Freelance content writers offer self-serving advice...

I was reading a few articles about hiring freelance content writers. Most of them were written by freelance content writers and distributed to online article directories as a marketing device / backlink building strategy. I've done that myself.

Here's what I found irritating... It seems as though every writer offers suggestions and recommendations custom-tailored to match his or her own personal history and tendencies.

You can bet that the writer who focuses on how essential fast communication is prides himself on answering emails within minutes.

You can be pretty sure the person who tells you never to hire a freelance SEO content writer unless they have studied directly under one of the SEO gurus used to work for a guru.

It's safe to guess that the writer who says you should demand proof that a writer has written materials that rank #1 for a competitive search term once penned an article that went right to the top of the Google charts.

If a writer spends a great deal of time preaching the virtues of unique content and telling you how important a uniqueness guarantee is, you can be pretty sure he's trying to help himself with his 300% money back originality guarantee that doesn't get directly mentioned in the article.

Etc. By the way, that last one is me. I do it, too. I'd like to think my arguments are based in logic and truth, but they are undoubtedly skewed in the service of self-interest to some extent. My acts of self-promotion in the guise of a helpful article may not be quite as obvious as some others and may have a stronger foundation than some, but that promotional instinct is always shaping each helpful hint.

So, if you are a potential content buyer looking for a great freelance SEO writer or someone to pen some top-rate copy, go ahead and look at all of those helpful articles we writers have distributed. However, take the time to read more than one or two. Don't be persuaded to believe that there is a certain set of undeniable prerequisites and that any one of us has determined what they are.

Our hints about hiring writers are part of our marketing plan, not just an act of goodwill.

As a writer, I feel some of the "must haves" outlined in these articles to be laughable. I hope that prospective buyers see through the strategy and don't decide that any one writer's list prerequisite list is definitive. I also hope to offer ideas and suggestions that are firmly grounded in reality instead of merely being a nice fit with my business habits and personal history.