Will AI Drive Down Freelance Writing Rates?
ChatGPT. I know. I get it. It's a stressor. So were computers, the internet, SEO, Y2K…you get it. There's so much swirling around all the up-and-coming AI tools that I've gotten a ton of emails and questions from writers stress-sweating over what's going to happen to their work and clients.
This week's livestream will go over how AI will affect freelance writing rates, if clients won't be willing to pay as much, how writers and clients will use AI for content marketing and copywriting, and what major factor robots will never be able to replicate.
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Will AI Drive Down Freelance Writing Rates?
Are ChatGPT and other AI tools really driving down freelance writing rates. That's what we're going over today, and I think that this is something that is top of mind, of course, for lots of writers, content marketing writers, freelance writers, freelance content strategists, and this is something that I've gotten a question on Brady regularly, if not weekly or daily, right?
So everybody's kind of thinking. Chat, G P T and all the things that are happening with AI and how those tools will impact freelance writing in general and freelance writing rates. So today we're gonna go over some things that I think are really important to think about when it comes to this topic. So let's go through number one.
So when we're thinking about, um, Hey Marie. Okay, hold on. It just like doesn't wanna participate for a second hold. Okay, let's go. There it is. Is it working? It. Turn on. There we go. It's finally. Okay. So the first thing we're talking about, we're talking about AI and freelance writing rates. So I've gotten a lot of notes about that.
They think that, um, writers think that chat, g p t is gonna drive down rates because clients will then say like, well, why am I gonna hire a writer? I already have this AI tool doing it. Or they're talking about how, um, rates will go down because, Hey, Vicky, I love the. Um, they're talking about rates will go down because, uh, more of the work will be done by AI or, um, that, you know, clients will end up, you know, not accepting higher rates because you're not doing as much work or something crazy like that, which is just nuts.
So it's just nuts. Hey, Vesna. Uh, so for me, when I think about this stuff, I think AI and Chat g p t can be used strategically. I think that they are important tools. I haven't really used them that much recently, um, but I do think that more clients will be interested in them. But I also understand that when you're thinking about content, it's always the same thing.
Like they're always looking. Oh, I have a bare hair on my face. They're always looking for quality content. They're always looking for quality, right? And a lot of times when freelance writers get scared about rates going down, they're already working with clients that don't see the value in working with them, right?
They're already working with clients that are like, oh, if you chop off a hundred words, it, uh, is it a hundred less dollars? Like their view of the landscape is based on these clients who already are red light clients, who already aren't the clients who are invested in quality. Quality content, it will come from humans.
It's been like, we've talked about this before, but storytelling and writing are like the oldest, one of the oldest professions there is, right? So every type of technological advance, uh, advancement or any type of change in culture, Hey Holly, we've always kept storytelling and we've always kept writing.
They keep changing their forms. They keep changing over time, but they're still here. So when I'm getting these questions, it's not from writers who are working with clients who really care about how the work is done to a certain degree or how things are done with quality or the like proper connection to their audience or how that works with their audience taking certain actions.
They're working with clients that are like trying to nickel and dime over the dumbest. And they're working with clients that are just like, oh, I can find someone on Upwork or five to do it cheaper, or I can go to a different country, or I can go do this and find someone to do it cheaper. Fine, go do that.
You have the right to do that. You don't have to work with me. The only reason you're saying that is that you're hoping I come down in price or that you're hoping I don't understand the value of my work. Right. So I don't think AI will affect the decline of freelance writing rates. I don't think AI is going to make freelance writing rates go down.
I think that it will be a strategic tool, just like every other thing that will be in your arsenal. So for example, The good thing is that, or not the good thing, but, well, it is a good thing. So when we think back to when SEO came around, so when SEO started years and years and years ago, there was a similar panic, right?
Everyone was like, oh my gosh, like SEO is gonna ruin writing and we're just gonna lose all of our money in jobs because, Um, SEO is going to like, make everything, uh, robotic or whatever. And that was true at the beginning when SEO came out. There was a ton of keyword stuffing. It was like, how many times, can you repeat this phrase in a blog post?
And there was a ton of ways that people abused seo, but it's changed so much. Right. And even now Google is saying like, Hey, we're prioritizing human first content. Humans are writing it, and it is not. It's not by robots. And I think that this is just kind of like the same thing, right? When people went from typewriter to computers with content, right?
They're like, oh my gosh, it's gonna be too much information, or people will steal it and plagiarize it, or all this stuff. Yeah, some of that happened, but now we have adapted and learned how to make that better, and this will be the same. Your clients might use chat, G P T or other AI tools to better inform their research or better inform an outline or better inform some part of the process.
But I don't think, I just don't think that good clients who want good quality work will use that so much that you won't get paid very well to do it. And if you're really concerned about clients dropping rates, then you're working on projects that are too small. Okay. So like when we talk about this, a lot of times they're like, oh, well I only do two blog posts per month.
Well, yeah. Like if your type of work is pretty simple, then you need to like work on using more complex projects and getting into more complex projects. And I think a lot of times that writers. Stuck in smaller projects and then they're like, oh no, something's coming for my work. Cuz they live in the scarcity that there's just like no other blog post work or no other case study work.
There's oodles and oodles, millions of freelance clients out there. There's millions of them. There's hundreds of thousands of, uh, hundreds of thousands of businesses that you can go work for all over the world that need your. The statistics that you like. If you think that there's like 10% of clients out there who would wi, who are willing to work with you, like just, that would be nuts, right?
