I did try, really try, to help him, but…
He made it too difficult.
The Background on the Freelance Writer Website Fail …
A few weeks ago, I was taking a short breakfast break from a major freelance writing project for a private university.
While looking at a list of freelance writing jobs, I see one that pays really, really well and is perfectly suited for a freelance writer I’m acquainted with online.
I love helping people, so I went to his website.
And that’s when the trouble started.
The Problems I Encountered at His Freelance Writer Website
I had a very difficult time finding any way to contact this writer. I read his About page — no contact info. I looked at other pages — nada.
And then I finally saw a tiny little icon in the footer. It sent me to a contact page with a form.
I filled out my name, my e-mail, a subject line, and then a detailed message.
And then I got to the Captcha form. Damn!
Failed the first time. Failed the second time.
I gave up and closed the browser window.
I don’t believe in the expression “No good deed goes unpunished,” but I put over ten minutes of time into trying to give this writer a very important lead that could have made a huge difference for him.
He made it too difficult.
The Lessons for Freelance Writers About Websites
I’ve recently written about the importance of inbound marketing for freelance writers, which obviously includes having a great freelance writer website. Keep in mind: this is the main way many editors find out about this writer.
I’m not going to cover everything a quality website needs, but let’s look at what this writer did wrong:
1. No Contact page that makes it easy for me to get a hold of him.
Major fail.
2. Hid the only way to contact him way at the bottom of his site…
with a weird icon that wasn’t even obviously an envelope.
3. Made me fill out a contact form.
I know I’m in the minority here, but I put my actual e-mail address on my Contact page, just to make it as easy as possible for prospects to reach me.
4. That damned Captcha box!
I hate those! For those of you who use them anywhere, I usually just go away when I see a Captcha box, often never to return. (Especially when you use it for blog comments) In this case, I actually didn’t see the Captcha box until I’d written my detailed message.
5. Overall, your website needs to make it immediately clear what you do and how potential clients can easily contact you.
It also needs to look good to the Google god = good SEO techniques.
A Potential Client’s View of This Guy’s Freelance Writer Website…
A potential client coming to this guy’s website would likely never contact him.
Not only is it difficult, but the potential client has got to wonder if a person with such a sloppy website also does sloppy work, and if someone who makes communication difficult now will be difficult to communicate with in the future.
Your Take
What would you have done? Was I too harsh? Are you making any of these mistakes? Tell us below!
{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: @florabrown
Hi John,
I’ve had this experience too. Like you, I gave the provider’s website a chance to make it easy to contact, but after having no luck I left the site.
I especially detest Captcha.
After reading this I’m dashing back to my LI profile and to my website to ensure I’ve made it easy for prospective clients to contact me.
Thanks.
Flora M. Brown recently posted…Here’s A Chance to Be in My Next Book
I’ve had really bad luck with Captcha and similar security devices. I often just cannot read what I’m supposed to type. I hit refresh to get a new one, and I still can’t read it.
John Soares recently posted…50 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block and Procrastination: A Free Special Report
What is even more infuriating is when a company (or nonprofit organization) does this. Sometimes I have to hunt for 5-10 minutes for contact information for a source. Then, I want to find out where the company is located (I just want to see if they are in the same time zone … i.e., if they are in the office yet) and NADA! What is the point of a website if you don’t have this information?
Marcia, it’s a widespread problem across many sites and businesses. I also have been frustrated trying to find an e-mail address for a business, let alone a phone number.
John Soares recently posted…How to Get More Freelance Writing Assignments
Twitter: @zoeyclark
I hate Captcha, but I had to add it to my comments section to get rid of the spam on one of my sites.
But my writer’s website has a hire me page and a contact me page at the top of the website, and a big twitter button on the side. I try to optimize my website as best as it can. It is by no means the best designed website around, but if someone wanted to contact me, it’d be a piece of cake.
