Getting started as a writer

13 years ago

Hey WarmChords,

WELCOME TO THE WARRIOR FORUM!!!

Now that I have finished shouting (my apologies) here's my two cents.

Being a writer means MANY different things, you say you minored in journalism, so the chances are you would be very good at article and review writing, however, you may be excellent at copywriting, and guess what?

Copywriting pays VERY well (if you are good enough.)

I think it is very realistic for you to start earning $300+ in the next month or so if you put your mind to it, show your strengths and get some good work behind you.

Try offering your services in the Warriors for hire section of this superb community, that could get you some great testimonials as well as bringing up your reputation level.

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you all the best, and hope to see you around the WF more often.

Cheers,

Aarron

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kursat

13 years ago

I am always interested in working with new writers. If you have a sample please share it here and people will put you in their contacts.

You might want to use "warriors for hire" section for better results.

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warmchords 13 years ago

Aarron, thanks for the bid of confidence!

Kursat, per my aforementioned friend's advice I do intend to market myself in the Warriors for Hire section once I have built a small article portfolio through some other sites, as that seems to help establish credibility quickly. I've been published many times as a reporter and opinion writer while writing for my school's newspaper, so to satisfy the curious I will just post a few introductory paragraphs to a story I wrote last fall...I would simply post a link to the story on my school newspaper's website, but evidently I can't do that until I have 15 posts on WH.

"Preview" below, if you feel so inclined as to read on I could PM you a link...critiques appreciated of course. Keeping in mind this was written for a newspaper.

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Hijacking the Internet
How to protect your wireless networks and keep people from taking your Facebook for a joyride.

Open wireless networks are wonderful things, especially for a small company of recording industry majors killing time between classes. During the afternoon lull one day last week, three of us were getting our fix with laptops aglow in the dimly lit bistro area of the Mass Communication Building. When my friend Matt's eyes lit up I figured he was about to recite the latest quote-worthy tweet on his Twitter feed, but what came out of his mouth was much more intriguing:

"Sarah, I'm going to hack into your Facebook account."

Sarah, to my left, rolled her eyes and continued to digest whatever wall post she was in the middle of before being interrupted. I turned my attention to Matt as he installed a free browser plug-in that promised the ability to hijack the login credentials of other users on open wireless networks. Within a few seconds he was ready to go. The names of students using MTSU's wireless network in the building soon populated the screen of his MacBook, including an indication that our friend Sarah was, in fact, on Facebook.

Click. He was in Sarah's account.

To call this "computer hacking" is probably an overstatement. Matt is admittedly a pretty big tech nerd, but what he did was not at all complicated. After witnessing it myself, I'm quite certain that anyone could be taught how to use this hijacking tool within minutes. What's worse, this tool can intercept login credentials from a few dozen popular sites in addition to Facebook, such as MySpace, Twitter and Amazon, to name a few. For the sake of not encouraging this practice, I will not share the name of this utility. I will say that it wasn't difficult to find, and it's not the only one out there.
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Dahlia Valentine

13 years ago

Hi warmchords... My sister used to write for Demand Studios. In some instances they pay $25 per article. For example, if you have a business background they have a special site that pays $25 per article. If you have a health/nutrition background Livestrong pays $25 per article too (also contracted through Demand Studios). These articles aren't available to all Demand Studios writers. You have to be approved first.

If you get your foot in the door there, you could meet your $300 week threshold with time to spare.

I used to do ghostwriting and the majority of my clients were obtained offline. If you have a Chamber of Commerce in your immediate area, attend one of the business mixers (with business cards in hand). Or check out Meetup.com for other entrepreneur mixers. This is a great way to get the ball rolling and offline clients tend to pay more.

Good luck on your new journey!

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johnben1444

13 years ago

You will find this site valuable to your writing career - http://www.writerstechnology.com/200...the-groundwork.

Best Wishes,

John

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fitz10

13 years ago

There's so many things you could do to make $300 a week as a writer. Demand Studios, Textbroker, Constant Content, Bright Hub, Break Studios, etc are all good places to start out. If you don't need money right away I think Constant Content is generally the most lucrative because you can price things as you see fit. You don't get paid until someone buys, but I've gotten paid over $100 there for single articles (over 1000 words). Plus you get to write about things you like.

Once you've gotten your feet wet you can start writing reports for people here, creating your own products, doing affiliate marketing, writing Amazon Kindle books, etc. This is a great field to be in for writers. Welcome to the forum.

