Edward Weiss writes:

As far as quality over quantity, I don’t know if it matters right now. I’m speaking about Google. Many of my EzineArticles articles are now being indexed in the top 10 position for the keywords they contain in the title. Why now? I assume they are giving priority to sites that display Google ads so they can make more money during the holidays.

Anyone else notice this? (Not that I’m complaining. The more EzineArticles articles I can get in Googles top 10, the better!)

[Reply]

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen writes:

WOW! and more WOW’S!!

I just got my BEAUTIFUL MUG from EzineArticles! I even got candy inside my mug w/ a note that is actually signed by you, Chris…. such wonderful attention to detail.

I mean WOW!!

I am just stunned at how COOL EzineArticles is for sending these out to their authors!

As if I don’t benefit enough already just by having my articles published by EzineArticles.

WOW… I just can’t say it enough.

I wrote my webmaster about receiving your generous gift and her response was:

“I just love people who do business right”

I second that!

THANK YOU!

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen
Platinum-level author

[Reply]

Lance Winslow writes:

I would like to speak to Edward Mills comment and say “YES” this happens all the time with quality articles. I have found my articles published in Trade Journals, many many times and it really generates a lot of interest, emails and calls. I am also finding more and more of my articles, some that are over a year old, end up in Newspapers, as I track Google News Alerts for my own name to see where they get published. I recommend people track their names for Google News, Forum and Blog Alerts too. It is amazing where all these articles end up, it is a pleasant surprise to realize how much this information is viewed. An article in a 125,000 circulation is indeed excellent and expect many more like that, as long as the quality is up there these articles will fly and like nothing else!

[Reply]

Christopher M. Knight writes:

As a tip to further Lance’s thought:

Use both the free Google news/web/blog alerts AND use the fee-based service called “Google Alerts.”

[Reply]

Lance Winslow writes:

Great tip Chris, I found the “Fee” service too, piece of cake, that was easy enough. I must say that on the Blog Alerts I see at least two to five articles show up per day and about every other week or so one in some newspaper or Trade Journal of some type. Not to mention all the websites, ezines, forums, etc. My publisher article captures is now 88,000 or something like that and my article views are something like 3,283,000 and expect about 4 million by end of the first quarter in 2007. I think many article authors have no real clue the power of the syndication that this site offers, it is amazing, no it is Unbelievable the massive exposure. It is truly insane.

[Reply]

Thad writes:

Here is my problem with the whole “quality” thing. Everybody has a different point of view of what quality is and some people spend way too much time trying to make their 1 article perfect which if you are succesful and have a system great.
Unfortunately there are a lot of ppeople with great information to give but dont because it doesnt meet there standard of quality.
I say put whatever you got out there and continue to work on improving your “quality” article after article until you are successful enough and getting enough traffic to begin to become more restrictive

[Reply]

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen writes:

Picasso sold art scribbled on a napkin… that was Picasso AFTER he reached fame status.

We compete with the WHOLE WORLD on the internet.

If someone reads something that I wrote and sees little value in it because it is poorly written, why would they want to read anything else I write?

That stuff is going to follow me around.

I am an artist and a writer. I improve everyday because I push myself in that direction. If I accept mediocre in myself because I want quantity I don’t think I will grow.

I MUST grow because as I said, I compete with the WHOLE WORLD.

[Reply]

Thad writes:

I agree that garbage is garbage but if you have 3 great works published on ezine and 200 articles that you are still working on because they are garbage you will not be as successful as the guy who puts up all 203 articles and continues to update those that he thinks arent worthy.
Mcdonalds is crappy food but they still manage to sale millions of burgers a day.
As for Picasso anything he had before or after he became Picasso sold.
If you keep throwing stuff out there something is bound to stick sooner or later.
I am not saying just put out garbage but put out all your work andwork on it online instead of off

[Reply]

Christopher M. Knight writes:

Kathy said, “I MUST grow because as I said, I compete with the WHOLE WORLD.”

