Lance Winslow writes:

Considering I write between 200 and 1,234 articles per month, not including eBooks and I was not invited to this little escapade, I find it alarming and somewhat questionable. 15-articles? Whatever. I am sorry for my attitude but I find this somewhat revealing, certainly nothing to be so proud of. Quite frankly 15 articles in one-month is not a challenge of any reasonable goal. I just posted 36 articles tonight. I started at 4:30 writing and just finished at 12:48. That was 8-hours and 15-minutes, one days work for a normal person. And this was not any contest, this is just normal.

Look I am not pulling rank or detracting on the bes efforts of others here, I am not saying that writing 15-articles a month is not a good thing. I am saying that only 15-articles as a goal is very limited and no wonder they did not invite me. I hereby proclaim this entire event nothing more that PR and certainly Nothing to be proud of. ‘

This article challenge is NOT a real article challenge, how come Greg Hall, Sean Mize, Myself and other kick-but writers were not invited? Oh, to give everyone else a chance? That’s like hosting the Tour de France and purposely not inviting Lance. That is exactly what its like.

No I am not saying it is not a good PR idea to get people to post to an article website that hardly has any articles to get it off the ground, sure, good idea in that regard. But if you want to have real contest, I would BLOW YOU FOLKS AWAY on my worst day. I challenge YOU! Come on Let’s GO!

I feel slighted. Chickens, didn’t even email me? Huh, that’s no real contest. I am not impressed, I want an apology!

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Dina at Wordfeeder.com writes:

Lance, some things you don’t get invited to. You just have to show up. Where’s my personal invitation to jump in the Think Tank, huh??

(Just goofing around here. These writers have employed a productivity strategy that works for them. Let’s give them a hand.)

I’m curious about the population stats of this blog. What percentage are “official” writers by trade? How many are marketers/web business owners who do not also peddle writing services?

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Lance Winslow writes:

Well, it was not very publicized. That is like having the Boston Marathon, but not telling anyone the date, time or where to start. Then a couple of insiders show up and they just jog along and give themselves awards? “Everyone is a Winner” look at us? We win.

Indeed, I believe the strategy concept for productivity is smart, and accolades do make everyone “Feel Good” but still, it does not seem right. I protest.

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Dina at Wordfeeder.com writes:

I DO remember hearing about this, and frankly I have not been paying the best attention to much at all lately other than work.

Lance, I don’t hear whining, do I? I hope not! I expect more from you. Show me the money, brother.

:D

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Lance Winslow writes:

Well it’s just that this post-race publicity here has authors from: Grece, UK, South Africa, Ireland and the US; Atlanta, Chicago, Washington State. It makes it sound like a World-Wide affair, like the Olympic Games of Article Writing or something. I know it is just PR and fluff, and that is all well and good, I guess, and yet, it seem disengenous.

Indeed, I am happy for people to feel good about their writing and improve, good for them, excellent, but if you want to have a contest and promote like this, as if it is the be all end all of the world of online article writing, then do it for real, don’t host the Special Olympics, host the real deal. Compete in the real world.

Well, I sure hope I do not sound like I am whining, because I am more enraged than anything else. Of all the nerve.

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Jeff Herring writes:

On a positive note, congratulations to all that participated in the challenge, especially to those that completed the challenge.

And a special congrats to Deidre Morris and Felicia Slattery, personal mentees who are making the world a better place with their message.

And in the wise words of Forrest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.”

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Christina Sponias writes:

Dear Lance,

I just read your comment by chance!
If we had time to stay so many hours writing like you, we would write much more!

I wrote 38 articles for this challenge and while I was reviewing a report I wrote for APA, while I was finishing writing also another ebook and while I was dealing with several other matters in my offline life.

Besides, my articles are not easy: I write about serious matters. I have to be responsible for the directions I give and explain everything properly.
Articles about mental, psychic and emotional health, depression and other problems cannot be written quickly!
And we have to read them many times so that we’ll be sure that the guidance we are giving is comprehensible and really helpful.

If I would write articles about technology, writing or another similar subject, I would certainly be able to write many articles per day like you!