I also try to pay attention to quality posts on how to improve writer websites. There is always a trick or two to apply for better results.
Pinar Tarhan recently posted…Finding Article Ideas & Writing About Them: 30 Inspiration Tips for Writers
Pinar, I’ve also seen Captcha used in blog comment sections. It often keeps me from commenting.
I use Akismet here and it works very well. Was your problem blog a Wordpress blog using Akismet?
John Soares recently posted…Freelancers, Would You Use This E-Mail Auto-Response?
Twitter: @zoeyclark
Well, I don’t have it on my writer’s blog but I have an entertainment blog that has been around for 3 years (it’s a self-hosted Wordpress blog using Aksimet),and it got to a point where Aksimet left 300 spams/a day undetected so I had to take a route that I don’t enjoy. It just took too much time trying to sort out all the annoying spam just to find a few actual comments.
So I Captcha gave me a peace of mind.
Pinar Tarhan recently posted…Finding Article Ideas & Writing About Them: 30 Inspiration Tips for Writers
Wow — 300 a day! I’ve never seen Akismet have such a problem. Either that or the spammers are just really, really desirous of getting a comment on your blog.
There’s also a plugin called GASP — the Growmap Anti-Spam Plugin — that you’ve likely come across on many Wordpress blogs. It requires the commenter to check a box confirming he or she is real. Many quality bloggers I know use it.
John Soares recently posted…My Criteria for Keeping a Print Book
Pinar, Anne Wayman left a comment below and stated that Akismet lets through far more spam when it hasn’t been updated. Is your Akismet plugin up-to-date on your entertainment blog?
John Soares recently posted…Freelancers, Would You Use This E-Mail Auto-Response?
Twitter: @zoeyclark
Hi John,
I’ll definitely check out Growmap. I update my plugins whenever Wordpress reminds me to, so if it hasn’t, it might have gone unnoticed.
Thanks for the tips!
Pinar Tarhan recently posted…Finding Article Ideas & Writing About Them: 30 Inspiration Tips for Writers
I’m fairly sure Wordpress reminds you on the dashboard.
I hope GASP works out for you.
John Soares recently posted…How to Get More Freelance Writing Assignments
Twitter: @shurleyhall
I have no objection to a contact form, John, but it needs to be visible. You shouldn’t have to work hard to pass on a lead. I don’t have my email address on my site because when I did, I got a lot of spam, but I am considering a new email account just for client contacts which I could upload as an image.
Sharon Hurley Hall recently posted…Going APE About Writing and Self-Publishing
Sharon, a contact form that is easy to find is fine with me. I think the big problem is having a Captcha there. For some people (like me) it can be a real problem.
I think your contact form is fine.
John Soares recently posted…Why You Are So Slow Finishing That Freelance Writing Project
I have the captcha on my main blog because I was starting to get spam. What other options does one have if one wants to avoid spam?
I’d love to have a way for people to contact me, but don’t want my email address visible.
I’d like one of those “click here to contact me” kind of things, where it takes the reader to a box where they can leave a confidential message, but don’t know how people set those up, or if it can even be done on Blogger.
I should look into it, but if you have any tips, John, please do let me know.
Steeny Lou recently posted…Missing The Most Important Person In My World
Steeny, you’re on Blogspot, and I don’t know anything about comment spam protection there or other features. Try Internet searches or poking around help forums, etc.
I very rarely comment on Blogspot/Blogger blogs because of Captcha.
John Soares recently posted…Are Your Sleep Habits Hurting Your Writing Career?
Steeny, Cathy Miller uses a simple math captcha. Can you do that? Most people won’t mind adding 4 + 5 to get 9.
John Soares recently posted…How to Be a Healthy Freelancer
I like that idea, John. When I get time, I will see about setting it up that way.
By the way, I’ve been using my WordPress blog more and more lately. Seems like a more commenter-friendly community than Blogger.
