Seeking advice from people who make money writing articles!

I have done a fair bit of writing for a few high-profile Warriors but decided to change direction. Everyone to his own, of course, but my take on freelance writing is that you would be better off writing for yourself. Learn product creation and write ebooks that you can sell. If you can produce well-written ebooks that have "value" (something unique), you can market them on this forum, or you can publish them on platforms like Kindle or Smashwords. Remember that the material you write for a client may produce recurring income for the client. You get paid once.

Thanks for all of your advice so far guys. I'm currently in the process of setting up a website, and am following Jenn Dize's "Power Ghostwriting" course.

I'll keep bidding for jobs on the freelance sites and hopfully will eventually find some clients!

MrBoots is so right about the "race to the bottom" environment. It can be a little demoralising to see so much competition for such low-paying jobs, but c'est la vie I guess.

Andrei, your idea about contacting webmasters directly is a great one and Ive started to do that. I'll let you know if I hear anything!

Thanks again for all of your wisdom.

Joseph Robinson,

If you don't mind, could you share some strategies you used to get from the .03 cent per word range to the .10 cent range?

I found getting $15 dollars for around 500 words fairly easy, even with no online reputation to speak of. It was simply a matter of answering some classified ads, showcasing a well-written and entertaining sample, and then asking for that price. Forget the $5 an article stuff, even if you're a beginner.

That is unless, like Joe mentioned, you're a novice to writing altogether.

That being said, the .10 cent per word range is my short term goal. Is it simply a matter of finding the right clients, or did you build up a rep and slowly raise prices? Thanks

And to the OP. Good luck with your website. A lot of threads I've read through suggest that as a good move for a serious beginner. I'm not much of a techie but am looking into it myself. Anyone use google sites?

Hi Joseph,

I checked out constant-content.com. It looks like a great site, but on the articles I looked at the total number of downloads was zero. Since I'm new to the site, I'm wondering if many people sell articles.

I can't help but reply.

When I first started as an "online writer", I started with getafreelancer. I started out with $1.50 per 500 words, which was ideal at that point. If I may say, without sounding as a snob and a racist, there are just too many people from other countries who lower the bid too much ( $.90 per article) just to get the contract. And this is why clients also think that, hey, why not? If you start off with that, then it is very difficult to get out.

My first ever contract was a scam, and got lucky with my 2nd. I stayed with that client for 1 year; we started at $2 per 500 words, then she increased the rate to $3 based on my performance and output. Where I was at that time, earning $30 per day was a bonus, well, more than what office managers earn actually.

But in the course of that year, I left GAF and moved on to oDesk, bid for projects that paid $3 per hour and such, until I snagged another client who paid $5 per 500 words. Again, I steered clear of sub-standard work, and aimed to keep my client happy. He offered to increase my pay if I work for him regularly. He upped my rate to $8 per 500 words if I am able to complete at least 10 "error-free" content. That worked well for the both of us, and I stayed with the guy for the next 2 years.

There is such a thing as producing well-researched and well-written content within an hour, after all. It really depends on your capacity and capabilities.

I discovered iWriter.com lately, and aimed for the Elite spot, where you CAN be paid up to $20 for 500 words, and that's a holiday for me. But it's a tough call, too, since the requesters are pretty picky. I have managed to be on that spot by making sure that I do these things:

* Check client/requester statistics [reviews, approval:rejection ratio]
* Double check instructions [if doable, reasonable and sensible]
* Make sure that the article is spotless before submission [no snags, no errors]

Being fast in what you do is not primary, but it's important. After all, we just have 24 hours every day, and we only work half of that or a little bit more. So try to squeeze in work from different clients who appreciate your work by paying you fairly.

If you are bidding for a contract, it MAY help to ensure the client that you can deliver high quality articles in less time than required. Although he may need to pay more, assure him that you can produce more than the others, and your articles/content will not be needing any more editing.

Hope this helps.

One more thought about writing cheap articles in the beginning is that you can use it for lead generation. It is a long road but it gives you a chance to meet people that are willing to use your service again.

Joe Robinson,

Thanks for the tips. Threads like these are very helpful.

Webbwriting,

All I did to get $15 dollar articles was respond to craigslist ads. I went through all the major cities in the writing section and responded to A LOT of ads. There are a lot of people there offering the typical penny for word stuff, but there are also a lot looking for higher quality writing. I landed a few private clients almost immediately.

What I'm beginning to understand is that are two types of people/companies seeking written content. The first wants ultra cheap stuff. Maybe they have a viable business model where they stuff sites full of keyword heavy words. Maybe they're engaging in article arbitrage or trying to outsource everything and then flip sites. Maybe they simply don't know what they're doing.

The second sees quality content as an investment. They're thinking long term, usually have a bigger budget, and are happy to pay more for good writing. This is the group we need to target as writers.

Another poster mentioned looking for jobs that offer some revenue sharing. If your content converts into sales for your client, you get a small percentage. If you're like me, a better writer than a marketer, this seems like an avenue worth exploring.

Unless your articles are very well written, I recommend you actually join a network marketing company, and implement your article-writing skills with that. It can get boring writing articles all day haha! Just make sure you don't copy content at ALL, or your articles will get REJECTED. Good luck!

Someone mentioned earlier in this thread about getting new clients.

Can anyone elaborate further on ways to do that?

Also, I've seen a number of e-books that claim they can teach you how to get started as an online freelance writer / copywriter but I'm wondering if anyone has an e-book / book they would recommend.