Where do you research a topic to write a quality article?

Try online libraries like questia or libraryspot.

The best is Google or any other major SE or even directory like Yahoo. Skim through the most relevant titles and descriptions. Read at least 5 relevant articles on the subject and take your notes.

You should have enough to write about.

Well, there are a couple of places i visit for my research when looking for information to write my articles:

Yahoo Answers - I just go there and type a few questions relating to my topic and in no time i get various answers. You can count on the answers you get here, so i take all the relevant answers and paste them on a fresh notepad then i begin to rewrite them in my own words, using each good answer as a bullet point in my articles.
With the answers i get from yahoo answers alone i can write 3 -4 articles on a particular topic.


Article Directories - I visit ezinearticles.com to search for articles related to my main keyword. All i'm looking for here are just 2-3 points to talk about, then i paste them in my notepad or word document and again use them as points to talk about in my articles.
Or better still, i could just pick a similar article related to what i have in mind, read it 2 or 3 times, close the page and try to write it in my own words.

I repeat the same process as above with wikipedia.com

Above all, remember that your articles need to have a catchy headline to make people see them and click on them to read.

I hope this helps .

Good luck!
Jude.

Too bad no actual full time writers who do this as a living answered. Any more tips?

It's not so much where you research but how you research. Let me try and give an example.

Let's say I had a batch of articles to write about silverworking.

Most people would start researching silverworking at the top level. This is almost always pointless. Why? Because most people know a little bit about most things. So instead, I make a list of things that I do know about silverworking, and things that I suspect, like this:

Silver needs to be welded or soldered to join.

Silverworking probably includes some tertiary skills such as gem setting.

I am sure silverworkers do not make the actual chains they use, they must buy them.

Just like other crafts, I think there must be guilds and professional bodies for silverworkers.

I wonder if you can be taught silverworking by a professional organisation?

I then research these lower level subjects, and entirely side step the whole system of visiting dozens of places researching a loose, top level subject.

Hope this helps.

Mac.

Another tip:

You can search through only .edu or .gov sites by adding site:.edu at the end of your search term. For example, you might search for "mortgage lending site:.gov" (without quotes) if you wanted to learn laws about mortgage lending and not get a bunch of commercial results.

I also sometimes add "tips" when searching for something that returns a lot of commercial results. Of course, it depends on the type of article whether that will work or not...

Love,
Shannon

Sorry Freelancing10,

I saw this thread just then, and hope to answer your question since I am doing this for a loving, err, living (pun intended).

After ghostwriting and copywriting for a living/loving for over 3 years, you could say that I'm an expert in many niches. This wasn't always so. Even today I come across topics I never even heard of. When I do, one of the first places I look for inspiration is Wikipedia.

Depending on the actual article subject I then proceed to find information on About.com., industry websites/blogs, industry forums, and freely available PDFs (this is especially great when you find them released by .edu and .gov sites because you can almost guarantee the info is accurate). I always start off with keyword research on Google to find the best authority sites fast. Authority sites equal knowledge and accurate information - at least most of the time.

I also want to stress that you should never ever plagiarize any content. Always write the information from scratch. Try to think of the questions people ask when looking for the information, then proceed to write these into a great article.

Note: A great article is full of uniquely written, accurate information that has been sourced from not just one, but several good resources to prevent duplicate content (if you write articles from scratch like I do, there is no issue with having duplicate content anyway).

This is why my prices are higher than the usual $5/article job because I take pride in my work. I spend time on research to make sure the info is accurate! Plus you get an experienced copywriter to craft your content. All of this costs extra.

If you want to start in this industry I strongly advocate you try job sites like oDesk, Elance and Guru.com. There are plenty of clients looking for people like you (new writers who are prepared to cut their rates in order to get jobs). Once you become more experienced and confident in your ability as a writer you can raise your rates accordingly.

Another section is the Warrior for Hire section in this forum (my suggestion is to offer a few review copies to established Warriors to get instant feedback. If the feedback is great, orders will pour in faster than you can handle!

Hope this helps.