Steeny Lou recently posted…Tears of love from my 8-year-old son
I just googled “blogger math question spam” and didn’t find anything. Maybe I need different search terms, but I wanted to share this thing I did find in case it is of interest to other WordPress users:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/botblocker/
Steeny Lou recently posted…Tears of love from my 8-year-old son
Wordpress is far more friendly to visitors, and it’s overall a far better platform. I’ve never used anything else, but I have friends who use the free platforms and they do have substantial limitations.
John Soares recently posted…How to Get More Freelance Writing Assignments
The thing that sold me on Blogger over WordPress was the fact that Blogger allows one to use AdSense, affording the possibility of earning a few cents when one doesn’t have anything to sell.
However, I’ve not made much money with Blogger/AdSense. It seems that not many people like to click on ads. I know I don’t!
I have some readers who follow my Blogger blog, so I will still post there once in awhile, but in the past few weeks, WordPress has been stealing my heart more and more.
Besides, I write because I love to communicate, so the site that offers a more communicative readership is up my alley.
Steeny Lou recently posted…Falling in hate
A lot of things have to align to make decent money with AdSense. For starters, you’d likely need many thousands of readers per month.
I use AdBlocker Plus add-ons for Firefox and Chrome, so I never see ads on web pages anymore, including AdSense.
John Soares recently posted…Are Your Sleep Habits Hurting Your Writing Career?
Hi John. Just wanted to let you know I’ve now put in a “contact me” tab on both my Blogger blog as well as my WordPress blog. I made specific mention of your blog entry here, including a link.
http://holy-sheepdip.blogspot.ca/2013/01/posting-comments-should-be-easier-now.html
I’ll probably also post similarly on my WordPress blog when I get time, and then I’ll pass that link your way, too.
Hope you have a productive and/or restful weekend.
Steeny Lou recently posted…They Who Feel Too Much
Smart move with the “contact me” tabs Steeny, and thanks for linking here — I really appreciate it.
John Soares recently posted…The Best Freelance Writing Locations
Thank you, John, and you’re welcome.
Steeny Lou recently posted…How I Got Drinking Water In The Alaskan Wilderness
Twitter: @millercathy
Hi John: I just added a contact form (instead of my email) for the same reason Sharon has. I was getting ton of spam mail. Truth be told, it’s kind of like closing the barn door after the horse has escaped as my email is out there.
I also hate Captcha, especially since my vision problems. I even tried the audio and they are so bad you can’t understand them. I do use a simple math problem on my contact form to weed out spam.
When I do come across a contact form, I keep the message real brief. Something like – have a possible lead for a gig for you-contact me if interested. Since you have a relationship with the freelance writer, he should trust you are not spamming him.
Cathy Miller recently posted…LinkedIn is Running Out of Answers
Cathy, I think the simple math Captcha is fine. It’s easy and quick.
John Soares recently posted…When Is the Best Time for You to Write?
Twitter: @writererinraub
If you want to add your email address to your blog without making it visible to spammers, you can do that with plugins. I use Email Encoder Bundle, which has various options to encode your email address. I haven’t had any problems so far.
Thanks for that tip Erin.
I do it the low-tech way: johnsoares88 — at — gmail.com. However, spammers may have programs that can figure out what that means.
John Soares recently posted…Two Motivating Questions I Ask Myself Every Morning
I don’t use Captcha on my Blogspot site and I get spam, but the bot catches nearly all of them in the “spam” folder and I just delete them. Thanks for the good tips.
You’re welcome Reina. That’s good news for Steeny, who left an earlier comment.
John Soares recently posted…Are Your Sleep Habits Hurting Your Writing Career?
I was getting too many spam messages and was feeling discouraged by it so I set it up with the captcha. But, like I mentioned in another reply, I’ll look into setting it up for a simple math quiz instead. Thanks.