I agree you must grow, but you are not competing with the WHOLE world… but rather, you are competing with everyone else in the same niche that you write articles in.

Some niches have huge “SUPPLY” side equation but little DEMAND whereas high DEMAND niches (mortgage refinancing for example) also have high SUPPLY and thus, to break through to the top, you must exceed your competitors reach to make a dent in attracting the attention of the high DEMAND marketplace…. this is where it begs the question if you should focus on the long tail instead of the “head” of the tail for a high demand niche…

[Reply]

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen writes:

Point well taken. I think in the end we would agree on a lot Thad.

But! I still maintain that GROWTH is impossible without the bar being held high, because the bar whether we recognize it or not is high. We compete with… the WHOLE STINKIN’ PLANET!

Maybe this works for ‘you’ because you have drive and you go back and improve on what you have done. I have stacks of canvases that I have painted over. I believe that I saw flaws because of my efforts to grow and improve.

I am just not comfortable with the ‘premise’ of quantity over quality. I am an artist and maybe that is the difference. Perhaps I am missing something here. I only know that if I was pumping out art on a paper napkin I would not be competing, because I am not Picasso….YET!

Yes McDonalds has sold a lot of burgers. Yes, they have indeed made a lot of money. I guess I just answered my own question? About what I was missing?

My goal is to be a good writer and a good artist and maybe I am a bit pie in the sky to think that is enough. I know that marketing is 3/4 of the ballgame. I struggle to find my way there. I write articles and read all I can. I guess your input as well as everyone else who has addressed this subject has a valid point. I get it. I will however still aim to compete and raise that bar of potential in myself, that standard is the most important to me. I don’t want to be McDonalds I want to be proud of what I do.

[Reply]

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen writes:

Chris……OK.. MY NICHE on the WHOLE PLANET.

I feel like it seems as if I am trying to be argumentative. I am not. I am trying to understand while still maintaining what is important to me.

I don’t understand this:

“this is where it begs the question if you should focus on the long tail instead of the ‚¬“head‚¬ of the tail for a high demand niche!”

??

[Reply]

Edward Weiss writes:

Completely agree with Thad on the point of quantity over quality. I’m an “artist” too and my philosophy is process over product.

When I write an article, I could care less if it’s perfect. Why? Because when my target audience reads it, they realize I’m just a person. They get the real me and since they are really “buying” me and my philosphy first, it works. If I waited until I wrote the perfect article, I’d never have anything.

Proverb: “He who hesitates is lost”

[Reply]

Thad writes:

Kathy it is important to raise the bar all I am saying is that if you fall underneath the bar in your opinion still put it out there because as you said you are competing with the whole world and therefore the whole world is looking at you only if you have something out there.
You are making the assumption that your bar is the standard in which the whole world sees when in reality it is only you who sees it.
Some peoples bar is going to be higher than yours while others is going to be lower.
If your art and writing is for your own personal fulfilment then take down your website throw close your art shop and stop writing to EzineArticles.
If however your art and writing is for the world to see continue to put ALL your works on your website submit what you got to EzineArticles and continue to raise the bar in your next work

[Reply]

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen writes:

I am extremely prolific and put most artists that I know to shame, translation: I pump out the work, I write, I paint, I sculpt. I get that part so I just need to clear that up so that my points thus far are not considered invalid.

With that said I accept what you are all getting at. It has not gone over my head. I do see the validity in getting articles out there in quantity to attract attention and create a buzz or I wouldn’t be doing it. My search engine tells me I am headed in the right direction in submitting articles. I understand more because of this discussion. I admit it!!

My choice is to achieve the potential I know I have available to me because it meets my passion. I accept what is presented here as an avenue to meet my goal which is to be successful at marketing myself and my product.

I do in fact know that I LEARN from pumping out the art and articles. I put that on the back burner in this discussion because it seemed to void mastering ones craft.

