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10:44 am
March 5, 2014
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Jake@iHeartBudgets.net
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I don't know why, but people referring to you pouring your heart and soul into writing as "content" really irks me. Maybe it's the abundance of "online marketing gurus", or maybe I care about what I write more than I should, but all this "publish great content", and "make sure your content is evergreen" speak makes ill.
We are writing our thoughts, ideas, experience and dreams out for the world to see, not just some junk content for people to digest and crap out. We want to inspire, move and motivate people to enjoy a more fulfilling life. So don't neuter the value of what you do by calling it "content" like it's some filler packing peanuts in a shipping box.
I know there are content farms out there. I know people do just produce content for the sake of traffic and revenue. And maybe that's the audience of these "marketing gurus". But if you care about what you write even a teeny, tiny bit, don't refer to it as content.
So, as of today, I propose calling what we write "wisdom", or "wicked awesome, life-changing, mind-blowingly fantastic personal finance" or something like that. Not just….."duuhhrrrr…..content"
Am I the only one that feels this way?
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5:42 pm
March 5, 2014
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Mr. Utopia
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Hmm, I'm not sure what we should call our writing…but I do know your post above had some great content 
Joking aside, I guess I'm not a big enough player to be ruffled by the use of the word "content."
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4:05 pm
March 6, 2014
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debtroundup
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The word content doesn't bother me, but that is probably because I have been in the online space for over 10 years. It doesn't change my writing and it also doesn't hurt my feelings.
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9:06 am
March 8, 2014
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colormefrugal
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I'm with Mr. Utopia- I'm probably not a big enough player to be too bothered by it. But the cool thing about owning your own website is that you can call it whatever you want :-) "Wisdom" sounds good to me!
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11:49 am
March 8, 2014
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evolvingPF
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Perhaps 'content' is used to be inclusive of writing, video, audio, images, etc.? But I agree it is a bit sterile.
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1:11 pm
March 8, 2014
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Larry @ The Skilled Investor
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Post edited 1:12 pm – March 8, 2014 by Larry @ The Skilled Investor
I think this just depends upon perspective and era. From a publishing perspective, the term "editorial content" has been around for a long time. "Editorial content" used to differentiate those parts of a publication written and edited by paid staff from other content, such as ads.
Just delete the word "editorial" from "editorial content" and "paid" from "paid staff," and presto you have the Internet — unpaid content with ads galore. The word "content" survives, but the word "editorial" gets fired along with all the editors.
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11:44 pm
March 8, 2014
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moneystepper
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Post edited 11:45 pm – March 8, 2014 by moneystepper
debtroundup said:
The word content doesn't bother me, but that is probably because I have been in the online space for over 10 years. It doesn't change my writing and it also doesn't hurt my feelings.
If "content" is upsetting Jake, then I am sure that "online space" is going to drive him wild!! 
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4:16 pm
March 9, 2014
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Jake@iHeartBudgets.net
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Thank you all for entertaining my rant. For some reason, I was in a 'mood' that day, lol. And I understand the term from an industry standpoint. I think my beef is more with the "produce more and more content to get up in the rankings" crap. The word content is so blasée, I guess I felt is was demeaning what we're doing.
But I'm over it now. Thanks! :)
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12:08 am
March 12, 2014
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PK @ DQYDJ
| | The Intersection of Politics, Economics and Personal Finance. | |
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Nice content in this thread!
(Ahem).
I'm with you – content, to me, implies the commodification of words, and those insane strategies to hit some exact 300/500/800 word barrier and hit the post button while perfecting keyword density blah blah blah. I'm completely with you on this one – I want to believe that I'm offering something that you can't attach to an email and send it to hundreds of blogs before someone accepts.
(But maybe I'm not.)
Want to propose a better term?
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5:05 am
March 12, 2014
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annielogue
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I'm all for a better term. "Content" seems sterile and generic. It seems too close to "commodity".
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Low Finance. High Finance: Spend less than you earn, get a return that beats inflation
The Root of All: http://www.therootofall.com @annielogue
Chicago on the Cheap: http:www.chicagoonthecheap.com @chicagocheap
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10:49 am
March 12, 2014
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Jake@iHeartBudgets.net
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PK @ DQYDJ said:
Nice content in this thread!
(Ahem).
I'm with you – content, to me, implies the commodification of words, and those insane strategies to hit some exact 300/500/800 word barrier and hit the post button while perfecting keyword density blah blah blah. I'm completely with you on this one – I want to believe that I'm offering something that you can't attach to an email and send it to hundreds of blogs before someone accepts.
(But maybe I'm not.)
Want to propose a better term?
My proposals were in the OP. But I'm thinking something like "wisdom" . Thoughts?
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12:54 pm
March 16, 2014
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PK @ DQYDJ
| | The Intersection of Politics, Economics and Personal Finance. | |
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I don't know about "wisdom" – it's too much like "canon" or "unquestionable" for me.
I guess I don't know what would be better, but I like to go with the humble "piece" or "article" when I write something. Sometimes "post" too, of course.
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10:57 pm
March 16, 2014
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maria@moneyprinciple
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Ha, ha! Jake, I like 'wicked awesome personal finance'.
And PK, I keep calling what I do 'articles' despite raised eyebrows and sometimes strange comments. I'd rather write for the enjoyment of people and if machines find my writing…well, it's a bonus.
Content is what you get in a bottle or a jar; I'd like to think that more bloggers create art.
Maria
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8:52 am
March 17, 2014
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Jake@iHeartBudgets.net
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Post edited 8:53 am – March 17, 2014 by Jake@iHeartBudgets.net
maria@moneyprinciple said:
Ha, ha! Jake, I like 'wicked awesome personal finance'.
And PK, I keep calling what I do 'articles' despite raised eyebrows and sometimes strange comments. I'd rather write for the enjoyment of people and if machines find my writing…well, it's a bonus.
Content is what you get in a bottle or a jar; I'd like to think that more bloggers create art.
Maria
^ This x100000
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3:50 pm
March 17, 2014
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AverageJoe
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The big point for me, whatever the term, is to avoid it being "content" and to make it something special for people to read/listen to when they reach my site. I know that there have been times when I'm thinking about just crankin' out stuff to feed the beast….and that's when it goes bad.
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11:45 pm
March 18, 2014
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Untemplater
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The word content doesn't bother me at all. It goes with the territory of being a blogger and to me I use it synonymously with "articles", "posts", "writing".
Some people blog simply to write down their thoughts feelings and don't care at all about anything SEO related – and probably wouldn't use the word "content" as much to describe their writing. But I think the majority of bloggers who stick around long term write because they like it and also do it as a way to earn money – and that's when you tend to start paying attention to SEO and referring to your "work" more often as "content" and such. So I don't think "content" is a bad word.
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