For a Friend - The Kindness of Strangers

I was thinking of posting these thoughts on my other site about online writing, but I've opted to post them here instead. Why? It's because of someone I met from the first writing site I joined. He has become a good friend - and Love Thoughts is a blog site I've developed for personal relationships.

I'll name him Christian, an atheist. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have no one to guide me about SEO (search engine optimization) writing. Yes, there are plenty of online resources that talk about it, but it's still different to have a teacher who'll guide me in surviving the virtual universe where content happens to be "queen". 

A few days ago, Christian and I received an email from a writing site called WikiO, saying it's going to be "re-branded" and that the existing one will cease operating starting October 2011. The site happens to pay in euros unlike others that pay in US dollars.

I initiated the first contact with Christian through Suite101. He is an expert online writer who has produced over a thousand articles and is one of the site's highest earners every month - even when the payout decreased due to Google's Panda. I couldn't help but admire his sense of focus, discipline, and generosity. He is also a good listener. 

A yellow tulip for my good friend, Christian.

I am writing about him because, as expressed in one of my early posts here, I've lost some long-time friends due to unmet standards. From being a colleague, Christian has treated me like a little, lost sister, sharing his SEO experience and lessons to a neophyte online writer like me. He's not asking anything in return, but I hope to repay him someday, however humble my efforts would be compared to his. He has already surprised me with something I never expected him to do and I'll be forever indebted to what he did (I won't go into details about this because it's too personal). Through him, I've realized that virtual space is not a hindrance to the kindness of strangers.

Christian was the one who recruited me to Wikio. It used to pay 2.50-8 euros for published articles.  Sadly, "some good things never last", especially when cyber soldier Panda's around. Christian and I, along with many writers of that site, are again dealing with decreased online income. Not really sure if Google values online writers. It probably does, but it sure doesn't like giving much profit to online enterprises that thrive on freelance writers for their sites' contents. At least, Google is sharing some juice, however little, to site users. I'm waiting for Facebook to do the same with its billions.

Anyway, I don't doubt Christian's ability to overcome this recent bump. Good thing he's got a very understanding girlfriend. I'm sure his parents are proud and thankful for having him as their son. They raised him well. I just hope he'll be an enduring friend (and quasi-brother) because I direly need one as long as I'm alive. Of course, I intend to be one of his enduring friends (or honorary online little sis) as well even if we only communicate by email. May Christian's tribe increase because the world will always be in need of good Samaritans like him.