solid and cold. Steam is gaseous and hot. Why can’t we do the same for coffee?

We need clear, concise words for coffee in all of its glorious states, especially since we mostly talk about coffee before we’ve had a cup to wake us up. That groggy, pre-coffee, morning time is when we most need words that pack a punch because that is the mumbling-twilight of the day.

But what to call them? Creating new words is tricky. What suggestions do you have for the growing bean, the roasted bean, the ground bean, and the liquid of life?

Neglect

Neglect is an ugly word.  The connotations bring images of abandon children and starving puppies to mind.

Hi, My name is Barefoot and I’m neglectful.  I’ve neglected the blog for a few days.  I’ve been distracted with work.  You know work.  It’s that darn four-letter word that pays the mortgage and pesky grocery bill.  I have to focus on it every now and again.

Right now, I’m creating thousands of tiny SQL statements.  Oh, the joy!  Problems solving with programming doesn’t get any better than this.

Then there was the whole Associated Content snafu yesterday.  Seems they miscalculated the cumulative count of hits for the last few weeks.  When caught and corrected, people were understandably bummed that their huge increases weren’t what they were all cracked up to be.  Tempest in a teapot compared to the price of gasoline.

Speaking of gasoline, when did they stop mixing it with ethanol?  My car ran just fine on that and it was so much cheaper.  I hear Brazil makes ethanol out of sugar cane is is 100% energy independent.  Brazil did it.  Why can’t the U.S.?

We have tons and tons of viable material.  We have the technology to build dual-fuel-source cars.  I’m going to have to buy a scooter.  My minivan is just sucking the life out of me.

Celebrating Columbus Day

I hate most holidays.  Most have lost their original meaning.  Nowadays, the only real reason for a holiday is to take a day off work and slack around.   I always felt some holidays were more contrived than others.  Columbus Day was at the top of that list until I realized the true potential of memorializing Christopher Columbus.

Columbus was the ultimate screw-up and slacker.  After much reflection, he is my new hero and I vow to keep Columbus Day sacred henceforth. Here is my journey of discovery into why Columbus Day is the ultimate holiday.