How To Increase The Chance You Will Land a Writing Job

[ryanmacca]

I have posted many times in forums looking for writers and I have often gotten spammy replies from writers with simple one sentence answers such as:

"I can write this starting now"

Now, I am not going to hire someone who sends me a one liner to try and get a job. If you want to increase your chances of getting a freelance writing job then create an email template that you can send out to clients when requesting jobs.

Tell them who you are, what your experience is, what you offer as a writer, what your rates are. Tell them everything so they can see it all in a glance without contacting you to get more info.

It is also a great idea to attach some samples of your work so that they can see what your writing style is like. Maybe create a PDF and link to it or just copy and paste one of your articles to the private message (if it is at a forum).

This is a surefire way to increase the amount of jobs you will get.

Let me know what you think

[John_S]

It's a good idea. And I think it might work ...if the solicitors of articles paid anywhere near what a well written article costs.

Unfortunately the vast majority are paying for exactly what they are getting.

I'm surprised you didn't get "I write you good for long time."

[Davidgenius]

Great tip Ryan ;-)

I believe article writing should be treated as a profession, and if you take a professional approach with your client from the moment you first make contact, you'll win (and keep) more clients.

[ryanmacca]

Originally Posted by John_S

It's a good idea. And I think it might work ...if the solicitors of articles paid anywhere near what a well written article costs.

Unfortunately the vast majority are paying for exactly what they are getting.

I'm surprised you didn't get "I write you good for long time."

I actually have gotten many replies in broken english (maybe not that broken). I have once worked with someone who would write articles ok, but whenever he emailed me it was in extremely broken english.

It is obvious that I did not work with this person very long

[Doctor Article]

I think it depends what you're willing to pay. People offering one or two dollars for an article can't honestly expect to get quality writers.

[FitJerk]

Good idea. Proof is of prime importance to me... if you can't walk the talk, then I won't even bother.

A template + .pdf of work samples should be standard I think.

[echievements]

What about a link to articles posted on ezinearticles.com, articlemarketer.com, or a blog (mine: echievements.com/blog)?

Ray

[echievements]

What about a link to articles posted on ezinearticles.com, articlemarketer.com, or a blog (mine: echievements.com/blog)?

Ray

[FitJerk]

Originally Posted by echievements

What about a link to articles posted on ezinearticles.com, articlemarketer.com, or a blog (mine: echievements.com/blog)?

Ray

There is no need to double post. And links are ok but a .pdf, IMO increases the "personalization" factor. They don't have to go around clicking on different websites and such.

Everything they need to know about you and your quality of work is in a nice neat little package inside the email. I know I'd feel all special and **** if I knew someone took the time to create a .pdf just for me.

To take it ever further have a .pdf template and re-compile it by adding in the name of the person you're trying to do business with. That's like the icing on a cake.

People appreciate effort and they appreciate quality. Set yourself apart.

[jayden.fellze]

I think one other way of getting deserving writers is through better screening, sometimes people hire writers without really screening them, a process must take place. On the other hand, the payment for the job likewise matters, as what had made mention, a $2 per article payout can also affect the quality or work that is given.

[polyspeed]

Try freelance work sites to look for writers.

[bambi211]

Up for you Ryan. That is great especially all your transactions are made in email so a template is a must.

[ryanmacca]

Originally Posted by bambi211

Up for you Ryan. That is great especially all your transactions are made in email so a template is a must.

Template is a great idea definately and can really work to improve results

[dr.nathanial]

The best article is one that is created in mind written with own hands and rechecked and proof read... Then as a test of quality pass through Copyscape

It needs time, patience and mental excercise. Needs proper reward too. But todays' tough life time deadlines has made it difficult to cultivate idea and produce it, furnish it and then present a piece of art. Don't know where this commercialism will end...!

[ryanmacca]

Originally Posted by Mari_Quint

One liners are bad cover letters. I won't even consider it a cover letter in the first place.

I agree with your suggestions. I also do the same when applying for writing projects. Either I attach a sample write-up relevant to the project or direct them to my blog.

Yeh, one liners are definitely bad cover letters.
You would never apply for a 'real job' and use a one liner as a cover letter saying "I can begin this job on monday"

[John_S]

A good screening question is what is the objective of an article. Either side can ask or answer this question, whether asked or not.

For writers, it's a way to put forth your unique selling proposition or elevator pitch.

So, what's the answer? While there is no one right answer, if the articles have any objectives at all, I have one good reply.

Articles really have one purpose when the objective is business building. That objective is to make the writer's client look like an expert. Not a search engine spammer. Not a clueless newbie trying to find even more uninformed customers.

To that end, the writer has to be an expert researcher, not a human scraper who can get past Copyscape. The only reason to look at other articles, or Wikipedia is to find out the lowest common denominator generic drivel -- and then differentiate you from the dreary status quo.

