Can I succeed as a writer?

[hire_us]

Hi Fellow Copywriters.
I have run into some doubts or you can say some negative thoughts which I think I shouldn't be afraid of.
So I am just asking out here, please let me know what do you think of it.

I have been a freelance writer since 2 years and have done a lot of work. But recently I found this forum. Last year I had a plan to start a PLR website selling my content, but just didn't have the courage or dollars to do so. I mean I live in India, I was in college. Just doing freelancing as a part time job. And I was totally unaware of the marketing strategies involved. So I kinda dropped the plan.

But now I have finished my studies and all free to invest more time as a writer. So here is the deal,

I saw a couple of threads on WSO selling PLR articles. And I also want to do the same thing. I think selling PLR articles is a great way of residual income monthly.
And I am tired of running behind my clients, placing bids. Though I got some long term clients who do not hesitate providing me consistent work, but I deperately want to succeed in the PLR business.

So the threads I saw here, are run by experienced Warriors and moreoever they are Native writers.

And I am not. I mean I have some strategies to prove my crediibility as a writer and I definitely will, but I just wanted to ask you guys.
Can I succeed at selling my PLR articles?

[Gabe77]

He probably meant native English speakers.

[hire_us]

Yes Gabe77 I meant English Speakers only.
And am I missing something? I got a e-mail saying there was a reply to this thread, but I don't see any...
Anyway now that you know what did I mean, what do you think of selling PLR articles?
I mean there are other Warriors who are doing it successfully, but do I stand a chance?
I mean whether this Forum will accept a newbie?
Whatever I am certainly going to give it a try. Juat a couple of days to go....

[abelacts]

Don't underestimate yourself. If you can write well, it doesn't matter where you are from and you will find your customers. There are a few good writers here who are just like you.

As with every venture, it takes perseverance and discipline to start and sustain a business. My advice is take action and improve along the way. All the best.

[hire_us]

Thanks abelacts. I have started working according to my plan.
I just wanted to know whether this place is the right one to start. Anyway thanks.

[hire_us]

And will you please tell me, whether is it right to copy other's business strategies...
Mainly the successful ones...
I think that's what business is all about.

[sherisaid]

I think you can succeed. I hate to see people - even non-native English speakers - selling themselves for peanuts, but many do. My advice to you, and to anyone is don't sell yourself short. Gaining a native grasp on the language is not easy, but it can be done. Natural flow comes down to two things, sentence structure and choice of word. The best way to improve those is by reading.

Make sure all the copy and samples on your website are written in perfect English, and say no to unreasonable offers. In the beginning, it's all about trying to find work. Once you have established yourself, people will come to you. Good luck!

[Harry Behrens]

Originally Posted by hire_us

And I am not. I mean I have some strategies to prove my crediibility as a writer and I definitely will, but I just wanted to ask you guys.
Can I succeed at selling my PLR articles?

Of course you can succeed. You just need to have patience and do the right things. Here are a few tips:

- Change your username to your real name, or put your real name in your title or your sig
- Put a real picture of yourself in your avatar, fill out all the contact info
- Spend some time participating in the discussions around the forums, providing some real questions, answers and ideas that you might have
- Make sure everything you write is ni PERFECT English, if you need to improve then spend the time to do so
- After you feel you have a good position, start your first WSO and provide a BIG value proposition in it
- Most important: follow through and be extremely present during the whole WSO process, answer questions, take care of your clients and of anybody who asks questions, give them a surprise bonus to make them feel even better, deliver everything ON TIME and AS PROMISED no exceptions
- Go back to the third step and repeat

Now I'm certainly no authority around here, and I don't run WSO's myself - but this stuff is just good advice in general I'd give to anyone. You do those things, be completely honest about what you want, don't be afraid to make a few mistakes along the way... you'll do great.

[hire_us]

Thanks sherisaid.
I believe whatever I do I can never get a what you called native grasp.
But what I can do is to present the content in an effective and quality way. I have been doing this job for a quite long time and got praised a many times by my clients.
And I really hate starting as a newbie at a new place. I mean it really takes a long time to build a repo.
Anyway I am planning to write a portfolio and get some testimonials from my previous clients, so that Warriors will at least get convinced that I do know how to get the job done.
I never present my writing as of high literary value, rather I keep it as simple as possible and obviously information rich.
Thanks anyway....

[hire_us]

Thanks hmbehrens
It's just the push I need...

[Harry Behrens]

Hire_us, for what it's worth your English seems to be just fine from what you write. I'm sure you have what it takes to do well if you just apply it, now of course it takes time, but doesn't everything? Hang in there.

[hire_us]

^^^^
Thanks.
Will implement all the steps you said.

