Writing Articles Comes Second

When I was a kid I knew all of the vital statistics of my hometown team, the Chicago White Sox.

Now, I like following the price fluctuations of various stocks.

Somewhere in my brain there is a love of numbers. I just like to track them.

I suppose that why, in part. I like writing for Ezines. Unlike so many areas of marketing and business, Ezines provide you with great statistics. You can see, at a glance, which articles are being read, being picked up by other web sites, and of course, you can track your productivity against your peer group of writers.

And if you're a secret quant nerd, which I think I must be on some level, the access, 24/7 to all of this data, and then some, is nothing less than a narcotic.

And this is exactly what you need to guard against, unless you are independently wealthy and all you wish to do is write and post articles.

I have a different life; I am a working consultant.

If I don't get clients, I don't eat. So, glorious as it is, writing articles comes second, and a distant one at that, to doing something that brings in cash.

Yes, there's an indirect link between writing pieces such as this one, and finding a payday. I know my over 500 articles are bringing me a certain amount of notoriety and boosting my rankings in search engines.

But I can't say they bring me profitable business, at least not directly.

So, when push comes to shove, articles come after less subtle forms of marketing such as direct mail, and telephone selling.

If you are one of my 20,500 peers at this Ezine that is reading this meditation, do yourself a favor.

Don't become needlessly intoxicated by seeing your name in print.

These articles won't pay your bills. Keep doing what does it, and then get to your writing second.