Ed:

I KNOW I should let this go by but…

I checked out your work. Please forgive me but there is a reason they don’t care what you write about regarding your paintings. I know, because I have a series of ‘Erotica” as well. People who purchase my erotica paintings anyway, don’t care about my ‘quality’ of thinking.

[Reply]

Lance Winslow writes:

Personally, I have had my feelings hurt when people say that because my quantity is so high 10,000 articles in 18-months or so, that my quality must really suck. And people say that they could write just as many articles as me if they did not care about quality. That simply is not so. Very few people can churn out 8,000 to 18,600 words per day consistently; they just cannot do it. Even if their articles were all horrible, they could not do it. Their brains cannot stay that focused; they can’t do it. No matter how hard they try they could never do it. Do you know how I know this? Well out of 40,000 authors here alone, no one else has and no one else on the entire Internet ever has and with almost 7 Billion People on the Planet if someone could have, then they would have.

Indeed people have told me there is no way anyone could write that many articles by themselves. They have accused me of being a team of 10-writers, but I am just me. In fact I was accused of being multiple writers when I only had 400 articles, by a well-known author, copywriter and editor here who also writes articles who now has about 200 themselves.

Folks have told me that I do not know what I am talking about, yet that is not so either, as have read more books, white papers, trade journals, studies, articles and news than anyone else here and have had experiences, observations and have been a doer, all my life, not a writer, I have been doing, well until now, now in retirement I do a little writing. Quite frankly, I take this issue personally, because having the most articles ever written in the history of the Internet, it seems some of this hostility is towards me and I feel it is an excuse for those with writer’s block, who procrastinate or are on Prozac.

When people criticize quantity writers and say that their quality sucks, I think that sure some of my articles are lacking in some way, but most are good and with over 3 million articles views, 88,000 article publisher pickups and so many hits to my website, I had to remove most of my byline links from my articles, it was crashing my site. Those already in syndication, provide more than I will ever need. Regarding quality of articles? Hmm, well I can hold my own with anyone now, due to all the practice and I taught myself to write by writing articles.

If your articles are masterpieces great, but I find, many folks who say they care about quality not quantity have good articles, but not award winners. In fact it seems to be an excuse kind of. After all it is not an either or situation. You should focus on Quality and Quantity both. I found by writing lots of articles, I got lots of practice and thus, I got to ‚¬“The Both‚¬ perhaps using a different mindset, but in the end, my stats show, I have won. I find the same excuse when people say; ‚¬“I care about the quality of my product, not making money!‚¬ Great, good for you, but why are you even in business then?

After all this practice I can now whip out a quality article very quickly and spend an extra 10-minutes editing and do 2-3 per hour or write 3-4 decent articles an hour or 4-6 quantity articles per hour with no editing and perhaps not even a read thru, but they are passable.

I think those who condemn those who write quantity, need to look in the mirror and run their own race, in other words unless you are writing every single article absolutely perfect, then you have no basis to criticize, in other words; Be Quiet. And if you are perfect with every article, then let’s compare stats and who is winning in the article marketing game. Ten let us ask; if you are writing only a few articles and spending that much time, then why are you doing it, if it is not pulling for you the way it should or as much as you wish it could? You see there is nothing wrong with; Results!

Now to the point someone mentioned; ‚¬“I want my customers to know I am a quality person and quality products!‚¬ Yes, good point but last week on the Internet the number one search was; Britney Spears Crotch Shot. And so let’s get real, about Internet Traffic shall we? If you are looking for a different level of clientele, then that should be considered for your targeted traffic and write your articles at the quality level you feel to best cater to that clientele. But do not kid yourself, because I guarantee you that someone buying a $15 million dollar yacht will not care if you have a couple of lines with poor sentence structure, they want information. So, please lets not over blow quality to the point of absurdity and be smart; Focus on Quality and Quantity.