[hire_us]

So Harry, I did everything as you said.
Other changes coming real soon...

[cherylwright]

Your best chance at success is secured by taking action! Without that step, nothing will be achieved.

There are lots of people making money writing PLR articles, and many of those are not experienced writers. If you can write a decent email or narrative (and you can), and you can do basic research, then you should achieve success.

It will require marketing too, and you'll pick up tips here at the WF to do that as well.





Cheryl

[hire_us]

Thanks Cheryl...
Yes I can certainly write decent E-mails. In fact I have written quite a many Follow-ups for my clients.
Then why the hell Not For Me...
And you are right, without action there will be no reaction...

[cherylwright]

Originally Posted by hire_us

Thanks Cheryl...
Yes I can certainly write decent E-mails. In fact I have written quite a many Follow-ups for my clients.
Then why the hell Not For Me...
And you are right, without action there will be no reaction...

A lot of it boils down to confidence. Many of us are not confident in our own abilities, and that can cause a lot of anxiety.

The worst thing that can happen with your venture, is it takes longer than anticipated, or doesn't work.

If that happens, don't see it as a failure, because in reality it's a learning experience. In my opinion, if you give something a decent go, then you've not failed, simply because you've given it your best shot.

*A few years ago I was asking myself similar questions to yours. I am now so busy that I outsource a lot of work for my own sites, and that frees me up to do my client work. (I'm a writer too.)




Cheryl

[hire_us]

Thanks Cheryl for sharing your experience.
And I already have experienced some failures.
So this time I am going to give my best shot. ( Just now requested Testimonials from my clients and some of them have already replied... )

[Tyrus Antas]

You can make a living through writing, as long as that entails you building(writing) your own assets instead of building other people's assets. Find a topic you love and write about it on your own website, building your own brand.

If you sell the rights for everything you write you'll never grow big enough to gain momentum. You'll find yourself in the writer's rats race. Working long hours for little reward.

Build your own stuff!

Tyrus

[hire_us]

Thanks Tyrus for showing "The Long Road To Success"...
I really hate the fact there are no shortcuts....

[hire_us]

Hey I was just going through the threads when I saw Josh Kulp's WSO...
I hope I will get a lot of help making my yet to be launched WSO a successful one.

Anyway whatever advices you gave me or about to give.I think these are nothing but FREE WSOs.So thanks to you all again.

[cherylwright]

Originally Posted by Tyrus Antas

You can make a living through writing, as long as that entails you building(writing) your own assets instead of building other people's assets. Find a topic you love and write about it on your own website, building your own brand.

If you sell the rights for everything you write you'll never grow big enough to gain momentum. You'll find yourself in the writer's rats race. Working long hours for little reward.

Build your own stuff!

Tyrus

Absolutely agree. I have earned a reputation in the writing niche by creating my own products for writers. (You can see them here: Writer2Writer Shop)

Doing this - as well as setting up an informative website - has given me credibility and allowed me to have a following. I've gradually built this up over the years, teaching writers to write, and then teaching them how to earn a living as a writer.

I doubt any of that would have happened if I hadn't gone down the path of creating my own information products.

This is a great way to make a passive income.




Cheryl

[gianne2705]

Yes of course,you can totally become a successful writer.You have the experienced,i guess your problem comes with the new pressure not as a freelance writer but as a whole marketer either.

[flamingleaf8]

First , your english for a non native speaker is excellent, so I dont see why it would hinder you from becoming a successful writer.
Second, you seem to be at the point where everything falls into place, you have free time, and decided on what you want to do.
Do It!!! start now!

[k0zm0zs0ul]

Yes, I think with practice of the English written language you can definitely make a living as a writer. I am not sure PLR articles are the way to go as you really have to have something truly unique to offer to compete.

But building up a steady client base, and finding other ways to make residual income on your writing would be good. Get creative, find an area you excel at, and focus on making it happen.

Regards,
Cori

[Cheryl Hines]

I am going to echo many of the other posters here - just do it! You English is better than most who know it natively!! (judging by your writing here)

Do choose your own subjects and do write for your own sites and do offer your services here on the forum. But just do it! You won't look back once you really feel the wind beneath your wings.

[charlesburke]

You did the right thing asking for advice before starting out in a direction you think is good. A number of Warriors have advised you to write your own products. That is top-notch advice. But if you're nearly broke when you're first starting out, that may need to be step 2 (or 3) of your business plan. Do whatever you need to do - whatever is within reasonable reach - to get money flowing. Then you'll have a little breathing room to move on to the next step up.

I'm a native speaker (USA) but have lived abroad for the last 23 years, and I can speak from experience when I tell you that your English is quite good (not perfect, as you've already observed, but more than good enough to do the job). Heck, your English is better than that of many native speakers, so don't let that slow you down for a minute.