Steeny Lou recently posted…Misuse of “literally”
Twitter: @https://twitter.com/egumpel
John,
This is excellent advice for any website, not just freelancers. You have to make it easy to connect — and you can’t make an individual wait for days to hear back from you.
Captcha is indeed frustrating. I imagine it has prevented plenty of sales.
Eve Gumpel recently posted…11 Tips to Score Media Coverage
You’re so right Eve. All businesses have to make it easy for customers to contact them.
This reminds me of so many brick-and-mortar businesses that don’t bother to put a sign in the window saying what days and hours they are open. Specifically, there’s an Eritrean restaurant at 10th and Irving in San Francisco that had no such sign. We really wanted to come back and eat there, but we didn’t know when they were open. We took a chance a couple of evenings later and they were open — and the food was fantastic.
John Soares recently posted…Freelancers, Would You Use This E-Mail Auto-Response?
Twitter: @stefgonzaga
This is definitely something freelancers in general should think about. It’s clear that the freelancer has lost sales due to the difficulties of getting in contact with him. It made me think about my own website and if clients know how and where to contact me.
Losing work is the last thing you want to happen, so I appreciate the reminder. Thanks, John!
Stef Gonzaga recently posted…We’re Ready for 2013
Glad to help out Stef!
I often read posts on other blogs and learn something important I need to apply to my business.
John Soares recently posted…50 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block and Procrastination: A Free Special Report
Twitter: @annewayman
John, I’ve written about this too… my email, mailing addy and phone number is on my pro site… under contact… If I want work, and I do, I need to be available… no capcha either… and if askimet is letting through spam it’s either the first day of the month or it needs updating… that’s been my experience anyway… glad you said all this.
Anne Wayman recently posted…So I Bought Myself A Kindle…
That’s a good point about the importance of updating Akismet Anne. I’ve also noticed that there are times that more spam gets through than usual. Next time I’ll also check and see if the plugin needs updating.
John Soares recently posted…50 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block and Procrastination: A Free Special Report
Twitter: @cajuncopy
Hi John,
Excellent post. I’m astonished at the number of businesses I see whose websites make finding contact info impossible. It’s almost like they don’t want to be bothered.
Want to hire me? Here’s a contact form. Don’t like that? No problem. My email is all over the place. Hate that, too? Call me. Connect on LinkedIn. Twitter. Whatever.
The whole point of my website is for people who need me to contact me. Why wouldn’t you make it easy for people to do that?
Jesse recently posted…Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Guide to Excellence
I agree with you, Jesse. I find it equally astonishing when I manage to locate a phone number for a company, after much searching their site, only to have them say, “Do you have access to the internet? You can always find answers on our website.”
Steeny Lou recently posted…Lies vs Silence
I agree completely Jesse. We want potential clients to be able to quickly and easily contact us.
You do a great job at your site of making it very easy for people to write or phone you.
John Soares recently posted…50 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block and Procrastination: A Free Special Report
I like things as simple as possible so I have my email address and phone number at the bottom of every page within my site. The email I use funnels into my yahoo account which filters spam really well. It hardly ever ends up in my inbox. I really hate when there’s no simple easy way to contact someone through their site. Sometimes there’s a message box but after typing in a message and hitting send, there’s no acknowledgment that the message was sent so I’m left hanging. I don’t know if anyone else has this experience, but when I feel jerked around with by a site, I not only feel mad but I also want revenge. And the only revenge I can take is a silent vow to never visit that site again. Not a good thing to have in the mind of prospective visitors….
I hear you Gene. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get revenge on the Internet.
Good time to practice forgiveness — and then never come back to the site again!
John Soares recently posted…50 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block and Procrastination: A Free Special Report
Twitter: @SLWrites
I don’t think you get spam from having your email posted on your site. Spam comes from entering your email address on other sites that send you spam and share your email with others who send more spam. Spam comes from email lists, not from a writer’s contact page.