You can be poor and sad; poor and happy; rich and sad; or rich and happy. If you had your choice of all those, which do you choose? Rich and Happy right? Yep, so focus on quality and quantity and be both. Do it now; perhaps of interest?

[Reply]

Edward Weiss writes:

Kathy… huh? I’m not a visual artist. I have no idea what you’re referring to.

[Reply]

Thad writes:

I agree with you Lance in fact you were the inspiration for me to start writing or at least more than I was.
At first I was thinking that either people already knew what I was writing about or that the lack of me get an A or a B in English would somehow come through in my articles.
Then I read some of your articles and found myself thinking I can do that.
In fact it usually takes up all my strength not to write articles on a variety of subjects like you do.
However I have decided for now to focus on a very specific niche and hopefully one day have the amount that you do.
The more I write the more I respect what Lance did at my best so far I have been able to write 20 articles in a week and then find myself done for another week if not weeks.
Right now I am down to about two or three articles a day and the traffic to my site is steadily increasing especially the closer I get to 200 articles.
I find I do much better when I publish at least one article a day so i always keep one to submit for the next day.
Again Lance thanks you are truly an inspiration even if some people find your articles lacking quality it is something that you can always say you were the first to do it.

[Reply]

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen writes:

Ed… I truly apologize. Apparently I mistook you for a visual artist. I am sorry.

I think I got caught up in this whole thing and got carried away protecting my interpretation and relevance to the subject at hand.

So sorry!

ONWARD!

[Reply]

Christopher M. Knight writes:

Kathy,

If you focus on the HEAD of the LONG TAIL, that means you are writing only about topics that the majority of the marketplace within your NICHE wants to read.

If you focus on the LONG TAIL of the LONG TAIL, that means you are writing the majority of your topics are of interest to the sub-topics of your main market without ever writing about topics that would be at the head of the long tail.

Example: If the term “Goddess Art” was the HEAD of your long tail niche, then your long tail terms might include “Art Doll Goddess”, “Fantasy Goddess Sexy Art”, “Goddess Art Print”, “Goddess Art Work”, “Greek Goddess of Art” and so forth.

Sorry, this is a simple concept that I don’t want to make more complicated…

[Reply]

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen writes:

Thank you for the illustration and explanation Chris. I will try to apply it.

Wow, lots to digest about marketing and ezines.

Gads, 10,000 articles in 18-months, obviously Lance is a man of true vision.

Sorry again Ed… egg on Kathy’s face. Didn’t I say I should probably let my comment go by? I just didn’t know why! Should have trusted that instinct.

later alligators

[Reply]

Lance Winslow writes:

Thanks Thad and Kathy for those comments. Thank you Ed also for the kind words and compliments of previous threads. I think the quality debate is vital, so we keep it on the front burner along with the quantity, because both are important and vital to success.

Kathy, I must tell you I just spent 20 minutes on your website going to all the various pages and looking at the art. WOW, now I see why you are so into perfection and quality and see that yes, you definitely understand quantity too, look how many great paintings you have! Impressive indeed.

I would encourage article authors to never let quality to stray from your mind, while concentrating on finding time to write more articles. Perhaps of interest?

[Reply]

Dina at Wordfeeder.com writes:

A Question for Lance:

Lance, You Said:

In fact I was accused of being multiple writers when I only had 400 articles, by a well-known author, copywriter and editor here who also writes articles who now has about 200 themselves.

I fit that description. So, are you talking about me?

If you’re not, then A-OK. But if you are, then we have some kind of misunderstanding here.

If at any point I made ANY reference to multiple authors, I may have been noting the fact that BOTH YOU AND I at one point opted to submit articles under multiple versions of our names.

I did it because I didn’t want my non-copywriting articles minging on the same RSS feed as my copywriting articles.

I would not *accuse* you of anything. And if I did *ask* such a question, which I don’t recall doing so, it’s perfectly legitimate. Teams get things done faster, and there is no fault in having one for article production or any other type of assembly line style work, where you have to keep cranking out product.

