Looking to Write Articles for Startup Cash

) What is the standard number for an article? 400 Words?
300 is the minimum, but 400 will be fine

2) Is this number also the minimum word count needed for Ezine Articles?
300

3) Where should I be getting most of the people who need these articles written?
Ezinearticles

4) Is 10-15 dollars a reasonable price to be asking? I have done it for 5 dollars in the past but felt I was getting ripped off.
Yes, it is, unless you have built up a very strong profile of yourself.
Honestly, I'm willing to write $5 for 300 words, you can check out at C&C Articles : Cheap and Contented Articles for you

5) Should I be receiving payments first or writing them first?
Payment first

6) If I was to write first, send the article, and never receive the payment is there anything at all I can do about it?
Paypal dispute, but it not useful

7) Whats the average expected turn around time? I know I can get an article done in 2 hours or less with research and quality content, but would like breathing room.
2-3 business day

1) at least 400
3) 250
4) It is a reasonable price. The article writing market is messed up. There are people writing for 1$
The rest have been answered above.

I am guessing I am not aloud to put up something in the main forum offering my service is not allowed?

But anymore ideas on where to get people who need the articles? I would like to earn a quick 20 dollars so I can pay for a WSO so I can make a decent amount after that.

Why don't you come up with your own blog or website where you can offer your services? Also, $20 is really a small investment. A WSO is worth every penny.

I intend to do all of that I just do not even have 20 dollars at the moment hence me trying to find ways to earn some cash. I would like to earn enough to 1) Create a WSO 2) Pay for Hosting 3) Pay for Domain for a writing website 4) Pay for a Domain for a separate project.

Lee

The main issue at the time would be finding the people who want the quality article, I am in the middle of signing up at some of the places that were listed above.

Lee

From a buyer's point of view: if I pay for an article it will be optimized for search engines according to my niche and keywords I supply to the writer. And, no, I would not pay before seeing the article. You don't want people to rip you off - neither do I. Paying for a useless article or one that I will spend hours rewriting is not on my "to do" list.

I think what you should aim for now is slightly above average content and speed, compared to one good article done in 2 hours.

Perhaps you want to adjust your price point to $7 and aim to do 2 articles an hour? That way you make $14 in one hour instead of $10/2hour.

I've been in your shoe before when I don't even have $20, but borrowing that $20 to make $200 worth of breathing room is an extremely important first step, so don't let that hold you back. Good luck!

I wonder why the OP is addressing all the posts except for John Taylor's...

Edit: referring to John's first post in this thread - his second was posted as I was posting.

Fine, take a defensive position.

Ignore the advice.

Clearly you are only interested in the answers
and suggestions that suit your purposes.

John

good luck with it. You'll also now be competing with people generating articles using technology, and selling them *dirt* cheap.

Hi Lee,

Here is a mini-business plan that might suit you.

First, write 3-5 samples. I would say make at least one of them a how-to, and one of them a tips or benefits article. Make one of them about a problem that people face (more on that below), and make sure and hit an emotional button with it. (Do this with every one you write, if you can.)

Unless you want to specialize (not a bad idea, but not always the best idea for beginners), cover at least three niches. Pets (be specific) and bad credit /credit repair/ bad credit loans/ anything financial, esp. concerning people in desperate straits, are two good ones.

Anything health-related is good, too. Exercise-related, weight loss, acne, natural medicine, erectile dysfunction, etc.

Also dating/seduction isn't a bad one either. Lots of people doing stuff with these markets and their niches.

Make sure each one is focused around a keyword or key phrase in the niche. Put the keyword in your title, in the first paragraph, a couple of times in the body and in your closer.

Probably you already know about that but I'm mentioning it just to be safe. A safe keyword % is under 3% and many marketers don't worry much about it anymore. If they do then they will tell you. You can check your percentage at textalyser dot net. Always a good idea just to make sure you haven't accidentally overused it. Don't want to be guilty of keyword spam!

If you don't have the money for a WSO then you possibly don't have enough for a domain name and hosting. But I think .info domains are 2 or 3 bucks at NameCheap.com. Hostgator can host you for ten bucks a month if you pay monthly. Seriously consider this, it will help. However I'll talk about free stuff in just a minute.

If you get hosting and a domain name, I'd recommend the WordPress install on Fantastico. With wordpress you can choose to create blog posts or web pages and it's the easiest way I've ever built a site. In fact it's the only way I've ever built a site that was worth looking at.

If you absolutely can't afford a domain name and hosting right now, you can use a free service like WordPress.com or Clearblogs.com. Make pages or posts with your samples.

Make an "about" page or post that has your email. It will help people feel safer with you if you can list a phone number and street address, or at least some sort of mailing address. You are an unknown quantity at this point and this can help people feel more sure about you.

