Olivia Barrow

#freelance-talk - January 24, 2025 at 03:50 PM

@Priscilla Tan curious - do you use Frase mostly for the on-page optimization or do you use the content generation stuff?

#local-chicago - January 21, 2025 at 11:17 PM

Same - I'm in Madison actually. 🥶

#local-chicago - January 21, 2025 at 06:01 PM

Hello Midwesterners! Everyone staying warm today?? I'm currently wearing a blanket hoodie and a cat.

#general - December 12, 2024 at 10:48 PM

I'm curious...I've worked with Stacker in the past at another agency, and they wrote the content for us using publicly available data to make listicles (it wasn't an option for us to submit our own content...which I would have preferred for various reasons). Do you know if they've changed their model (this ad makes it sounds like they have but maybe it's just been simplified for the ad)?

#content-collab - December 09, 2024 at 04:16 PM

Hi Mae, I have had an article show up in AI overviews. It was more by chance than deliberate, although I honestly think that the kind of super high quality content-focused SEO tactics I have always used are now being rewarded by AI overviews, so you could also call it deliberate. Here's what I can tell you about it:

Published: June 11, 2024
SERP rank: No. 9 (as of Dec. 9)
Showed up in AI overviews: ~Dec 5, 2024
AI overview position: No. 3
Strategy: high-quality content with on-page SEO optimization for keyword "fractional hr services" (1800 words)
No backlink building (but the article has one organic backlink from a site with a DR of 7)
Lots of internal link building since it was published as more relevant pieces have been published

I think it's too soon to tell if the dwell time has increased since it only just started showing up in the AI overviews.

#CJE3XC0H3-announcements - November 26, 2024 at 08:04 PM

@Eric Doty (Superpath) question about the monthly 1:1 networking calls - are the pairings tailored/curated, or are they selected at random from all the Superpath Pro members?

#content-collab - November 20, 2024 at 03:27 PM

Hey Rosie! I've been a content writer for 10 years now and I have a lot of thoughts about this. I use ChatGPT a lot as a brainstorming assistant, junior copywriter, and copyeditor. For brainstorming, I use it like an advanced thesaurus, where I'll describe a word I'm thinking of, or put in a bunch of slightly incoherent phrases and ask it to suggest a concise way to communicate my message. In the junior copywriter use case, I'll write a super detailed outline, where I've spent a lot of time making sure the arguments flow logically and cover everything I want to cover (but it's still in bullet form and the prose may be a little too casual), and I'll ask ChatGPT to take a stab at the first draft (this works best if you do it one paragraph at a time, otherwise ChatGPT makes lots of black-box decisions about what to cut from your outline). And in the copyeditor use case, I'll tell ChatGPT what I'm writing about and ask it to write headlines, meta descriptions, etc. In all of these situations, I ALWAYS have to edit it further to make it match the voice I want, and to check for accuracy, and to make it sound human.

I don't think I'm over-relying on ChatGPT because I think that for many years, content writers have been expected to do three jobs in one (writer, strategist, editor). Now ChatGPT helps cover the jobs I'm weaker at and lets me focus on my strengths. But it is definitely true that by not practicing the things I'm weaker at (the headlines, for example), I think I'm getting weaker. I would definitely feel rusty at some of these things if you took ChatGPT away from me, the same way I am rusty on calculating 13 times 8 in my head because I have been using a calculator for so long.

I don't think generative AI kills my creativity — being forced to produce too much content too fast is what kills my creativity. When I get the time to really think about an article and I know and enjoy the subject, I still have all the creative juices flowing. By giving me more time for the good parts of writing, generative AI probably helps me be more creative.

I think if you're not actively upskilling yourself to work alongside generative AI, you'll have trouble finding work in the near future, because it will be a basic computer literacy expectation — not because it does your exact old job instead of you.

If you're looking to use my name in a quote, you're welcome to and I'd love a link to my website: oliviabarrow.com.

#pets - November 19, 2024 at 08:26 PM

The lights!! amazing and uncanny

#pets - November 19, 2024 at 08:26 PM

she looks so much like my cat when he was a kitten! long hair don't care 🔥

#freelance-gigs - June 01, 2021 at 02:49 PM

@Joanna Rutter with Quickbooks, if your customers are paying via ACH, you don't even lose a 1.5% so you'll come out ahead if you're invoicing for more than $1,000 a month.

#freelance-gigs - June 01, 2021 at 02:48 PM

@Jasmine Williams I guess I have assumed that wouldn't go over well with clients...and even if it did, it would still suck to be paying that much when there is an option that saves both me and the clients money.

#freelance-gigs - May 27, 2021 at 07:47 PM

Yes, it's because of the processing fees. If I were to lose ~3% on every payment it would cost me hundreds of dollars a month. Currently I only pay $15 a month to Quickbooks to be able to receive electronic payments.

#general - May 21, 2021 at 05:33 PM

As a writer who really only feels alive when writing authoritative, interesting content sharing unique perspectives, I love this response!

#freelance-gigs - May 20, 2021 at 04:28 PM

Has anyone heard of Bonsai? Any reviews? Just learned about it yesterday and I'm intrigued by all of the tools, but I'm wondering if its ACH payments option is as easy-to-use as Quickbooks Self-Employed, since I'm looking to avoid ever accepting payments via CC. https://www.hellobonsai.com/

#freelance-gigs - May 19, 2021 at 01:56 PM

Ideally, I end up in monthly retainers for a flat rate that includes a set amount of deliverables (e.g. 2 blog posts around 1,500 words). But to get there I usually have to do a few test pieces that are individually quoted.

#intros - May 18, 2021 at 10:00 PM

Hi Sam! I'm also a former reporter (Dayton Business Journal and Milwaukee Business Journal). I don't miss the pay but I do miss the fun interviews and being paid to chase down rumors. I'm always excited when content writing includes a juicy interview!

#intros - May 18, 2021 at 09:58 PM

Hello! I'm Olivia. I'm a content writer & strategist based in Madison, Wisconsin. I own my own agency and I work best as an extension of in-house marketing teams. I've lately been upskilling in content strategy for lead generation, not just traffic, and am curious to see where that will take me, but I still think I'm at my best when I get to truly focus on just the writing.