It’s interesting that you perceive that as an accusation.

[Reply]

Lance Winslow writes:

Dina,

At the time I had around 700 or so articles; Did you not say this on May 10, 2005?

‚¬“I agree with Ivy’s sentiments that familiarity breeds credibility to some extent. But I also worry that in their haste to quickly throw content up all over the web, some folks are not paying close enough attention to the quality of the articles themselves. I’d like to think that the best authors are being recognized and rewarded in some way (when I come across fantastic articles, I put them in my website newsletter – and I hope others are doing the same). But is there a ‚¬ceiling?’- Maybe not on the web, but in one place at one brief time, yes, I think the article cup may runneth over. To me, it’s a bit odd when a new author suddenly appears and starts posting hundreds of articles at a very rapid pace. It makes me wonder where the articles *really* came from (!) and I may even investigate a bit. I suppose some may really and truly have chronicles of articles of merit. If you do, all I have to say is WOW- but the truth is, as your numbers go up, so do my eyebrows. :) Comment provided May 10, 2005 at 9:40 pm‚¬

At this same time the number 2 person had 200 articles and no one was very close to him. And you indicated that you wanted to ‚¬“Investigate‚¬ those who were high quantity authors. Next here you describe writing under multiple versions of one’s name. The reason I stated to do this, 8 versions of my name was because of the people who attacked the prolific nature of high quantity writers. 2-weeks later that month I posted this;

‚¬“Today I now have over 1000 articles and I see that 1000 is not the upper limit and for all those who said it could not be done, ‚¬“I TOLD YOU SO!‚¬ We should never under estimate or set limits. A quote I quite like is: ‚¬“Those who say it cannot be done, are usually about to be passed by someone who is.‚¬ That some today was me as I passed the 1000 mark. Today it could be you. You can prove the critics wrong. Anyone can. ‚¬“If you think you can’t you are right.‚¬ Maybe YOU can’t, but that has absolutely nothing to do with anyone else. June first is rapidly approaching, by then I will have 100,000 article views in 8-weeks. I will have one million article views in under a year. I will have over 1200 articles posted by June 1st. Set goals, get it done. Show some spirit. Weakness is unbecoming of this species. ‚¬“Can’t‚¬ Who even made up such a word? What were they thinking. How about ‚¬“can and will?‚¬ Think about it.
Comment provided May 24, 2005 at 5:37 am‚¬

It is amazing the amount of attacks one endures as a high-quantity writer, non-professional writer or multi-category article author. I think folks ought to stop attacking quantity and understand that quantity is just as important to online article authors, as is quality. To illustrate these never ending attacks; now I even have someone using my name, as their pen name? I guess when the critics cannot stop you they copy you they cheat (use PLR or software to write articles), when cheating does not beat you then they steal your name too? Humans?

[Reply]

Dina at Wordfeeder.com writes:

Yes Lance, I said that, and let me put extra emphasis on this part:

and I may even investigate a bit. I suppose some may really and truly have chronicles of articles of merit. If you do, all I have to say is WOW- but the truth is, as your numbers go up, so do my eyebrows.

Yes, everything I say in that entire blurb is true if you take it for face value. You for some reason have chosen to insert yourself as the person to whom the remark was “aimed at.”

At the time of this writing, article marketing was relatively new for me, so yes, I was in fact investigating and exploring. I don’t try things out without thoroughly examining first.

And at the time when I wrote that particular statement, an author WHO WAS NOT YOU caught my eye as his submissions were rapidly rising. I looked very closely at his work and noticed he was plagiarizing other people’s articles (!). And at that time, I spoke to Chris, who as it turns out, was already investigating the matter himself.

The author had his membership discontinued. I’m guessing he found other ways to promote himself.

So yes, I said those exact words, and yes, I still stand by my original remark in this thread that no, I never accused you of anything, not outright, and not even subtly.