I’m thinking about writing 5 articles per day in the future, but perhaps it’s not going to be possible because my articles’ quality is more important than anything else. I prefer to write a perfect article (that will be in Google’s first page/paragraph) in 3 hours than to write 10 weaker articles in the same period of time.

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Lance Winslow writes:

I completely disagree with every thing you have said here. Because, I also write on extremely tricky topics and if you know your stuff, it should be easy for you to write them quickly, especially since you write so much and are an excellent author with all your writing experience.

Additionally, for a person who writes in your field all the time, you should be able to do this. 38 articles in a month is absolutely respectable, if you are busy doing other things. 15-articles is not worthy of accolades for an article writing contest, although for a brand new writer it is an excellent accomplishment.

The number of hits to your articles is really more a factor of a “Catchy, Trendy or Key Word Considered Title” and I believe it has very little if anything to do with the quality of that article. This is not to say that the article should not be excellent, just discussing the reality. But since I disagree with you, but also enjoyed completely going thru your statistics here on ALL your articles the other day, I believe you need some competition to help you write the best articles and as rapidily as possible, so this will be your new on-going challenge.

Real competition is good for you, it really is. Excuses, too busy, cannot handle it and all those other things, even this concept of writer’s block other authors, not you, buy into is hog wash. “Real Competition” makes people better, really. Everyone in that challenge needs real competition. I went thru all the authors here posted above in that challenge to see which titles, types of articles had the most traffic, based on their respective posting dates, considering the seasonality. I learned a lot about things.

Additionally, it is obvious to me that I need to write a book on Article Writing and make it available to all, on all I have learned. Competition in online eBook marketing also makes people better, and well, I expect better, that’s my challenge to those who challenge themselves.

Oh and Christina, you post on nearly every single topic on this board so, it was not by accident, you cannot hide your emotion even though you are a psychologist writer. Let’s all dump the BS, PR Fluff and game playing and compete in the real world, that is how competition makes people better. This challenge was not too challenging, in my humble opinion. I don’t read much into it other than the promoters wishing to add lots of article postings to their website and make a few people feel ALL warm and fuzzy. I really do not see the challenge in that.

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Christina Sponias writes:

I should write that I read your comment by accident because I wanted to read the comments of Chris’ article of today.
I clicked in the wrong place and saw your comment.

No! Now that I remember how it exactly happened, I wanted to read Chris’ new article and then I saw that there were comments in the last article and I clicked to see them. Then I read your comment and I forgot Chris’ new article!

But later I came back to it.

I have to leave my comments in this blog everyday. Otherwise, my webmaster delays and I have many problems in my virtual life!
Everything is strictly connected.

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Kristen King writes:

Thanks for the link love, Chris! :]

Lance, I’m sorry you felt excluded from the Challenge. It’s open to anyone who wants to sign up (which, of course, is free), though it’s more geared for folks who are just getting started with the idea of article marketing, not experienced people like yourself. We do have many more experienced participants, though, and they set personal goals and offer resources and assistance to the newbies. It’s all in good fun and we enjoy doing it. :]

There is more information about the Challenge at http://www.lkarticlechallenge.com, and Suzanne and I promote it on our blogs and through other channels. There is a new Challenge starting in January, and you are more than welcome to join us! If participating in the Challenge itself isn’t really up your alley, you are also welcome to submit guest articles for the Challenge blog to share your article marketing advice and experiences.

And please let us know when your Article Marketing book/ebook is available so we can check it out and spread the word. You can contact me privately through the Challenge website.

Cheers,
Kristen King
Co-Host, LK Article Challenge

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Damaria Senne writes:

Well Lance, I was happy to win the Special Olympics, thanks for your congratulations! You say you read the post-event publicity, so you know I’m not a newbie writer. But you’re right. I am new to article marketing and I was not the only newbie who took part in the challenge. At no stage did the organisers seek to present the challenge as more than it is – a way to teach and encourage inexperienced article writers, or those who need an added incentive to be more productive. And yes, warm and fuzzy got the job done.
Dina, I wouldn’t know about the participant stats, but there were a number of writers in the group. I’m a business journalist and author, and I’m still learning about online business opportunities and marketing. For me, taking the challenge was a crash course is article marketing.