It's way higher. And when you're thinking about AI and rates, like no matter what the process is, so let's say like for example, um, I've had clients that use, uh, clear scope or phrase.io or other types of very intensive SEO tools that tell you, um, And then like there's also like tools that'll tell you reading score.
Like what does someone need to be in eighth grade, fourth grade, or college to read this article? What's the, uh, perfect word count. What's the letter grade that you get for meeting all the criteria? What are the key words? What are the headers like? They're already using these super specific tools for SEO and other purposes.
This is just gonna be another tool just like that. It doesn't mean your rates go down like just. Someone gives you a brief and says, do these specific things that doesn't take away from the value of you actually executing it really well. Right? They're working with you because they want that quality of work.
They saw your samples, right? They saw the type of work that you're putting out, and they're like, yes, I want that. And you're like, great. That costs this much. Right? It's like, The difference between, like, you go to the farmer's market and you're like, I wanna support this local farmer. They, uh, they have this really beautiful arugula that I couldn't find at the grocery store.
Yes. It's, you know, um, al almost twice as expensive, but it's really beautiful and I want it, like, I want this thing that's the same process, right? We're not arugula, but like, we're, you know, you know what I mean? Like, we're rich in vitamins. So the deal is that when you're thinking about rates, Uh, your focus should always be on, like pr providing your quality and improving the quality, and improving the complexity of your projects.
Stop doing repetitive content that could be maybe, you know, outsourced to robots and start thinking about more of these projects that take a, a more analysis and more research and more data and strategy. Like there's this. It's just this idea that your work is already infiltrated by a ton of tools.
What's more tools? There's only so many tools you can use on a blog post, right? Like I, I think that if you are of the mind that your clients are gonna be like, no, like we have chat G P T now we don't need you. Or, um, we're gonna cut rates by 50% because Chap GPT is doing the work right? They're already thinking that you are working hourly or you're working like that.
They're saving you time and energy. And most of the time it's not true. Like this is an example. So, um, Vicky is rich in vitamins. Um, yes. And this is the thing is exactly what it is, right? Holly says something, I tell my wealth lab students all the time, right? We are Michelin starred restaurants. We serve Michelin starred tacos.
If you wanna go through the drive-through of Taco Bell, you are more than willing to do. If you want chat G P T and AI tools to come through the drive-through at Taco Bell for a dollar 99 taco, you're more than willing to do that. Absolutely. But it doesn't mean I'm gonna lower my price cuz you want Taco Bell at the Michelin star taco, like you want the Michelin star taco at the Taco Bell rate.
Right? I'm not gonna do that. So you're too, your clients may use these tools, but I think that more often than not, what's gonna happen is the clients who use these. Are going to be clients that aren't the ideal green light clients you want in the first place. Like their focus is either on volume, not quality.
Their focus is on speed. Like how many hours, like how quickly can you do this rather than how well it connects with their audience. Their focus is not on like how this works in. Like the funnel of their content or the funnel of their marketing. Their focus is not on the things that actually convert, right?
Their focus is like on speed and price rather than it being on quality and like actually doing the things that get results, right? And results can be KPIs, key performance indicators, which basically are just the goals or that they get a really good R o i right? Return on investment. So whatever they pay you, they end up getting a really.
And this has been, um, HubSpot talks about this all the time. Like there's a huge, a huge roi, whatever it is, like 3600% or 360% on content marketing, go look it up. But HubSpot does these studies all the time. But when you do content marketing, like actual good content marketing, not like robot garbage or, uh, you know, generated stuff like through ads, uh, you get way, way amazing roi.
So if you are really worried about this, I think you either need to increase your rates, stop working with the clients that are worried about time, or that are like, we're replacing you. Like there's, it's just nuts. Like if you like think about that, like if I go back and I'm like, listen, we're gonna get rid of these stone tablets and we're gonna go to the printing press, which I know it's, there's a big historical gap there.
So they're like, we're getting rid of stone tablets, we're going to the printing press. And everyone was like, no, don't make knowledge more available. Like, don't, don't do this. I just think it's so silly. Like if anything, the price of stuff went up. Like it's, it's just like, let's say. Think about it this way.
Hey Claudia. Um, think about it this way. If everybody is doing the same thing with chat, G P T and AI that they did with seo, it's gonna flood the market with garbage. And then what's gonna happen is your content will easily float to the top, right? Because all of this garbage content will be created because they're using tools to do it.
It's a, I'm telling you, like it's the same process with SEO and with a switch to computers and all of these different, like when people freaked out about y2k. All these different things that people freaked out about. None of it actually, like a lot of it, none of it came true, and two people use the tools to save on the stuff that they're lacking.
Like they don't understand the long term value of it. They're just like, how do we create more content quicker instead of focusing on quality or instead of focusing on kind of like the services. That we offer and the types of content we can create. So this is like, remember if, if you started writing back then, you remember looking at all those keyword stuffed articles, you couldn't even read them.
They were terrible. And I had to do that right. So this is something, I actually haven't talked about this, but I had to do that. I had a couple clients, you know, 10 years ago when I first started, um, that were paying me like, you know, $15 to do stuff. And, uh, a lot of it was like, they were like, yeah, you need to repeat this phrase 10 times.
And I'm like, what? So like, remember that a lot of that content when it first started with seo, it was like very garbagey, very keyword stuffy. They're just like, we just want the Google search engine robot to. Right, but that didn't continue, right? It all kind of phased itself out. It worked in a different way.
