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Article Writing - Advice Needed

by dubhdara
8 replies
I am in need of some "quick money", so I've been hunting down good - and free-to-join - freelance sites for writers.

getafreelancer.com was recommended, as was writerlance.com.

However, the payment is so low it's almost laughable. Some of the projects are offering somewhere in the region of $40 for an entire ebook to be created from scratch, and articles are generally about a $1 a piece.

If I write a well-written article of 500 words from scratch then it's going to take me at least 2 hours (for a simple subject) to do the research, and another two hours to get my thoughts together and get the article as I would like it. That's half a day's work, and so I would expect at least $50.

I live in the south of the UK, maybe I should move somewhere less expensive!

Can someone point me to a more lucrative source?
#advice #article #needed #writing
  • Profile picture of the author petelta
    Elance.com will have decent paying jobs you can find...but you to make them believe you're worth what you ask for. I was in a rough spot about a year ago and did an ebook for 3k on elance. It was a damn good ebook though lol.

    You could always put up a WSO for your services or even write a bunch of articles and put them in PLR packages.
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  • Profile picture of the author Katie Rich
    Yes. right here, initially

    I tried odesk and a few others but most jobs are offering less that $2 an hour Whilst people in other countries can manage fine on that sort of income, here in the UK it is just not viable.

    I followed the advice of other warriors and set up myself. Could benefit you to do the same thing.
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    • Profile picture of the author dubhdara
      Thank you for your posts.

      I will set up my own service then!

      In regards to clients, what is the best way to get them? Currently I cannot use PayPal and so WSO (I have to pay for this by PayPal right?), War Room membership, ads, etc. are all beyond me

      Where can I find someone who will pay for my WSO in return for some work? Ah, the irony...
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      www.writers-and-publishers.com/constantcontent
      Are you a freelance writer? Fed up with being paid a few dollars for an article? Then it's time to click the link. You will *not* be disappointed!
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    I see lots of people here posting that they can write ten or more articles in a day. I often wonder about the quality of mass produced content but that's a topic for another time. I've been writing for nearly 25 years and on my best day for writing articles I wrote six good ones between 500 and 700 words. And I was pooped.

    The reason I say so is because if it takes you a total of four hours to write a single article then I'd suggest that maybe article writing isn't your thing, especially with the market as it is. My first article writing gig (for an offline financial publication) I was paid $.10 per word. Most of the articles I wrote for this outfit were 1500 words and often as many as 2500. If you're spending four hours writing a single article you're going to have to be getting at least $.10 per word to make it pay. Otherwise you could make more money working at a fast food joint.

    The good news is there are many other things you can do in online marketing to earn great money. Good luck.
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    • Profile picture of the author dubhdara
      I agree that mass-article production must be very low quality (and I have seen plenty of PLR articles etc. that have convinced me of that).

      The 2-3 articles I wrote in a day (which was about all I can do) involved a lot of work. I was hired to write on the specifics of different types of machinery in a certain niche and how they worked - in some detail.

      I spent time researching the topic and found some great videos on YouTube going through the procedural use of the machines. I spent some time watching 3-4 videos. I then made notes and looked at some web sites with text on the matter, and then pulled the lot together to complete the 2-3 articles (which were probably a little longer than the average small article, but not by much).

      I really cannot see how anyone could do it quicker. With alll due respect!

      I do not intend to offer my services to those who want bulk/speed articles anyway. I am more interested in reviewing books and ebooks, maybe web sites too. I have reviewed and critiqued manuscripts before (for fiction), and one quite-well-known non-fiction ebook in the solar-energy market was rewritten by me (it was horrendous so I just had to offer my services!)
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      Are you a freelance writer? Fed up with being paid a few dollars for an article? Then it's time to click the link. You will *not* be disappointed!
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      • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
        Originally Posted by dubhdara View Post

        I really cannot see how anyone could do it quicker. With alll due respect!
        Here's the key: Start off writing mainly about stuff you know. I got started writing about finance, real estate finance to be specific. The more you write, the more fluid you become. And before long you find you can tap into other areas of expertise you didn't realize you had.

        I wrote an article on relationships one time and for a while it was kicking butt on EZA. I'm not really an expert on relationships but I have made some valuable observations about people and their behavior that worked well for a particular topic in that gendre. The article got picked up and posted everywhere.

        Keep at it. Write what you know and you'll find yourself becoming much more efficient with your writing time. Good luck
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        • Profile picture of the author dubhdara
          Hmm..."stuff I know" about might not be in great demand

          Thanks for the advice.
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          www.writers-and-publishers.com/constantcontent
          Are you a freelance writer? Fed up with being paid a few dollars for an article? Then it's time to click the link. You will *not* be disappointed!
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