Okay, now you want a page where you introduce yourself. It should say that you are available for content writing. List your price. I started out at $.02/word. Some people won't like to pay that but some people think it's a deal. If your samples are decent then you can get it. If you are professional and always make your deadlines, and provide good content, you can charge more in the near future.

You can also offer packages: 5-article, 10-article, etc. Give a bit of a discount for bulk, if you want.

Since you are as yet unknown, here is a suggestion: offer to write ONE free article per potential client. It doesn't have to be long, 300-350 words is fine. Say that you will do it on whatever keyword or subject they want, although you might want to list exceptions i.e. heavily technical stuff if you're not up on tech, adult stuff if you'd rather not do that, etc.

Now it's time for the forum. Create a signature line that links back to your website. Your text can be something like "Need good content at a reasonable price? Click here and get a FREE test-drive!"

Or any such phrase that lets people know you are available, and giving out free samples.

If for some reason you don't have paypal, get it.

I started out asking for half payment up-front from my clients. This was as a new and unknown quantity. I like to think they gave it because I came across as at least somewhat of a professional.

It's not unusual to ask for this and personally I wouldn't work for a client who wasn't willing to pay half up-front. By the same token, it might smell fishy if you ask for everything up-front as well (though I've seen writers do this when they post a WSO).

Set a realistic turnaround time for yourself. If you're taking 2 hours per article then take that into account when you tell clients your turnaround time.

And if you're taking two hours...get faster! I have found that outlining helps quite a bit with this. Also, when you get $47, google the term "7 minute article". It's worth it.

Seriously, if you don't at least cut your time in half, you're going to have problems making money with this. If you can't get to at least one article per hour then you're likely to end up frustrated and feeling overworked or worn out.

Now, make posts here on the forum. Make sure they are intelligent replies about subjects you know. You don't have to know much about internet marketing per se--all kinds of niche topics here.

If you don't feel like you have much to say, then you want to start a WSO just as soon as you get $20. In fact you might want to do that anyway. This is a great investment for your business.

Offer a good rate. Say, you'll do ten 400-word articles for 40 or 50 bucks. Make sure you list your regular rate, so that they can compare with your WSO rate (and know what to expect to pay in the future).

Set a limit on how many clients you'll take. To be safe, I would announce a turnaround time of one week, for everybody. Or one week for your first 5 clients and two weeks for the next 5. Whatever suits your writing pace and lifestyle.

Make sure you include a link to your site. You can even include a link for each individual sample if you want.

DON'T TAKE ON MORE THAN YOU CAN REASONABLY HANDLE. Your reputation is everything, so you want to make sure you can deliver. ALWAYS DELIVER ON TIME!

It feels like I might be leaving something out here, but it IS five o'clock in the morning.

This isn't the only way to do things but it sure ain't the worst.

If you can cut your writing time down some, then you'll really do yourself a favor. Mine started going down after a couple of months but at two hours per article, you might have a hard time just getting started.

See if you can get it down to at least an hour. Of course if you do several articles in the same niche, this may not be such a problem, depending on your research and writing times.

Hope this helps.

Wow Brad that is a lot of great information. I really appreciate it, I have full intentions in looking into a lot of this stuff and I appreciate the PM as well. I will definitely be giving this a try.

Any more information or ideas is extremely appreciated.

Lee

If you are physically able to, sell some plasma and start a WSO. I know that sounds off-the wall but if you're really that hard-up for twenty bucks, you need some cash soon. Your body will make more!

Edit: More plasma, that is!

Heh back at school I went to do it one day but wussed out, it was a tad intimidating when I first went in. I am currently home for the holidays and don't know of a plasma donation center in the area.

And it is just too bad that our body doesn't just make the cash that we need, would save us all a lot of trouble.

Once again thanks for the posts, the mini-business plan is great.

Lee

Yeah, you left out the kitchen sink!

Nice post, Brad. If Lee (and others interested in writing for pay) combine your plan with some talent and effort, he stands a good chance of earning some decent cash.

Mike: thanks, it's appreciated! That post ended up taking up a little more time than I thought. But now I've got something I can post to writer forums as well.

Dee: I see your point but hate AC these days, there are just so many better ways to make a few bucks with an article. I've known people to use Textbroker dot com before. It has some of the hassles you might expect but it does at least pay better than AC.

Thomas: Better watch out, "Anemia Conspiracy" will be a $7 report (or $97 ebook) before you know it!

Lee,
If you are serious about making an income then I have a proposal for you if you want to be apart of a case study. Then I will show you what to do and how to do it and I will even cover your WSO fee for you...

Interested ?? PM me...

James