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Dina at Wordfeeder.com writes:

Hi Damaria,

Thanks for the info! I actually was wondering what the stats for THIS blog (EzineArticles.com) are. More and more it’s a writer’s congregation as far as I can see. I know we also have other folks from different areas of business in the mix… but like I said, I’m curious about the actual stats. Like if someone happened to take a survey of who reads this blog and why, I’d definitely take a gander. :)

Sounds like you all had a good time in your writing endeavors. Getting a small group primed for productivity is definitely the way to go.

Dina

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Marion Ryan writes:

Lance

I hope your articles are better researched than the comments you’ve been leaving here.

This wasn’t a competition to see who could write the most articles in 30 days. Clearly, you would have won that. Winning’s all that matters, isn’t it?

I accept your right to the view that this wasn’t what you would call a challenge. Why then are you so mad no-one invited you? And if it wasn’t a challenge, why did so many of the original sign-ups not complete it?

I don’t know how you feel when you complete your 36 articles in one day but I imagine you don’t feel as good as I did after completing 16 in a month.

And I bet you couldn’t achieve what I do in the course of a day!

I don’t know any of the individuals who organised the challenge but they showed me and the other writers respect for each achievement, no matter how small, and encouraged us to write and submit more than we’d have done on our own.

I’m curious as to why you feel you have to write so many articles. Is it all about quantity? You’d be more inspirational if you demonstrated a bit of diplomacy, not to mention support for others less capable than your good self.

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Lance Winslow writes:

Marion,

You have asked a really nice question due to your loving and caring manner, not out of spite or anger “Winning’s all that matters, isn’t it?”

In competition, yes winning is the most important component, you are absolutely correct and in the case of working towards your PB “personal best” then you are competing against “yourself” and thus, achievement is the victory, “winning” and yes, that is what matters.

Your acceptance of my right to view things in the way I choose is irrelevant, such statements are a use of trickery that psychologists use, in this case they do not build bridges, rather tear them down, your condemnation of actual observations is indeed, unworthy of consideration either. If folks who signed up did not complete their personal commitment, they are lazy and weak, as are many in the population – it is a disease.

My dear Marion, I feel GREAT! Everyday, in everyway and you have stated: “And I bet you couldn’t achieve what I do in the course of a day!”

Oh please, and how much are you willing to wager – and how are you going to pay that today?

Now then, I did indicate that it is great for folks to push themselves to greater heights, and I do believe that overcoming the invisible barriers that people set is wonderful. As far as being inspirational, I’ve certainly done more in that category during my life than anyone else I have ever met. Diplomacy is a great skill to have and employ as necessary, although BS is also not much fun to walk thru, so when it is all dried up – I just as soon toss it back.

Thank you so much for bringing up these needed comments and caring so much about how things should be done in this world to insure we all live a beautiful life with deeper understanding and sharing, wrapped in a spectacular bow of political correctness. Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones on this heart felt and meaningful season. May your 2008 bring you all the joy, love and laughter you deserve for being such an awesome individual. May your energy and spirit guide you to a grade place of emotional and uplifting nature. Thank you Marion for all you do, for your writing and your loving ways.

How’s that – Happy now?

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Christina Sponias writes:

I believe Lance wrote his first comment as a provocation to me, because we are following Chris’ articles and always commenting. He saw my name in the list of winners of this article challenge and he wanted to make fun, since we are friends. He really didn’t mean to offend or despise anyone.

Lance, you could be gentle with Marion, who didn’t understand your spirit.

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Lance Winslow writes:

Hey Chistina, you should click on Marion Ryan’s link, she has a Blog that is pretty cool actually. She is an Executive Coach among other talents. She is a pretty good writer. I am pretty busy now, so I will have to go back and read the rest later.

Yes, I wrote my reply to Marion, before I checked out her great work, but now I am a Marion fan, and have subscribed to her Blog. She had a really great post on Libraries there. I am thinking of adopting her “Library Day” concept. It makes total sense. Anyway, got to get back to work.

Talk to you later, and Marion, thanks for your Blog, its really well done, I will read all of it, but it looks like you have quite a bit there to go thru. So, it might take a day or two.

-Lance

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