So SEO now is this carefully crafted process. And now there are people who get paid giant piles of money just for SEO strategy, good SEO strategy. So the, when you think about rates changing because they're using the robots, maybe you just become a chat gpt and content strategist, and then you make more money by doing this nice harmony of them.
But like, I just think that all of this stuff, like there's going to be a big infiltration of content. Yeah. I think chat G B T is good for specific things. Like I think chat G P T will be used by your clients for different things. So Claudia says it's great for research and I think, Hey Anita. Um, I think that this particular thing, it, it will be useful just like all the SEO tools we use.
Like, it's not that it's taking over your job, it's just another iron in the fire. It's another thing to check out. Anita says that I can still spot a keyword stuffed article to this day. Yeah, it's brutal, right? You catch these articles and you're like, oh no. And the same thing's gonna happen with these AI articles.
And this is kind of, um, leading into, um, I I'm going to use this as like my two things. So hold on one second. So for two, um, So this is gonna lead into like, I think this is what's gonna. When there is, so, like, as our second two part here, um, what's gonna happen is that more and more places, if they use these AI tools, I think they're gonna have to mention it, right?
The same thing that happened with sponsored content. So a for a long time it wa there was like a pretend thing, like, don't, this isn't sponsored content. Like, no, it's not an ad. Or it'd be like baby size font that you can't. Now it says in big, bold letters like this is sponsored content, like this is an ad or whatever.
And I think this will be the same thing. I think that there'll be, uh, like a tag that'll say, Hey, this was generated by ai, or this is. You know, uh, published in part, uh, with help from a tool like chat, G B T, I think they'll have to say that because there's already a bunch of lawsuits, right? With art. So art, like basically they take AI tools and they can copy someone's signature style, right?
So they could redo a Picasso or do a new one, or like an artist who spent years making their own unique brush strokes or how they do stuff that other people can't do. They. Teaching the robot to do it, which is like stealing. And then there's also plagiarism, right? Which is big for us and copyright infringement.
I think that's gonna be a huge problem. Just anytime you're combing the internet. First stuff, and then making your own article, like that's just literally combed from other stuff. That's plagiarism. You're just like taking it and pasting it. Right. And I get it. It's like a complex kind of process, but I, I really believe that it'll go the same way.
There'll be copyright infringement, there'll be other stuff. They'll either have to label it or something will happen. And I just think that that's another reason why our rates won't go down. Like your rates won't go down because your clients are, your clients like don't wanna be caught in a copyright lawsuit.
They don't wanna be caught in these weird situations. They wanna have like generated real content by humans. Right. So yeah. And Anita says she's curious to see how the lawsuits will play out. Me too. Art. Art is, So we'll see how that goes. But, um, I don't know. I just have this feeling that there's a reason why there's tools like Copyscape, right?
There's a reason why Copyscape exists to check for plagiarism, right? And if chat G p T and all these other tools are just scraping, like to create content that's not good. But if your clients, right, like let's say that your clients. Like, let's say this whole thing is working out and your clients aren't willing to pay as much.
They're not your clients. They're not your clients. Right. I just don't think that's a thing. I just, I'm not going to, I'm not gonna back down on the idea that writing and storytelling are like the oldest forms of human communication, and it's one of the best. To help humans and also help them find the tools, product, services that they need, right?
These are really critical steps that humans take. And I just think that if you start getting more clients that are like, no, like we're gonna do this, it's the same. Like just hear it in your mind. Like if someone says, We, you know, you should charge less cuz we can go do this. It's the same thing as someone saying, we can go to Fiver or we can go to Upwork, or we can go to blah blah blah.
Or we can go anywhere else and find someone to do it cheaper. Fine. If price is your thing, cool. Go do that. You are always welcome to do that. We are not the right fit then, but what they want, right? What they want is your Michelin starred taco. They want your Michelin starred taco at Taco Bell. So they think like by basically threatening you that they're gonna go someplace else, that you're gonna be like, oh wait, I'll cut my prices.
Like, please, I'm so desperate for work. Right. And that's the idea that they're carrying. The idea that they're carrying is, you're so desperate for work because you're a writer, you're a starving artist, and you're so desperate that you're just willing to cut down your prices. That's why I say like they don't understand the long-term value of that work.
They care about price, and that's totally fine. If price is their main factor for decision making, cool, go to somebody else. But the fact that they're trying to negotiate with you means they wanna work with you, but they don't understand like they, they think. You will like cave in on the fact that your value is just as good as the taco Bell taco and don't do that.
Right. It's just not, I think that that's like e there's all these like little mind tricks that happen right when we go through negotiations or when we're talking to our clients. And I think it's just kind of nuts to think about, just to think about like that you're arguing with someone who already said like, no, we don't need you.
We'll go to someone else that's cheaper. But then they're like, please come back at this different rate and come work with us, and, oh, you da da, da. Like, go do something else. Then why are you emailing me? Why are we wasting our time? If this is like, if you want it at a different, Go do that. Right. But they don't.
They want your work. They see your clips, they see those samples, they see your writing style, they see who you've written for, right? And they're like, yes, we want you, but we want you at the super discount rate. Not gonna happen, right? Like that's the insanity that sometimes happens. If you're with a client trying to, like, you would never go to a Michelin starred restaurant and be like, why do you not charge?
What's that Taco Bell? Right? Like, it's just crazy. It's crazy. There's a bunch of things that we do negotiate, right? Like here in the US we don't really negotiate for groceries. But at open markets or other places around the world, you'd do that. But here, like you wouldn't go in and say like, I want this bag of orange.
