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Question for Freelance Article Writers

by Ehanson
7 replies
I'm wondering how freelancers build up a list of clients who have a constant stream of work.

The reason I'm asking is because posting in the Writers for Hire section has produced mixed results, it seems people will want a few articles written and then disappear.

You need to have a good portfolio at freelancer.com to get higher paying projects and steady work. I'm thinking writing for others might be a good way to make my online income tip toward the full time income instead of part time.

Finally, I was reading Escape from Cubicle Nation and there was a chapter about a woman who literally lived in a van in Colorado and was able to secure freelancing writing and graphic design work to support herself through the year. I must be doing something very wrong if she could do that.

I'm not really sure how to market or network for reliable writing projects. I know there's a huge demand for good writers out there but I just need some advice on how to work myself into that stream of demand.

Any advice or guidance from warriors who write for others?
#article #freelance #question #writers
  • Profile picture of the author JonWebContent
    You have to think outside the box. Do what I do........market the heck out of your local area. I print flyers/business cards and walk B2B talking to small business owners. If you're good at doing that, I strongly recommend this.

    After that, search for gigs on Craigslist that seem like high potential ones. Also, it doesn't hurt to post an ad on Craigslist.

    After that, build a website and promote it. Also, make sure all of your friends and family know what you do specifically. You never know who is going to talk to someone that happens to mention to them their need for a writer.

    On Elance and those types of sites, if you want a higher paying gig, you have to build up a reputation on that site. So you could probably start working the small jobs to supplement the other things I suggested and building up that reputation.

    You have to get creative. There's quite literally hundreds of ways to find good clients. And there are TONS of people needing 5+ articles written WEEKLY.
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    • Profile picture of the author JonWebContent
      Originally Posted by Marianne Gonne View Post

      Hi Ehanson,

      I posted some information about this very topic, but it didn't get many replies. Perhaps it might help you, though! Here it is:-

      http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...per-month.html
      Great advice, Marianne. I did that a couple months ago and emailed about 18-20 sites and got 1 pretty good sale out of the deal. I still have them as a client and write 5 articles per week for them. I stopped doing that, however, only because it became a bit time consuming.

      But I think it's a great way for someone trying to find their first set of clients. With maybe 25-30 hours worth of work (researching websites and sending emails), I think someone could realistically get 5-6 quality clients. That's a heck of a start for someone new.

      You just have to realize that 70% probably won't ever email you back. 15-20% will have no interest. 5% will be tire kickers. But somewhere between 5-10% will have serious interest and probably want to do business with you if you write a strong email.

      Sell them on your writing, but also sell them on your expertise within their niche. Then sell them on how your articles will help them generate more targeted traffic.

      Oh, and don't come of SPAMMY. Personalize the message. You should send completely different emails to each business.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mac the Knife
        Another thing to be aware of-the OP says he is getting clients, but they are not REPEAT clients-the reason for this must be identified. Is it a case of quality of content? Turnaround time? Lack of quality service? Don't be afraid to reach out to clients and ask them specifically. Personal service is a MUST-do business as a PERSON, not a company and folks will enjoy working with you and continue to use your services and refer you as well.

        Mac the Knife
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        • Profile picture of the author Ehanson
          Originally Posted by Macurdy View Post

          Another thing to be aware of-the OP says he is getting clients, but they are not REPEAT clients-the reason for this must be identified. Is it a case of quality of content? Turnaround time? Lack of quality service? Don't be afraid to reach out to clients and ask them specifically. Personal service is a MUST-do business as a PERSON, not a company and folks will enjoy working with you and continue to use your services and refer you as well.

          Mac the Knife
          I did follow up with someone who liked my articles but they said they didn't need anymore articles for their site.

          I thought it was a bit strange the only marketing they needed was 7 articles submitted to Ezine. Many people use hundreds of articles per year to market their site- and that's just one of their strategies.
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  • Profile picture of the author lassy715
    Originally Posted by Ehanson View Post

    I'm wondering how freelancers build up a list of clients who have a constant stream of work.

    The reason I'm asking is because posting in the Writers for Hire section has produced mixed results, it seems people will want a few articles written and then disappear.

    You need to have a good portfolio at freelancer.com to get higher paying projects and steady work. I'm thinking writing for others might be a good way to make my online income tip toward the full time income instead of part time.

    Finally, I was reading Escape from Cubicle Nation and there was a chapter about a woman who literally lived in a van in Colorado and was able to secure freelancing writing and graphic design work to support herself through the year. I must be doing something very wrong if she could do that.

    I'm not really sure how to market or network for reliable writing projects. I know there's a huge demand for good writers out there but I just need some advice on how to work myself into that stream of demand.

    Any advice or guidance from warriors who write for others?
    I hire writers for consistent work, and I have 1 part time VA. The key is to be in as many freelance websites and forums as you can. Be on odesk, ifreelance,writing forums,elancer,textbroker, etc.

    You can also sign up for other programs like thecontentauthority.com, or humanarticlerewriter, and ehow.com and start writing for them.
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