How Do Article Writers Get Paid?

A website will be helpful as you can give some info about yourself, your background, what you offer (ghost writing, articles, copywriting etc)

If people want to use you they would like to know about you, even if it is a simple 5 page website, with your contact information.

On the simple website you can include
-sample articles
-rates
-contact info, email, twitter account, facebook account, linked account.
-niches you have written for
-niches you don't feel confortable writing for.
-About me page.

Would that seem better to view for a new customer, a simple webpage about yourself, compared to just an email contact address with No website?

If you want to start with no website, you can post your services on the warriors for hire section, as an article writer.

Paypal is standard for payment.

I don't normally require a website from my writers before hiring....but it DOES have a positive impact if done correctly. Just make sure you take your time because if you do a shabby job it can be worse then no website at all.

I think a one page website with a big contact me link would suffice.

Most people start out by either posting on a forum like this (in the services section) or use a freelance site like Odesk or Elance. You will have to set up a profile and bid on several jobs at first. Once you establish a good feedback history, you won't have to bid as much and you will have more work. You set your price - but early on you'll need to keep it lower as you gain credibility.

With Elance, there is an escrow account so you are protected. With large jobs, you may want to ask for a percentage to be paid upfront. Many buyers are fine with this, but not all will agree to this. You, of course, will have more leverage once you have done several jobs and have consistently high feedback.

If you are doing jobs outside of a system where escrow is an option, then there is more risk. If you take jobs through the WF or other forums, for example, you may want to work only for people who have a good reputation on the forum. Otherwise, you do run the risk of being scammed and there is nothing to protect you.

If you are a good writer and can do a fair amount of volume, then there is decent money to be made as a freelance writer. But, it is a lot of work and can get very tedious.

At some point, you may want to set up a website, but it's not necessary. It will partly depend on how you want to go about getting clients.

I do have a website for my writing business, but I haven't touched it in a while because I've been so swamped with work. But yes, it does look more professional than just a free address at Gmail or Yahoo. I insist on all work being paid for up front, it covers my butt on both ends if the client backs out and says "oh, I don't need them anymore." I do use Paypal for all my transactions as well.

Yes, ideally.

Please excuse the observation that one would expect to be paid more for "before I've written them" than for "before I've wrote them".

Some writers ask for only half in advance, and the other half on delivery.

When I was writing articles for marketers, I always had an absolute rule of a 3-article minimum, together with pre-payment in full, for all new clients. I was willing to accept 50% in advance from returning clients, but most had no problem paying in full, in advance, simply to make it one transaction rather than two. With my own reputation as a reliable service-provider on the line, nobody imagined that I'd "take the money and run".

"Almost usually", yes.

Some do not get paid much, others do.

Some writers get paid by other marketers to do writing. When I was ghost writing, I was getting $100 for every article I wrote for someone.

I no longer do ghost writing for clients, but I still write.

I get paid when someone buys one of my reports, or when someone follows the link in my resource box and buys what they find on my website.

Okay got most of the responses i was looking for, this forum is very helpful. Some people even feel a need to comment on my grammar. Then again I guess I shouldn't rush when I'm talking about offering article writing services.

Where did you hear that? it is not all true.

Some do get paid alot. It depends on who the writer is, what their quality is like, what there experience is like.

You do not need a website selling your article writing service. You can go to places like elance.com & freelancer.com & post your services there.

They provide escrow services where the buyer of your services release the funds into escrow & released upon you completing the project. It's safer too & won't get scammed.

Last reply is spot on but also all the forums have writers touting their skills, I've found & used several off forums that have worked well if not better than people from Elance in some instances

The standard way of payment for freelancers is paypal. Its ideal that you get the upfront payment of course but if you are looking for more security maybe you can have a middleman in the form of a freelance portal, probably, Odesk. You can choose to work hourly or fixed and have several options in withdrawing your earnings as well.

Andrea

hi Ted,

You could always start off using services like infobarrel.com

Services like these offer a revenue share type deal, you write your article, filling your table of contents, and publish.

A few back links to your article/info barrel page won't hurt either.

When your articles are live, you can start earning.

The great thing is to, that you can use these as potential examples for new clients.

