Alright, here’s the deal: I’m a freelance writer first and foremost. At least, that’s the way the paycheck divvies up right now, and as such, I currently have something of an avalanche of spins to do. I am going to hate doing so later, but I just bought The Best Spinner because my friend Sara keeps mentioning it…actually, there was a funny fellow named “Al” at Mike’s blog who mentioned it about a month ago now.
He was something of an interesting character in that particular heated debate, let’s say. It was in that thread that I was exposed to both Magic Article Rewriter (MAR) and The Best Spinner (TBS).
Al was just about going to come to blows over the fact that a friend of mine, Kasey, swore by MAR, Al just about called Kasey a banana slug’s dirty uncle or something a little more pirate-language-like, and I thought they were both pretty funny through it all.
In any event, the point being that I didn’t have a need for either then, I’m fast with manually coding the spin tags, and my mind is pretty organic and creative when it comes to spinning – it’s pretty enjoyable.
//freak//
I know. Hey, I love writing. What I //don’t love// is being behind deadline with my #1 client on Elance – and right now I need to save some key strokes. Here’s my rationale: I’m going to give both spinners a spin. I timed myself last night on MAR and to tell the truth, because I take my work seriously, I edit everything, including the crazy spin synonyms…and I was able to cut my spins from 35-45 mins manually (sometimes I can do them at 30 minutes without any spinning software) down to 25-35 minutes.
There are two ways basically to use MAR: semi-automatic and automatic, but the latter (the “magic button”) creates a bunch of nonsense in many clauses (which the creator was very honest about – I expected as much up front, but editing takes less time than manually spinning). In the semi-automatic mode, you can define the clauses and idioms that the software database recognizes and has synonyms for.
I was impressed…sort of. I mean, I did feel a bit overwhelmed at first with paragraphs of spin syntax at first, with so many synonyms that Roget’s Thesaurus was a bit jealous at first. Then I began editing…and got faster as time went on…and realized that I did save keystrokes, my fingers hurt less, and my clock gave me a bit more time. All in all, it’s worth it to buy a spinner like MAR if you have lots to do with it.
Personally, I love article marketing, I freelance at Elance, and these tools are necessary. The question plaguing me was this idea that even with the 18k synonym database with the upgrade to MAR, I kept reading that TBS was the best thing since V. Sattui decided to produce some great wine (oh, what, you never heard of the NY cabbie-turned-millionaire vinter in St. Helena, California? Sorry. I digress.).
Long story short: I need some speed, and every bit counts. I can go pretty quickly, but always need some Nitrous Oxide in my tank right now.
Besides, I’m a grown-up Boyscout, what can I say? I can’t possibly give my //client// or anyone, for that matter, a piece of illegible, unintelligible garbage – which is what most robots and automated processes churn out. I expect that I am about to discover a brand new friend in The Best Spinner. We’ll see if it’s better than Magic Article Rewriter
Ironically, today I was writing a script for a video I am going to upload here. The irony is that it was about avoiding “Shiny Nickel Syndrome” as my pastor put it recently. You know: you’re carrying along just fine, getting things done, all’s well…and then you spot a shiny nickel on the ground, glimmering for your attention, and you drop your chain saw on your foreman’s foot but who cares: you just found a shiny nickel!
It’s the same with all of these crazy, endless tools…there’s a million. I want to try them all. The truth is, I’m still green and finding that these tools put me a step ahead of many of my competitors on Elance, and even if I don’t use them on Elance (Oh, but I do!), I use them for my own marketing and site-building.
To tell you the truth: there’s only room in my arsenal for one of these guys. I’m going to have to return one of them before the month’s up.
MAR works, and works well – but if TBS will save me ten more minutes an article, I’m all about it. One is a budget-friendly tool, the other promises an annual fee of $77 with a $7/7-day trial (this would be TBS). I believe MAR was $48 + $37 upgrade for the database of synonyms. It was that list of synonyms that made me think of TBS…and then Sara sealed the deal (from Noteworthy Tips).
Before you think I’m crazy, there are benefits for me as I’ve indicated:
- I Use All My Software To Benefit My Elance Clients, Which Nets Me More Work
- I Am Building A Network Of Websites That These Tools Will Help Build
- I’ll Become More Efficient
All in all, I don’t buy anything – ever – unless I can afford it, and unless I can make money with it (strictly speaking of these internet marketing tools). I can get by without them – but I’m at critical mass right now on Elance.
‘Nuff said, here goes! Now, stay tuned for the results.
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