For the, like, I wouldn't go to Whole Foods and say like, I want this bag of oranges for the same price as Walmart. Like they would never negotiate with you on that. Right? It's just kind of crazy and I just feel like you, the really important thing to take away from this, like your clients aren't willing to pay, is to think about like, they're not your client.
They don't get it. They're not on the same wavelength, they're not participating in the value discussion, they. It's, it's like, it's like arguing with someone. So like if you and I, right? If you and I go to an art museum and you see like, so for example, I went to an art museum, um, in Denver one time. This is what I'm thinking of and I saw this really cool buffalo statue, right?
It's this really, uh, like it was bronze or whatever. It was really neat. It was really. But if I thought like me, I was like, man, I would pay a thousand bucks for that buffalo statue. Right? And you were like, who cares? I don't care about this buffalo statue. I like this painting of these flowers. I could never convince you to pay a thousand dollars for that buffalo statue.
Right? It's kind of like that. Like if you don't understand the art, The value like is misplaced, right? It's messed up. So if you are talking to clients who don't understand the art of writing and the value of that and the how that impacts their clients and the marketing funnel and like how people actually interact with content and how that works for them, why are we having this discussion?
Like if you're, you're not talking at the same place. Like this is just this crazy thing. Um, they're not your client. Go find other cl. There's billions of people out there, there. Well, there's millions of clients I know. There are millions of clients available for freelance writers, if not mil. If you won't believe.
Millions. Pick hundreds of thousands. So there's huge piles of clients out there who need your help, who understand value, who are looking for quality, and are looking for the right stuff. They're looking for. Like when they see your clips, they're like, I love that. Let's do that. Right? And you're like, cool.
That costs this much. Right. There is no like weird discussion about all these other things. So with chat, G B T, if someone wants to go do that for all of their stuff and they just want you to like fill in the blanks, that's not your client. Move along. Okay, that's number two. Let's talk about three also.
Um, we should do a quick, so we have our friend here. So let me give you guys a quick pup date while we're in the middle here. Barry had an incident and he has been for over the last week, he's been kind of like in an emergency kind of situation, but now he seems to be getting better and he wanted to be on the livestream today.
I was gonna kick him out, but he decided he wanted to be here, so he's gonna be here today. So he, um, he had an emergency situation. He's 16 and a half years old, and, uh, we really thought here, We really thought that that was 16 and a half would, that was gonna be his final age, but somehow he managed to get better.
I don't know. Like we've talked to our vet and sh and she was like, yeah, we, you know, this is probably it. And uh, we'll take him home, you know, we'll give him some cheeseburgers. We'll give him some steak. We'll give him some. You know, really great last, you know, last kind of meals. Nope, he just powered back up.
So he's about 90% back to what he used to be. Uh, he's has just been improving by some, some sort of magic. He's been improving. Can you go back to your haba hole? Go back to your haba hole boo boo. Go back to your haba hole. Thank you. Yeah, so it's been a rough time over here cuz we didn't really know what was gonna happen and we really thought that we were gonna have to say goodbye to.
He is. So let me just be clear. He's still day by day, he's improving. He's still day by day. Um, but he, uh, yeah, he's, he, I don't know how, but he's regenerating again. So every time like we think we're gonna lose him, somehow he regenerates and gets better based like, Not on medical science. Like every time we talk to a specialist or talk to the vet, they're like, yeah, this is probably it.
And then he just lives another year. So here you go. Well, good job. So, um, I am being kind of sensitive, having him on here. I, I wasn't going to have him on the live stream, but, um, he wanted to be here. I guess he didn't, he didn't wanna leave. He wants to be on the live stream. So here he is. Um, yeah. So by some kind of magic, he just keeps, you have to go back to your hub hole.
He just keeps getting better. Go back all the way, you need your high fives. Woo. And like I said, this is still tentative, so he's still day by day, we're just kind of like taking it slow and we're seeing how he's doing. Um, he's, you know, he's not technically like totally out of the woods yet. Hi. Roll. Uh, but he is improving and, uh, he is a thousand years old, so, so he could pass away at any moment.
Hopefully not on the live street, but knock on wood. Um, but so in, in any case, somehow he magically seems to be getting. I don't know how, but every time I'm like, this is like, you know, I'm, I, every time I think like, oh, well, you know, he lived a great long life. He's 70 pounds and he lived to be 16 and a half.
He's like a medical miracle. He's like, you know, every time I think like he can't possibly get through this, somehow he does. Uh, so like I said, he is still day by day, we're still, you know, giving him all the snacks and treats and stuff. Um, he's probably like 90 ish percent back to what he used to be. I don't know.
I'm just gonna, I, I've already, I told him like, I already cried Wolf for you like three times. Like I, I legitimately thought we were gonna lose him already within the last year, about three times. Every time he's just like, Nope, I'm fine. He's like, just kidding, just kidding. I gave you guys a real big scare, didn't I?
He kind of like Willy Wonka's our life and he is like, Tihi, like, I gave you guys a scare, and we're all like, what the fuck? Why are you doing that? He go, oh, sorry. So in any case, that's how Bo's doing. I've been cautious about giving updates just cuz like I am just, I just wasn't sure. Uh, but here he is, he wanted to be on the live stream today.
They know like the, they like the, both the dogs know, like there's, you know, if I come in here at a certain time, like, or I'm talking about the live livestream or if I'm doing something, like, they'll come in here and be like, all right, we're gonna be on livestream. All right, let's talk about three. Let's talk about three here.