Let's say you're selling photography technique. And you're trying to get a crowd shot. But people look directly at you as you're shooting, some stop, others make faces or pose for the camera.

Pro photographers have a secret. They get into a wheelchair. Nobody makes eye contact and the shot comes off looking like it does in magazines.

There are always powerful golden nuggets, every bit as closely guarded as a magician's secrets. As good as gold, such nuggets hold unequivocal value by building your reputation as an expert. That's king making content as opposed to content-is-king nonsense blinding people to content quality.

Most content makes the author appear just a little bit clueless. Most content is trite, obvious banalities that sound good ...because the article is common knowledge available everywhere.

That's what wrong with articles you reach the end of and feel vaguely cheated for paying any attention. You can't put your finger on it, but something important is missing. Trade secrets are what's missing from "content is king" articles.

A well-written ebook, especially if you charge for the download, is going to make your next sale easier. Just as surely as a dull, by-the-numbers "scrape" is going to make future sales that much more difficult.

More ebooks are disinteresting people from doing business again. And writing can not be separated from marketing objectives.

If you can't use it, it's not information -- it's a door stop. Google learned something most ebook writers haven't. That is, if you can't find information you can't put it into use. If you can't use it, then it is not information.

Here's a post I read discussing ebook courses in the (Old) Warrior Forum.

Just today I saw a product which shall remain nameless...it may be the best product out there. HOWEVER, it contains something like 27 DVDs.

I am immediately put off by this.
--I Don't Have Time for Your Bloated Product...

Jay Abraham is a fairly savvy information marketer. What he does is extensively cross-reference. It takes me only about thirty seconds to find a quickly digestible, actionable nugget. Even video DVDs have a "Scene Index."

And guess what? In an ocean of products which are "data dumps" this is a competitive advantage. When your reader understands they can get to and act on the information you provide, you are more likely to make a sale.

Take a hint from Google. Have a cross reference. Add an index, maybe even a dictionary of key terms. Make the right information findable. Because most ebook writers don't.

Ignorance of what the articles are supposed to accomplish is a prime reason writers disqualify themselves.

[Jamie Orman]

I've seen that one liner so many times. It makes me shake my head, thinking people would actually hire them. Yet, sometimes they do. If they don't want to spend the cash then those people are the ones they turn to.

[lorrainelim]

^ that's surprising. If I were the employer, I'll delete one-liners straight-away.

I put a lot of effort into my writing applications.. yet, I don't get as much jobs as before. I think the writing field is more competitive now.

[ryanmacca]

I got really frustrated the other day because I wanted to get a logo done
and I SPECIFICALLY asked for people to send samples and their msn details and
I still got these crappy replys saying
"I can do this now"

ARRRGH!!!! It makes me angry that people are so dumb sometimes

[AlanCarr]

One liners can be fine, if they're relevant or humorous or simply "enough". Mostly I'd say 2 lines perhaps.

Good one liner: "I have experience writing on (topic), please take a look at the following example and I hope to hear from you soon: (link)"

Bad one liner: "My team is the utmost professionals and your satisfactions were guarentedd!"

However the "template" idea can be just as bad, though as a signature file it can work.

When I've hired coders, designers, webmasters and the like, it's all too common to get what is obviously a template, quite possibly copied from someone else. That tells me nothing about the supplier, regardless of how wordy it may be, beyond their ability to copy and paste. The important but often unasked questions the buyer is hoping to answer include "Does this person understand what is needed?" and "Are they confident of doing exactly that?"

One trick I often use is halfway through the spec' I'll throw in something such as please answer this in your reply, 2 + 2 equals what? Then just continue with the spec'...

It's then easy to scan through the responses and look for "4"; it it aint there, delete. Life is too short to deal with people who don't read the specification closely before making an offer.

The other thing that's annoying about templates is a lot of verbosity about skills or experience that are utterly irrelevant. If I want something coded in Java I don't care about C#, C++, MS Access or Flash or indeed anything else, except Java and my project. Period.

Of course it works the other way too. You cannot work as a professional freelancer for long before you'll get at least a few potential clients that are such #ssholes they can't be bothered to reply. As such there's a limit to how much effort I'll put into asking


B.

[Ken Strong]

Originally Posted by ryanmacca

I got really frustrated the other day because I wanted to get a logo done
and I SPECIFICALLY asked for people to send samples and their msn details and
I still got these crappy replys saying
"I can do this now"

ARRRGH!!!! It makes me angry that people are so dumb sometimes

You bumped your own thread from a month ago just so you could bitch some more? Didn't we pretty much cover everything the first time around? I'm just not clear on the need for more of this, unless you've got something new or positive to say about it.

[ryanmacca]

Originally Posted by KenStrong

You bumped your own thread from a month ago just so you could bitch some more? Didn't we pretty much cover everything the first time around? I'm just not clear on the need for more of this, unless you've got something new or positive to say about it.

I was using this as an outlet for my frustration. So I don't go and shoot myself at a later date