Regarding resources. If you don't have a website yet, get one up. Fastest way is putting up a blog. With a little searching you can find a theme that includes a sample contact form. Use that instead of openly posting your email address (spam bots will pick up an unprotected address and you'll start getting scads of spam mail.)

If you're a little short of cash right now and can't quite swing your own domain and website, go put up a free blog at blogger.com for a while. Once you have money coming in, get your domain and put up your site. If you elect to put a Wordpress blog on your site, you can easily import all postings from blogger.com with a couple of mouse clicks.

The other advice you've received is also spot on - always do the best work you can and always, always keep deadlines.

If something dreadful comes up and you absolutely cannot avoid being late, get in touch with your client right away and keep them in the loop. Worst thing you can ever do is fail to communicate and keep in touch.

But it sounds like you already know most of these things already and just need to build up your confidence. You're on the right track for that.

Oh, and regarding your idea about selling PLR articles, that's not bad at all. Just make sure you pick the very top money niches. Then drill down and find good 3- or 4- or 5-word search phrases with good search volume and write about them. In other words, spend most of your efforts where the money is already flowing.

If you need more information about finding the strong search terms, do some searches here in the forum and read everything you can get your hands on about keywords and article optimization. In two or three weeks you'll know more about the topic than 95% of all humanity. Once you've got your list of phrases, and before you write, try to come up with a juicy promotional idea that will appeal to your market - Warriors who buy PLR. In fact, you could even post here and ask them what they're looking for and can't find.

We all wish you the greatest success, and if you ever need advice or have a question, don't hesitate to ask. You'll find that dozens - sometimes hundreds - of others have walked the same path before you and have priceless know-how that they're eager to share. Great place this forum.

Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles

[hire_us]

Thanks to all of you.
@Charles
Regarding the Keywords. While writing these articles I didn't keep that in mind. That was intentional. I mean I want to make first WSO a special one. So, I think I will just provide unique content and a Free Service to stuff them with keywords if any buyer wants that.
But from my experience I think, when you have neatly written article on any topic which is written after doing a good research and with intense care, keywords just don't matter. I mean there were times when my clients just ask me to write on certain topics without thinking about keywords. And it really helps when writing. Otherwise I hate sticking to keyowrds. But that's the demand. I totally understand. So if anyone wants that I will that for him. I mean it's no big deal to incorporate keywords in a articles.
But these are PLR articles, so as I have come to know till now, buyers will mostly mold the product in different shapes as per the requirements, so they can justdo it themselves which is better I think. Anyway please let me know whether it's a nice plan to go with. Anyway critiscm will be appreciated.

And charles I have already started to work on the website thing. The WSO I bought from Josh did help me a lot to discover certain things right away.

And once again about the keyword I will prove that my niche is indeed a hot one, probably using google trends or keywowrds analytics would be fine...

OMG..I hate this marketting job...
But surely I will love it when the $$$s start flood in...

[Adrian Cooper]

Originally Posted by hire_us

Hi Fellow Copywriters.
I have run into some doubts or you can say some negative thoughts which I think I shouldn't be afraid of.
So I am just asking out here, please let me know what do you think of it.

I have been a freelance writer since 2 years and have done a lot of work. But recently I found this forum. Last year I had a plan to start a PLR website selling my content, but just didn't have the courage or dollars to do so. I mean I live in India, I was in college. Just doing freelancing as a part time job. And I was totally unaware of the marketing strategies involved. So I kinda dropped the plan.

But now I have finished my studies and all free to invest more time as a writer. So here is the deal,

I saw a couple of threads on WSO selling PLR articles. And I also want to do the same thing. I think selling PLR articles is a great way of residual income monthly.
And I am tired of running behind my clients, placing bids. Though I got some long term clients who do not hesitate providing me consistent work, but I deperately want to succeed in the PLR business.

So the threads I saw here, are run by experienced Warriors and moreoever they are Native writers.

And I am not. I mean I have some strategies to prove my crediibility as a writer and I definitely will, but I just wanted to ask you guys.
Can I succeed at selling my PLR articles?

Have confidence in your self and just do it.

I wrote an entire 560 page book, created my own publishing company, published it as a paperback and it became a best seller on Amazon.

That could never have happened unless I believed in myself and took action.

Message - just do it and know only success.

[luckystepho]

I think marketing ourselves is one of the hardest things to do if we are new to all this- those who said we lack confidence in ourselves and our abilities are spot on.

Writing for others and selling articles could give you the income you need to invest in your own site and business- the key is to make a start, do something and refine it from feedback you receive etc. Good luck!