So three, there we go. Three, um, when we're thinking about this stuff. So let's talk about what would be useful, right? We already kind of mentioned those things. Claudia mentioned research. Um, didn't someone else mention something? Yeah, so research, uh, you could do like outlines with this. So, The ways that we would kind of incorporate chat, G B T or a AI in our writing would be outlining research gathering different stuff.
Oh my gosh. Woo. Go back to your huba hole. Go back to your huba hole here. No, go back to your hava hole. No, you can't put on the brakes. You can't put it on the brakes. Go back. Go back all the way. Can you lay down? Thank you. Can you lay down? Good job. Okay. Yeah, I be Holly. I definitely think that like, I think basically Bo was like, oh, I could have lived this way my whole life, like you giving me cheeseburgers and steak and chicken.
Like, well, if I could live my whole life this way, I'd better keep living to get all the chicken and steak and cheeseburgers. I think that's what he thinks. He's just like, oh, this is my new normal. I'm gonna live forever now. Yeah, in any case, um, so you can use AI tools and chat G B T for, uh, research for outlining.
Um, they're gonna update the tools more and more over time. Um, oh, there was something that we talked about in the wealth lab was, um, Italy Band Chat, G B T or something, I think. Is that right? Um, I put, we were talking. I think, if I remember right, Italy banned chat g b t already or some other kind of AI thing.
So we'll see how that works out. Um, but yeah, so there's uh, there's a whole bunch of different things that are gonna happen with this. If you're someone who has a client who's using it, or if you're someone who wants to test it out, I say test it out and test drive it. Uh, I'm kind of like a little bit of an old school old lady about this stuff, so like I let other people be the Guinea pigs for a while.
And like I have plenty of students who are smarter than me with tools. So I let them test it and I'm like, okay, you go figure that out. And then they're like, oh, here's three cases that are the best. And I'm like, sounds good. And then I go off and test it and then I'm like, let's tell everybody. So like I'm not as good of a Guinea pig tester as like a bunch of my students.
So I'm like, you do that cuz you're smarter than me with tools. So I'm gonna let them do that. But so far research out lining. Um, idea generation is really good. So like, if you're kind of stuck or, um, like if you're trying to generate more pitches or if you're trying to come up with more ideas or, or angles or phrasing or something like that, I think chat G B T would be good for that.
Uh, I would pretty much use it as just like, it's another thing in your tool belt. It's not that it's, um, it's not that it's taking away, it's just something else, right? So we, we always wanna kind of think about any new tools or any kind of, uh, landscape changes as this is just another tool, right? People didn't, people freaked out when they went from typewriters to computers, right?
When. Uh, starting to publish content different and when online content became more and more prevalent, right. The, or the publishing industry. Right. Uh, the publishing industry has had quite a lot of changes, right? And now, like book talk has really helped, like book talk on TikTok has really helped revitalize that.
But there's always going to be, um, a change. There's always going to be some kind of thing that overhauls the landscape or some kind of thing that changes the way you do. Take it now as putting a tool in your tool belt. Experiment with it. Try it out, see what's gonna happen. But don't change your rates and don't change like the quality of your work based on all this stuff, right?
So like when keyword stuffing came out, I didn't, I was dumb enough to do it, right? Like I was dumb enough 10 years ago to be like, yeah, you'll pay me 15 bucks or 25 bucks for a thousand Word article. I'll do it. And so then I was like, I'll do whatever you want. So don't do that. Remember that these things will then work themselves out.
So maybe there'll be certain cases where AI tools will be really great. Maybe you'll end up working for a bunch of AI tools as clients instead of having them as something your tool belt like. I think these are always kind of great things to watch. They're great things to use as a marker for what may happen in the future, or use as.
Think point, basically like with SEO O, it took years for them to iron that stuff out. It took many years to figure out like, what's appropriate with seo? How is this gonna work? It took years for there to be in abundance of SEO strategists. Right? And then SEO strategists get paid really well to do that.
The other thing to remember is like any technology will go back to your hub hole. Any technology, right? Any technology is gonna change. Like, like the Google algorithm changes all the time. They don't even tell everybody every time it changes, right? They'll do like a massive update and be like, good, like there's an update, here you go.
Um, but SEO is always changing The way that the algorithms work on every single platform are always changing. So it's always this. Um, sprint to the next marker of change, right? So like, even if we do best SEO practices today, it doesn't mean that that's not gonna change tomorrow. It doesn't mean in six months Google won't change the algorithm completely, like chasing the algorithm, especially like a black box, a algorithm where you know nothing, you don't really know a ton about it.
Um, I feel like that is just. Like there's always gonna be stuff changing. I think the important thing is to like think about adapting. How will this change? Like I said, like if you're doing a lot of blog posts, maybe think about more complex projects. If you're worried about your, like if you're already getting this like spidey sense that your clients are gonna be like, oh, we'll just have a robot do it.
Like those are not your clients. They are not providing the right type of content. Like I just, I think that's what's gonna happen. Like Google already said that like AI generated content wasn't gonna be like ranked very well. They said they're prioritizing human first content. So even if you go off and create all this stuff with ai, it doesn't mean Google's gonna put it in search results.
Right? So then speed and price then become not a factor anymore. They're like, oh, quality's important. Because even if we do it quickly and at a cheap price, it's not gonna get ranked. So what's the point? Right. So think about how you're gonna put these things into copywriting and content marketing and how that'll affect your writing process.