And also, the quote from me that you have pasted here doesn’t say anything about multiple authors.

One thing that I have learned in my own life is that “reading into other people’s meanings” often gets me in hot water. And that was why I asked you if you were in fact talking about me here – because althought I “suspected” that you were, I wanted the *real truth* from you, and not what could have been me imagining things.

Lance, you and I are alike in more ways that it sometimes seems. :) Keep writing and sharing your info with the world, and no I never doubted your sincerity or the originality of your ideas. Not once. Not EVER.

[Reply]

Thad writes:

Even though you didnt mean Lance when you wrote your piece about investigating anybody who writes “hundreds of articles” and Lance is the only person who has more than 200 articles on ezine it could be easy for him and the other guy who wrote 200 articles to think you were talking about them.
When you dont call out one specific person you call out everybody that fits in that category.
You might not like to mind read but you sure did ask people to mind read your thoughts with that statement

[Reply]

Lance Winslow writes:

Dina,

Yes, I know we are a lot alike than it sometimes appears. In fact I appreciate your integrity, talent and work ethic. Also, you are tough in debate topics too and do not back down to a challenge. Perhaps this is why I truly enjoy debating subjects with you, as it is fun to do a little intellectual sparing with someone who “gets it” and is not oblivious to what is really going on out there. HA!

Meanwhile, indeed I know the person who you are referring too and I totally agree that he was abusing the system and thankfully Chris and Company had the integrity to look into it. The person in question was a problem and destroying the hard fought status and over all integrity of the online article marketing venue. I suppose EzineArticles Team now can spot such culprits and perpetrators very easily as red flags go flying. That is why I like this site and use it for my articles.

Still, at the time of the comment, as you know, I saw this as a ‚¬“blanket statement‚¬ that those who were prolific article authors were to be questioned. Now you too can be considered a high-quantity article writer yourself, so I say Touche! Indeed, I understand your comments better now and thank you for explaining them here and see your point and agree the person you directed your comment too was not me, but rather the gentleman abusing the system, who was violating the spirit of what article marketing really is.

Now today and as we speak, I see other issues on the horizon, namely; I see some of my articles with other peoples names on them around the Internet. Obviously stolen, plagiarized and I see some folks using my real name, as their ‚¬“pen names‚¬ writing stuff, I never wrote and although they say imitation is to be considered ‚¬“Flattery‚¬ you have to wonder sometimes.

Your Friend, Lance

[Reply]

Dina at Wordfeeder.com writes:

Well, maybe I did Thad. :) And that was why I qualified my statement. But truly I’m not accusing anyone outright, in that paragraph.

Like I said, at the time I was very curious about article marketing and really examining who was doing what and how it was working for them, output, link proliferation, and such. I guess I was a bit shocked at what I had found with that one plagiarizing fellow.

And in noticing Lance’s name at the top, I most certainly learned all about him and what he knew! I think you can honestly tell a lot about people, just from reading their articles. I could tell immediately that Winslow was an “honest” article marketer, meaning he wasn’t plagiarizing or doing anything sleazy. But it was true that he made me *look at him* because he rose up so quickly.

It is interested for me now, watching other “newish” article marketers go through the same cycles of discovery that I went through when I was in my exploratory and learning phase. Not that I ever stop exploring or learning, but it’s a different perspective now. I identify with a lot of what Audrey says on this blog, although she’s producing at a much faster rate than I ever did.

I watch authors catching “article fever” and becoming super-motivated, or amazed at the increase in traffic, and I relive my intense fascination all over again!

[Reply]

Lance Winslow writes:

Dina,

You make a really great comment about “The New Article Marketers” and how they are super-motivated and fast movers. Indeed, I feel the same way and think it would be great to have a “Mentoring Club” where many article authors who have accomplished so much could assist “The New Article Marketers” to reach their goals and dreams too.