Once you start on the road of $5 articles, it is very difficult to raise above that

Just to note some people are getting the wrong impression that I'm wanting to write articles at around $5 an article. This is false, I wanted to know how article writers get paid and what methods they use I.e. how, when, where. From some of the responses, I assumed the best way is to build a website and gain a reputation. For now I've made a profile at Elance. I'm hoping to charge around $10 for a 350 word article, which means I'll only need to do around 5 articles a week to support myself as a broke student haha. Elance will hopefully work for now but if not I may be forced into making a website.
Will let all of you know how it goes!

I take 100% payment up front, and don't start writing until payment is received.

However, trusted clients are the exception. Depending on the size of the order, I may take 50% up front, or 100% after article delivery.

I also understand that some clients are skittish about paying 100% up front as they are worried about being scammed out of their money. After all, it's a two way street in that regard. But I still insist on 100% up front for new clients, or they will have to find another writer. And that's not to be rude, it's a business decision.

Which is also another bit of advice: treat it like a business.

All the best,
Michael

If you can write, I fear you MAY find that the price-point of "writing services" is set outside GB where wage rates and the cost of living is MASSIVELY lower. Therefore, you may find that the "wages" you may be able to command for an article may surprise you.

Have you considered using your writing skills to make money in other ways other than as a freelance writer?

I'm a web content service provider and it can be a little tough to break through in the beginning without some credibility. A website will only add professionalism to your image and let potential clients know that you treat it like a business and take it seriously. Unfortunately many marketers who have purchased ghostwriting services have been burned and have become a bit gun shy when shelling out money to someone they don't know. As someone mentioned previously, it really takes very little time to set up a website where you can provide samples of your work and a little information about yourself. This is going to give any new potential clients a little more confidence in your abilities.

I personally always ask for payment up front. Although some of the freelance sites can be a good way to get your feet wet, you also need to know some of the tactics used to scam writers. Beware of any employer that indicates that your writing must be "flawless" or you will not get paid. We're all human and will occasionally have a typo. They use this as an excuse to refuse payment and will publish the content anyway. I had this happen when I first got started. I typed "an" instead of "and" and didn't catch it on my final review.

The best way to make money as a ghostwriter is to be up front about what you can provide and the time frame you can provide it in. Most people are reasonable and honest. How you promote yourself really depends on how serious you want this business to be and whether you want long term income and clients. If you are using this as a means to make money right now but don't really want to establish yourself as a writer, then you might find that you aren't going to get quality clients that are going to be repeat customers.

As far as what you charge, I would agree what others have said as far as a being new and establishing a new client base. Marketers are going to be a little hesitant to pay $10 an article for someone who is new at it. I still haven't raised my rates much from when I first began because right now my prices work for me and I have loyal clients that I enjoy working for. The bottom line is, you're going to have to pay some dues and build client relationships before you can realistically charge higher rates.

All the best,
Mary

A website is not that necessary. But you can create a better impression by having an online profile page like webs.com. Place some sample articles, rates, links of your previous projects, and your information.

In terms of payment, some article writers for internet marketing would like to meet halfway with their clients. Meaning, they’ll give half of the required articles then get half of the payment.

I am working on a content creation website as we speak, but to be honest our workload has made it difficult to spend time on it. I know when it goes up it will help my company immensely.

I have found that the key to getting started is all in how you interact with your clients and prospects, be professional, treat them right and they will come back fro more articles. I have been working in small family run businesses since I was 16, it is all about how you treat people and creating repeat customers.

I also wanted to chime in about how you get paid. I started with a 50% deposit and rest on delivery method and to be honest it was a great system at the start, but as my client list grew not only did it get confusing but it also cost me more in paypal fees. Most writers get paid upfront and that is pretty standard, I had no problems with any of my clients when I started doing that. I never had any problems only taking half down either, never got burned , just wanted to make things a little neater in the books.

Most of the time writers get paid per article they write. Some also are get paid in a monthly basis.

Colin Palfrey has a new WSO on ghostwriting that I found very informative. Lots of practical advice based on his personal experience, not theory.

Hey guys thanks for all the responses. I have another question -
Could I Email someone a paypal button with the specifics for the order, if their requirements weren't in the drop down menu?