It's just like, if, like I have students like, uh, like I said, clear scope and phrase, do io do kind of similar things. Uh, clear scope is super comprehensive. So like if you write an article and you put it in clear scope, it gives you a letter grade for like how well you're meeting all these criteria. It tells you suggested word count.
It tells you like what level the, the reading is. Is it 12th grade or college or fourth grade or whatever. Uh, it tells you keywords and header, like it gives you all this stuff to get the content to rank right. It gives you a ton of different stuff that already exists. It's not like, it's not like chat G p T and AI are going to.
It, it's, it's just an add-on. It's just another layer of lacquer, right? But if you're putting on a layer of lacquer, the quality has to be there. So even if I paste something into clear scope, it has to be good already. Otherwise, I'm gonna have a ton of work to do to meet all these clear, clear scope demands.
And the other thing to think about here in this particular, um, category is that I have, uh, me personally, Um, I have a bunch of content. I don't know what it is, like 15 articles that are like on the first page of Google that I never used any SEO tools for. Okay. I didn't use any special stuff. I just wrote quality content and did the thing I was supposed to do.
Okay. So like if you go and look for this stuff, like you can just, they're just regular ass articles. Like they're just well done and they meet all the things and they answer the questions the most, right? They answer the questions that someone would have about that topic the best. It's not that I was like, oh, I cheated the robot.
I cheated the robots and I got all this stuff done. Like I, I put in all these SEO keywords and the perfect header and the perfect, blah, blah. Like, it, like, you're missing the point, like, uh, humans reading that content don't care about the perfect header. Right? We're kind of balancing the, the algorithm putting something on the first page of Google and humans.
But humans I think will always win because humans are the way clicking it. Right? And this is an example I've gave given before when I was researching for an. The first search result for an article, like I was looking for stuff where, um, I was looking for other pieces and other studies and data points, and the very first search result was from 1997.
Okay? Even after all this time. The very first search result for this topic was from 1997 because it answered the questions the best. It didn't have a ton of seo. It was just answered the question. The best people liked it the most. It got the most clicks. Like it. It's a long standing thing that people really like.
It doesn't, it wasn't even a study. It was an article, and I just feel like that is the best example. Like people worry about robots and they worry about rates and they worry about. Stuff. Right? But the best stuff always comes to the top. It always does. That's why when you goo Google search something, you can get a result from 1997 from like 25 years ago, right?
Uh, it's just the best thing. It's the best thing. It gets the most clicks, and that's what repeats itself, right? Whenever you read about SEO or whenever you read about content marketing, they always say the same thing. Like the best articles will get the clicks, right? Yes, you can optimize. That's why it's called search engine optimization, not search engine winning forever on every platform ever in invented, right?
You can optimize for the platform. You can, you can do your best. But eventually what's gonna happen is the good stuff will come to the top, the things that do the stuff an audience wants, it answers the questions, it follows through on the topic. It gives quality information. Uh, it provides BA backed up stuff by research or studies or interviews or experts or whatever it is holistically and completely amazing outside of.
Right. That's the piece that always matters. And before we even had robots, it was the same thing. It's the same stuff. So for me, I always kind of like think about that stuff like that. You can search for a topic and still get things that are super old, right? There could be times like where you could find like, uh, newspapers have published stuff from past issues from decades and decades and decades ago, so you can find that as well.
Um, let's talk about four real quick. Yes. Woo. Did you wanna say something to the. Well, you, you're like super snug today. Must be cuz it's cold and rainy. Um, yeah, the other business says me too. I let other people do the beta testing. Yeah, I just feel like that's kind of like, it's better cuz some like, I, you know, I just know there's people there are better with tools than me.
They're better at evaluating certain things. So I'm like, you do that, go do that. And then I'll like do my own test after, because I'm not as good as eval at evaluating these specific criteria as you, he. Good job, buddy. All right, so let's talk about four. So this is our last little piece here. So let's talk about, this is the major factor, right?
This is the major factor that robots can't replicate. Robots cannot replicate several things, but one, they can't replicate human connection, right? So if I'm writing an. And I'm a restaurant owner, and I'm telling you about the time I almost lost my restaurant because I was struggling to pay my water bill because of X, Y, z.
Things happen and I paint this super visceral, amazing picture for you of like, oh my God. And you're like, I get it. You dropped me in on boots on the ground. I get the experience. I'm with you. Robots can't do that. They can't tell you about an experience from their past in like that. You say like, I totally get you.
I'm on the same page. Like they cannot drop you into an experience. I'm sure that they could comb the internet and kind of do it, but there's no re there's like no replacement for personal like, High touch stories like that, right? Like I'm telling you about Barry, right? And I'm telling you about all this stuff.
Like no one else can repeat that. I'm sure there's other people who have had dogs that are like 10,000 years old that have like somehow magically improved every time, but it's not the same as Barry, right? So like, you have to remember that like they cannot replace those human stories. They cannot give you context in that way.
And that's what really connects with people, right? Like for example, the, I, I know you're, go back to your woo hole, go back to your Hubble hole. Thank you. Like that's the thing that I told you guys before about, um, I have that live stream about that article that made 15,000 or that was, um, made $15 million one article, right?
One article here. Made 15 million. You know why? Cuz that dude gave an honest appraisal of other companies. He's like, here's the things that my pool company does well, here's the things other companies do well. Here's the things that I'm not good at. Here's the things they're not good at. Like, he gave you an honest overview of the pros and cons of his own business.