I know you have done so much with your eBook on article marketing and even created a “Web Content Day” and maybe we should expand this to include an “Article Author Mentoring Program?”

Thus helping article authors steadily improve their quality, while boosting their confidence and ability to promote production and quantity simultaneously?

Audrey is a great example of someone who is “highly motivated” and working to make her articles better and better with each one, while still maintaining an unbelievable pace. I can attest it is not easy to both. It is very difficult to put out quantity and keep the quality high at the same time. And again in life it is much about balance too, as Kathy, Thad and Ed all seem to be pointing too.

I suppose as a top editor of content and a top online article writer that you Dina, are leaning really hard on the quality side, yet you have mastered the output, which is a testament to your strong will and personal character. Your ‚¬“next to perfect articles‚¬ do humble an article author like me and give me a heck of a challenge. You have set that bar pretty high.

What if we take the best quality (your strategies) and the best production techniques (my strategies) and merge them into a ‚¬“hypersonic article author strategy‚¬ for the up and coming superstars. Like taking a Kathy, Thad and Audrey and combining the best of both and then helping all the next article authors? You know take the individuality of each author with their unique passion for what they are writing about and show them all simple strategies to help them achieve more. Let them set the goals, subjects and where they wish to be within the borders of the balance between great Quality and higher output?

Not suggesting re-inventing the wheel, more adding on a set of wings and propeller to their efforts? It might be a fun project? And everyone wins, because higher quality articles, means more status in the online article marketing venue and thus more qualified traffic and better syndication. Thinking out loud here as always? Perhaps of interest?

[Reply]

Thad writes:

That is definetly a good idea Lance because part of the problem with “quality” articles is that its a nominilization and there is no standard for quality online.
If someone were able to put it in a box I think that they would have a great product on their hands and at the least be able to help so many people who struggle with thei idea of writing a quality article.

[Reply]

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen writes:

Lance,

Thank you for your very gracious comment about my art and taking the time to review it. What a lovely man.

Kathy

[Reply]

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen writes:

Wow, I just read all the comments I missed after checking out yesterday.

Me, me, me. My hand is certainly raised at any possibility of being mentored.

Creating fresh art and marketing it myself is often overwhelming. I am not only trying to jump through the hoops but trying to figure what and where those hoops are.

I am convinced that artists who still rely on galleries are going to be left in the dust. This is what prompted me to write articles. At first I wrote about unrelated things because I just didn’t get it. I still did it though because my web-master said it was a good idea. When I started, Google showed maybe 300 entries as I typed in my name. Now it is at about 1,400, I attribute much of that to posting my articles on EzineArticles and one other one. 1,400 is not near enough though so of course I plot on.

A footnote in this conversation on quality verses quantity; I had a souvenir pottery business for 20 years. I shipped 300- 500 wheel thrown, hand sculpted mugs and steins a day to National Parks, Disney World, J C Penny and mom and pop stores. I had 8 contracted workers. My prerequisite for hiring and training them was not their quality of work, it was their reliability. Quality I knew would indeed come in time… after quantity.

I have appointments to meet today. I will read what all you lovely people write later.

Thank you all for provoking thought, it may bristle up but in the end solutions are found.

Kathy

[Reply]

Edward Mills writes:

Hi All
Chris, a much belated thank you for the recognition. For some reason, I didn’t get pinged when you posted this. I only found it when I was looking through my stats.

What an incredible thread this is. I’ve just managed to skim it and gotten some great insights.

I’d like to add on a somewhat related tangent, that I really look at my blog as the venue for me to explore ideas without as much concern for quality. Sure I want my posts to be good – and I think most of them are pretty decent – but I don’t put nearly the amount of time and effort into polishing them that I put into my EzineArticles.

There is a sense of freedom in being able to blog without such a heavy weight of perfectionism bearing down on me. There is a sense of free-flowing creativity that comes when I’m writing a blog article.

I wonder how those of you with blogs feel.

Thanks again, and happy holidays!
Ed

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