Tara D. Sturm

When we make the decision to be freelance writers, we often dream of being able to write about bigger and greater things—the things we truly love and care about. It sounds all too glamorous: press passes, interviews with experts who can give us insight into the world of our passion, and the glory of seeing our names on a byline wrought with fame and fortune. The reality of the situation, however, is that as freelance writers we don’t always have the freedom to write about our passions.

I have written about everything from concrete polishing to designer handbags to motorcycle parts auctions. When it comes to SEO, we can get incredibly limited by the assignments we take on to pay the bills. Even if you’re writing for a site such as Associated Content ,where your options are opened a bit, to make any money you need to follow the assignments they offer or rely on SEO practices to get page views. I want to say, however, that you are not entirely limited, and the writing you do can make a difference.

As previously stated, not everything I write about is particularly riveting, or even interesting to me. I have, however, sought out assignments and projects that do make a difference. They didn’t just fall into my lap, however. In some cases I had to look for a while. Still in others I had to be creative. Regardless of the means, I still made it a point to do some writing that was beneficial on a community level—even if it means not making quite as much money for that time I used to write it.

Here are some tips for incorporating more meaningful writing into your career, based on my personal experiences:

Put in the time. We all want work that comes to us easily, sure. But to find that gold nugget, we have to keep looking. I managed to find an incredibly rewarding job through oDesk.com, ultimately working for a wonderful organization by the name of Sustainability Guild International. Whereas some of the writing I’m currently doing for them is more marketing-related than research related, supporting the organization is still a great way to give back and get the message out. If you’re looking to seek more meaningful work, one way to do this is by offering your services to nonprofits or similar advocacy groups. Every cause needs exposure, and even if you’re not interviewing starving children in the midst of civil war in Africa, you can be doing your community a great service by helping these organizations get out necessary information.

Be creative. Even when the jobs for social activists groups do not walk through your door, there are ways you can practice writing and online marketing in ways that are meaningful if you approach them the right way. In my freelance writing career, I’ve decided to make my work meaningful by promoting the support of local business. So even if I’m just writing about certain products or services for a particular company, or if I’m just doing restaurant reviews for local blogs and marketing companies, the push to stimulate local economy and support the little guy gives me drive and a purpose in my writing. Understanding business in a creative way is an excellent way to practice community conscious writing without having to sell all your belongings to keep up with the cause.

Be conscious. If you do happen to earn your keep through SEO article writing or something similar, sometimes it’s just important to understand the implications of your writing. Writing such as this is used to sell a product or service. It is obviously to some extent manipulative in nature, as it is intended to be persuasive. I’m not going to turn my nose up and tell you that this is wrong (aside from it being hypocritical, it’s the way business works, and business is what drives the world forward). However, think about what you’re trying to sell. I can’t say I felt I was doing the world a disservice when writing about designer handbags—to be honest, I felt many of them were ugly, and entirely overpriced. So rather than writing about how wonderful these handbags were, I decided to write about how to find the right handbag that would get the most use in a person’s wardrobe. Though perhaps this is still a bit superficial in nature, those people who are interested in articles about handbags obviously already purchase them. Helping them to make an informed purchase that will hopefully save them money in the future certainly helps me sleep at night—and still allows me to make money using effective (and creative) SEO practices.

So don’t beat yourself up if your writing is all business. We’ve all got to make a living. But remember that words are not just words, and there are ways to make a meaningful career for yourself even in the face of a competitive market riddled with demand for high-impact marketing. It can be done! You just have to set your mind to it.