Like true. Like down to, down to the bullet points of all these other companies so that you can make the best, right? You can make the best decision and just by giving you that experience, which a robot cannot do, that makes huge piles of money. These are the types of things that robots, I'm sure they can give you lots of information, right?
I've had plenty of articles where, Uh, I'm subscribed to a bunch of newsletters and they're like, Hey, here's an article we wrote entirely with chat g b t. It's like not good at all. It's just basic information, which is fine. The tools are just coming out. So as the tools get more advanced, yes, I'm sure the content will get better.
It cannot replace the article that you read about a real estate agent building their business and like the, the times that they failed or the times that they won, and the connection points of like actual human things that you care about, right? Like when I'm. Like the, the human connection piece, the stories like robots can give you information and that's fine, right?
Robots can give you information. Cool. That's not the same as the thing that makes someone click the button to buy a product or service from you, right? So like if I have something on a website for a product or service, and I'm just like, I'm just telling you features. So think about, excuse me, think about chat, G P T and AI as the difference between features and benefit.
Features are like this pool is 15 feet long. It has, uh, super concrete and it has blue tile, right? Like it's telling you the features of the pool. It's not telling you, hey, when it's a thousand degrees outside or a hundred degrees, okay? It's not telling you that in Austin in the summer when it's a hundred degrees and a hundred percent humidity, you can dive in that pool to cool off in a second.
That's the benefit. That's the. Chat, G P T and AI can give you features. Robot, no note point. This thing is 15 meters long. This thing is this, da da da da da. It cannot give you the experience of what it's like to jump in that pool for the first time after you worked for 10 years to be able to afford it.
And that was your dream. Right? It can't do that. And I think that's something that people forget. Like they, they think that like content is so shallow. Like when I hear from writers that are like, my clients aren't gonna pay me any money cuz the robots. No, they can't. They cannot do that. They cannot replicate that experience.
They cannot give you the intel that is so deep from someone's own personally lived life. Those are the things that make the biggest difference. Those pen, those personal connection points are why people buy, right? They don't buy from you because you're giving them a 10,000 word pamphlet on all of the features of like, here you get 10,000 lessons and 3000 books and blah.
Like they don't care about. They make a personal connection and they're like, oh yeah, you know what? I was trying to improve my profit margins in my restaurant and this person who has the same, um, sushi type restaurant that I do, or the same, you know, whatever it is, they made their profits with this product by doing these things.
I see myself in them. I'm gonna buy that product. A robot can't do. That's the thing is like think about case studies or think about like a reported article or think about all the, like the questions that you would ask on an interview or how you would present that information, right? A robot can't do that.
They just can't. So anytime that you're making a personal connection with someone, anytime that you are helping them make a choice or giving them an experience or giving them background information, like every time, think about features versus. Features is like the robot bullet list of like what that thing is, right?
So like if I'm gonna do like a p o s system for a restaurant, I'm like, this thing has the po o s system, plus the loyalty program plus, uh, a connection with Square plus this plus this. And I can tell you like all the integrations and I can tell you, um, that you'll save 5% on processing, but I won't be able to tell you that because you saved 5% on pro on processing fees in the next year.
You were able to. Uh, your head chef raised because you finally could afford it after they've worked for you really hard for super long time, right? Those personal stories are what make the difference in the content. That's what makes the content valuable. That's what makes people read and click and share and get invested in a brand, right?
There's not like, you know, like if a. Did a commercial right? If a robot did a commercial about Serena Williams, instead of having Serena Williams in the commercial telling you about how she, you know, like the stuff she does cuz she's the goat, right? It's way different. Right? It's way different. I, I just feel like there's a really important piece here that people miss when they're just thinking about rates.
They're just thinking about these dumb clients that are trying to convince them out of the value of their work. Like, fine, if you wanna go do that, you're free to do that. I'm not gonna be afraid of you leaving me cuz you're not my client anyways. Right. Like what they. Like I said, what they want is the Michelin starred restaurant at the Taco Bell price.
It's not gonna happen. Okay. So you have to think about these personal connections. And as much as like, I know this is something that I've done before. Uh, people buy on emotion, right? Like this is the, uh, the thing about people think they're like, oh, I'm buying it because it's 50 per 50 cents cheaper. Or it's, you know, it's, um, a product that is well reviewed on Amazon, or it's something that I really need.
No, your emotion is like, I feel good when I save money. I wanna buy this cause I feel good when I save money. I feel good having other people be the beta testers and give this thing 10,005 star reviews on Amazon. I feel good about buying that product now. It's not about the reviews, it's not about the, the features of it.
It's about the benefits and the feeling you get that's buying is like an emotional experience. And interacting with content will still be an emotional experience. That's why story. And writing has is one of the oldest forms of a job and the oldest forms of communication. So I think if you don't lose sight of that stuff, then you don't have to worry about any of these things driving down rates.
I just don't think that's gonna be a thing. I'm sure you'll have to add 'em to your toolbox. Just like the 800 o other SEO tools, right? I could list off 15 s SEO tools right now. Right? Those are things we've added to our toolbox. They have not taken over our jobs. Right? This is gonna be the same thing, and I'm sure there will be lawsuits and copyright stuff.
I'm sure it's gonna be a whole thing. And like I said, I'm pretty sure we talked about. In the Wealth Lab community, uh, where Italy already banned chat, G P T or AI something or other, or, um, yeah. So like, there's gonna be, it's gonna be a thing. It's, it's gonna be a thing. Um, But remember that like even if you're writing posts on your own blog, no one can repeat your tone and style or your experiences, right?
