Mass-production is something everyone wants. Buyers want to have the most articles at the lowest rates. Writers want to write more to earn more money. But is writing like bunnies breed a good thing?
Think of a small, family-owned factory that turns out shoes. They love their company. They built it from scratch. They take pride in their shoes, and their shoes are solid and well made. They’ve researched what makes the best shoes, and why people should wear good shoes over cheaper ones. Most likely, the detailing is better. Laces are tough and can stand a tugging. The rivets hold and don’t fall out. Sure, the company is a small one, but it’s growing steadily. Sales are good, because people know that this factory makes the best product.
The family has a good reputation, and they treat each other well. They thought of expansion or speeding up production, but if they chose that route, the shoes they made wouldn’t be as good quality as those they make now. They’d rather produce a solid shoe that lasts rather than something cheap. After all, it’s their family name backing the product and they want to keep their reputation. They’re not looking to get rich quick. They have long-term goals.
Fast forward to another factory. It’s a big place, and it’s a busy one. It’s churning out shoes like mad. There isn’t any attention to detail – these people don’t have time for that. They have orders to fill. They’re stretched to the max to meet demand, so they hired a bunch of people to work for them. Those people get a quick training and are stuck on the production line. The motto is, “More, faster.”
This factory knows about the other family-owned one. The big factory has bought a few of their shoes and examined them. They’ve made copycats, but since they want to sell a lot of shoes, they’ve found places to cut corners. Cheaper laces can be slipped into holes faster. Why bother with rivets? A hole serves the purpose just fine.
If the shoes on the production line don’t pass the quality check (which isn’t very high-standard to begin with, because there isn’t enough time to bother with that!), employees on the line chuck them and move on to the next pair. When the cheap shoes people bought wear out, they can be tossed, and the people will buy new ones. Win-win situation.
I don’t know about you, but I’d rather work for that small, family-owned company that’s trying to do right by the customer, their product, and themselves. Which business would you be proud to work for?
Now look at the way you work and write. If your articles were a pair of shoes from a factory, would they be from that mass-production company or from the better, smaller business that cares?