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JennyBizz

13 years ago

I was going to ask you to PM me for some info on what you can do, but I just realized that you probably can't pm. I'll try you instead.

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Dan Allard

13 years ago

I made a couple grand writing articles before moving on to other income streams. Article writing just got too time consuming for me- lost interest. But it's nice to be able to fall back on that.

What I did-

Built a portfolio BEFORE contacting any potential clients.
Created a (free) site where I presented info about me and my portfolio.
IMPORTANT! I recorded a video discussing my experience and what I could bring to the table. Pretty much a video resume. This one step lead me to my first gigs because it separated me from the crowd and built trust. There are plenty of ways to make quality videos for free. One free way is make a Prezi presentation and record it with CamStudio.
Use freelance sites (oDesk.com) as well as look for clients on your own.
When a client is looking for 10 or more articles, write the first article BEFORE contacting them. Send the article as an attachment along with your cover letter. Let them know that that is the first article and you can write 9 (or however many) more with the same quality. If they hire you, you will get paid for that article. If not save it!
Keep all of your clients info in a spreadsheet. If you ever need money, you can email them down the road with a special offer or just see if they need your services.
Strategically increase your rates as demand increases.

Hope these tips help! Good luck!

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ebusinesstutor 13 years ago

Dan is right. The portfolio comes first. If you are a writer, write 10 to 15 articles on various topics and put them up on a web site.

That way people who want to hire you can sample your work.
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- Tina Golden 13 years ago
  
  Start out by charging what you want to get and what you're worth as a writer. Or at least, by web standards.
  
  You have the skills to start off in the higher range and that's what you should do, in my opinion. Target the market that is already looking for high value content, not search engine fodder. That market knows that skill and expertise comes at a price.
  
  When you create your portfolio site, put the rates you want to get. You can always offer a sale to drum up extra business, but let people know up front that you value yourself higher.
  
  By the way, don't bill yourself as an article writer. That belittles your skill level and puts you at the level of the $3-5 "writers".
  
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LeeLee

13 years ago

I have been thinking about this for some time. What is to stop someone from ordering some articles from a mid-price range writer, slapping them on a web site and calling it a portfolio? That would be ghostwriting come full circle, no?

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krtinberg

13 years ago

Until you find a steady place to write and get the money you truly deserve Text Broker is a great way to earn some quick cash to cover those living expenses. They pay on time directly to your PayPal account.

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Kevin Marshall

13 years ago

Originally Posted by warmchords

Hey all,

Looking for some advice on what I can expect from some seasoned writers here...I'm completely new to this. A good friend who has been making a living with IM for 5+ years told me he was confident I could take the plunge and at LEAST scrape by to cover living expenses by starting out as a writer, based on my writing skills. I'd like to get some of your thoughts as well.

I consider myself a very strong writer. I minored in journalism in college, and many professors were outright disappointed that I wasn't majoring in journalism. I've been researching sites like Text Broker, Demand Studios, etc. and trying to gauge how long it would take me to build a resume and reputation, breach the $5-10 per article range, and begin offering superior quality work at higher rates. My living expenses are very low right now, so I would feel successful as a beginner if I could make even $300 per week.

How long do you think it would take to be making that much from writing, assuming I could afford to spend several hours every day at it?

Thanks in advance for any opinions or advice! I'm really glad my IM friend sent me to this forum, so many helpful people here.

You can easily make $300 per week writing. I have personally done this only advertising on this forum, but don't do what I did! Over time I have learned that I should have charged higher rates right away. If you start by charging $5 per article, you will lose almost all of your clients when you raise your rates.

I'll agree with Tina that you should start by charging more than most people right away. I'll disagree with the previous poster about Textbroker unless you want to start out making $5 per article. Textbroker is an easy way to make money, but you make more money outside of Textbroker.

Submit articles to sites like Constant Content and even Ezinearticles to build your online portfolio. Once people see that you are a great writer, you will be able to charge higher rates for your work.

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Rach72

13 years ago

Just re-inforcing the cheap rate thing. Don't do it.

If you advertise yourself as a $5 per article writer you will find that $300 a week easy to find, but at 60 articles a week you will also wear your fingers to the bone (and probably lose the will to live).

Ask the price that you are worth - you have good skills and there are plenty of people around who will put those skills to good use.

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Paul Gram

13 years ago

Making money in writing is very hard but definitely can be done. There are two parts to it:

#1. You have to be a great writer

However, many people stop there, but it's not enough.

#2. You also have to be great at marketing yourself (and your books)

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