Like even if someone learns how to capture your tone and style, or even if someone knows how to repeat your content, they can't tell the same stories as you. They don't have the same history as you. They aren't able to. Pull out the experience and paint a picture or connect with people on a human level.
And that's what makes people move forward with your clients and buy their product or service or tell someone else about the brand. Okay. That's really important stuff to know. Um, so yeah, like I, like maybe we'll come back to this video in like, maybe we'll come back to this video in like 10 years and I'll be like, everything is chat G P t.
I just don't think that's gonna be the case. Like we have too many examples. I have too many example. Of other things that are just a different shade of chat G B T, and we're still here. We're still working with great clients. We still get great rates. We're if, as long as you find the right clients who understand the value of content and wanna connect with their audience, everything's good.
I don't, I don't think that we should be so scarcity minded overall tool, like it's just people don't wanna consume that. They don't. That's why Google's prioritizing human first content. Yes, it's a tool. It could be useful. Put it in your tool belt. Learn more about it, but don't panic about rates. Okay. Um, I think that should be it.
So, yeah, so we don't have any questions at this time, but I did wanna tell you guys about, What's going on? So, last thing I'm gonna mention, uh, if you feel like this has been helpful, give it a thumbs up. If you wanna learn more about, uh, building a freelance writing business, you adore, subscribe. I am running a free masterclass If you go to mandy ellis.com/masterclass, one on Tuesday of next week.
So four 11. At, um, noon Pacific, 2:00 PM Central Time, 3:00 PM Eastern, uh, 7:00 PM g m t time. I have a free masterclass that I'm running about how to build a hiring freelance writing business. I only run this class twice a year, so if you want to hop in and watch the class and join live, there is a replay too.
So if you can't make it live as long as you sign up. You'll be able to get the replay. So go to mandy ellis.com/masterclass one. If you can't make Tuesday at 2:00 PM Central, you can come on Wednesday. So I have one on Wednesday, um, four 12, and that one is at 8:00 PM Central. So it's at 6:00 PM Pacific, 8:00 PM Central, 9:00 PM Eastern, and like 1:00 AM gmt.
So like if you live in the UK or elsewhere, that one probably isn't a good fit. And the last one, The last one, uh, you can go to masterclass three, so mandy ellis.com/masterclass three. That's on Tuesday, four 19. And that is at, um, noon Pacific. Uh, 2:00 PM Central, 3:00 PM Eastern, 7:00 PM gmt. So any of those classes are available.
They're on the 12th, Tuesday the 12th, Wednesday the 13th, or no, Tuesday the 11th. Wednesday the 12th, and then the following Wednesday the 19th. You can see that I struggle with dates and time zones. Um, but any of those like just go to mans.com/masterclass one or masterclass two, or masterclass three. Uh, those are all my free masterclass.
Uh, they are live, so it'll be kind of like this live stream except I'll be teaching you very specific material in slides. Uh, I only run this masterclass twice a year, so if you don't attend this time, the next time the masterclass will be available for. Uh, we'll be in September. So if you go to any of those, you can in, uh, oh my gosh, woo woo.
Will won't be there. Woo. Won't be at the masterclass, but if you sign up for the masterclass, you will get the replay. Uh, so if you have anything that you wanna learn about building a hiring for, that's writing business, navigating all this stuff that's happening with all the economy and the random stuff with content.
Woo. Here. Woo. Oh no. You put the brakes on. You put the brakes on. Um, you can come hang out on the masterclass. You can share 'em too. If you feel like you know someone who might benefit from that free masterclass, share the link. Woo woo. You are sassy. Go back to your Hubble hole. Here you go, buddy. Good job.
All right, let's do, let's do a bow update just in case he's over there like just living his best life. I don't know how he does it. Other one other. Good job. Hey Billy. Good job. So, like I said, Barry is still day to day, we are monitoring him like a hawk. Uh, but he's been improving. So he's been at 16 and a half years old and after all this stuff that he's gone through medically, he's still there doing great.
And I am proven. And we'll just see how it goes. We're just riding the bow rollercoaster. Uh, I hope that it, I hope that this has been helpful and I hope it helped you see, like chat, G P T and AI is not your enemy. Most likely it'll be a tool in your tool belt. It should not affect your rates if you're working with the right clients and you're working on the right projects.
Um, woo. Well go back to woo. Go back to Hobble. You're just sitting there wooing at me. Um, It's, it's something that is to be watched and learned from and potentially used in your work to make your work better or to generate ideas. A brainstorm, put in an outline, um, do some research. But honestly, like if your client is so focused on the robots doing it better, it's the same thing.
It's the same threat, right. I could go to blah, blah, blah and get a cheaper rate. Okay. Then do that. Right. Okay. Hey, Getty, welcome. Happy. Or hoppy Easter maybe. All right. I'm gonna hop off. Woo. Would you like to say something to the people? You wanna give 'em a high five? Say goodbye. Have a great Friday. Can I get a high five?
Good girl. The other one. Good girl. Good job. You're so smiling. Good job, Barry. All right. All right. We're gonna hop off. And we're here every Friday. So every Friday I do a live stream, uh, at noon central time. So if you wanna come hang out on the live streams and, uh, hear more about freelance writing or whatever kind of cool stuff we chat about, you can subscribe and uh, I will see you guys later.
I hope to see you in the free live classes, any one of them. As long as you sign up, you'll get the re. Um, and hope everybody has a good spring, good weekend, good Easter, all that stuff. Yeah. All right. Have a great Friday. Have a great weekend. Bye.
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