Corbin Doing His Thing (PAX11)

Ever since the Internet became such an important aspect of our daily lives, there has been a need for good quality web content. Blogs exploded onto the scene and they were quickly followed by professional blogs that operated not unlike conventional magazines. They gained paid staff, interns and editorial calendars. This rapid growth boded well for freelance writers like me, because it meant that work was readily available.

Of course, many of these “professional” blogs pay peanuts or nothing at all to their writers, but there are enough out there that take themselves seriously. They pay their writers fairly and they get some great content in exchange. Of course, the Internet evolves too and it was only a few short years ago that two major trends started to emerge. First, we started to see more social networks and microblogging platforms. People turned to Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr to post their updates. Some people said this would mark the end of the personal blog, but I’m still here. And so are other bloggers.

The other major trend was the rise of video. More people now have much higher speed Internet access and, thus, high-resolution video is much more of a possibility. We see more videos on YouTube, more video blogging (vlogging) and more video coverage. At first, this may feel like a threat to the article writer. Why would you put together a 1,000 word piece on a subject, when you could just as easily post a five-minute video instead?

Words, Words, Words…

The fact of the matter is that well-crafted words, no matter of the medium, are still incredibly valued and valuable. You could be reading the article on a website, in a newspaper or in a book, but someone had to write those words. Not surprisingly, a lot of video content is “off the cuff,” but a lot of it is also scripted. And someone had to write that script.

I’m currently working with Corbin Tomkinson of Solid State Pictures on the revamp of their website and a big part of this is copywriting. Some of it will be visible text on the different pages, but another part of it has to do with helping to write the video content too. You may have seen some of Corbin’s work in the MEGATechNews YouTube channel. You may have also noticed that many of those videos are then posted on the MEGATechNews website, supplemented by actual write-ups of varying length.

Undeniably, video is a great medium, but it will not replace the work of the writer. Our role may change and how the words are utilized may transform, but those well-crafted words still matter.

Working on Versatility

Decades ago, people said that radio would die with the rise of television. While radio plays a smaller role today than it did yesterday, it’s still around. Many of the people who may have otherwise worked in radio are now working in television, but they still utilize many of the same talents. From the perspective of a writer, it’s the same when it comes to the rise of video content on the Internet. It’s there, but it’s not going to make your job obsolete. You just have to adapt to the new environment.

This is why one of the best pieces of professional advice, and this applies to people from all industries and niches, is that you should always consider broadening your skill set. This doesn’t mean that you should aim to be a Jack of all trades, per se, but it does mean that you should learn to be versatile. Learn to adapt your skills, talents and expertise in new and valuable ways.