That said, I have my email, phone number, and a contact form. If I become famous I might remove my number some day, but even big companies provide a phone number. The way I see it, my site isn’t the kind of site where people will abuse my contact info, so I offer it freely because I want people to contact me for work, or just to say Hi, I like what you write.
Sarah L. Webb recently posted…Dr. King: Architect of a Movement
I’m not an expert on how spammers get e-mail addresses, but I have read that they can pick them up off websites. Even so, my e-mail programs are very good at filtering out spam, and as I wrote in another post, I scan my spam folder once a day or so to see if anything important got through.
Like you, I think it’s better to err on the side of making it very easy for people to contact me.
John Soares recently posted…50 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block and Procrastination: A Free Special Report
I like that idea, John.It made me think about my own website and if clients know how and where to contact me.
Taswir Haider recently posted…How to Find Blog Posts faster with Sitemap
Twitter: @LoriWidmer
John, I’ve run into exactly the same thing — from companies. I want to call them or send them a quick note. Nothing doing. Either I fill out a blank form or forget it. There’s no phone number, no address (seriously, and you’re a business?) and no other information. Some of the worst I’ve seen don’t even have an About Us page that describes the management. There’s something seriously wrong with that.
I don’t have my email online, but I do have four ways to get to me right away plus the form, which feeds into both my main email and cell phone. You’ll get me right away or within a day at the most.
I’d have done what you did — try, then give up entirely once it starts affecting my own work day. Have you told this writer the problems you’ve had? I’d fill out that form one more time and let him know that you had to pass him up for a perfect gig because of the problems with his site.
Lori, I’ve run into the same problems trying to contact companies. Not good for long-term success!
And no, I haven’t contacted the writer. Maybe he reads this blog and has figured out he might be the culprit.
John Soares recently posted…Two Motivating Questions I Ask Myself Every Morning
Twitter: @suzannemain
I couldn’t agree more. I recently tried to contact someone as I thought I could give them some work. The only way to get hold of them was the contact page and sure enough, there was Captcha. This one was mathematical – just had to do a simple sum. So I did. ‘Incorrect’ it told me. I’m sorry, but I know that 6+7 = 13. So I tried again, and again. Too many times, before I finally gave up trying to get around that broken Captcha. I did eventually get hold of that person a different way and they were horrified to find out that the contact form didn’t work. So easily could have lost a lot of work that way.
Twitter: @sixfourweb
Two plugins I recommend to my clients to avoid contact form spam are Contact Form 7 and Contact Form 7 Honeypot. When you use them together, automated spam is virtually eliminated.
The honeypot adds a hidden field that humans can’t see, but robots fill out. If the field is completed by the robot, an error message is generated and the spam message is never sent. Both plugins are free and available in the WordPress repository.
Thanks for sharing these two plugin suggestions Ray. They sound quite effective.
John Soares recently posted…The 8 Top Ways to Legally Lower Your Freelance Writer Tax Bill
Twitter: @MRMaguire
Hi, John. Saw a link to this post from AWAI’s Facebook page. I couldn’t agree with you more!
When I designed my website, I wanted to make it VERY clear how to reach me. So much so that I included my cell number in the site header. No matter what page someone is visiting, they’ll see my phone number.
I do have a contact page and also added my email address in the copy. Then I have a form (without CAPTCHA). I also have my email address in my footer but it isn’t a clickable address. (My theme’s limitation…)
At any rate, I’m a rabid customer service gal. Every online business should make it ridiculously easy to contact them. I get annoyed when I have to hunt for someone’s phone number or email address.
Thanks for great post. I need to add you to my Google Reader!
Mary Rose Maguire recently posted…Cheap Content Is Dead And Gone: Why You Want To Pay For Quality Copy
Mary, you’ve made it very easy for potential clients to reach you. Excellent!
I only give out my phone number once I’ve qualified a person and I see there is a good potential we can do business together.
John Soares recently posted…Why and How Successful Freelance Writers Set Goals