Is offering free articles a good way to get writing clients?

I would say that contacting people whom you know both use and buy articles, and offering them a sample, might work.

Offering free articles to the world at large will likely get you a bunch of people interested in free articles...

I had the same result when I was considering ghostwriting.

I started with a smaller forum, WF will work, just don't go crazy with it. I sent a PM to a few members offering to write a few articles with the only payment being a testimonial. The most important part here was that I asked for honesty.. I didn't care about good or bad testimonials... I wanted to make sure I could hack it personally.

I got one good testimonial, one decent one (missed a few things on the edit).

I never made the third pack. By the time I completed those two and began opening my PMs I had a totally ridiculous request that pretty much expected me to jump through flaming hoops in a tutu while singing the Star Spangled Banner. At that point I decided that it wasn't for me :p

You can do it that way or you could set up a site that showcases some of your work. Slap some light copy on it and some samples and let it fly.

Generally speaking, no. People who ask for review copies are doing so to get free content(Many Ebooks advise this method) and have no intention of making an order and paying for it afterwards.

Can I like just pm people and offer discount articles...sorry just don't the 20 for the wso yet.

Kea,

In a period of 35 days I went from broke to being able to pay all my monthly bills using the following process, and it will not cost you a penny ...

1 - Give away nothing for free. The people who want quality realize they have to pay for it, and the people who love freebies realize they hate paying for quality.

2 - Make your articles almost free;
"$3 for a 300 - 400 word SEO'd, LSI'd Google loving article! Offer from Professional writer only good til whenever" and stick to your deadline.

Put that in your sig file.

3 - use advanced search to find posts where people bought PLR packs and articles in the WSO forum and the Warrior Products and Services forum.

4 - PM those people you see that bought articles. Be respectful, mention that you saw they were recently shopping for content, and how did they do. Tell them that in return for "cold calling" them, you as a fellow WF member will give them a great rate for "x" number of days, to see if they like your content.

Tell them beforehand that if they are happy, you would appreciate a testimonial. Also mention that you need help getting started, and they need content, so it helps you both.

5 - Do this until you get 5 or 6 clients, then OVER-DELIVER (if they order one article send two. Or send 3 awesome titles with their article. Or send them an info page or link to free PLR or SOMETHING to show you have gone way overboard delivering as promised.)

6 - start adding your testimonials to step 4, as well as examples of your articles that have generated sales, rank #1, etc.

Using this exact same process, and only working the WF, I have compelled a list of 6 customers that I write for every week, that want continued work.

I got not 1 complaint that I was contacting someone who did not contact me first for work.

As you know, the WF is packed with people who were once starting out, and they are happy to help.

Also, EVERYBODY needs content and EVERYBODY likes a deal!

This works, it helps everyone, and you get started building a clientele.

Good Luck

No. This is not a good way to get clients. Why?

A good way to get clients is to get clients expecting to pay for hard work
and output providing their businesses with value. How to get them?

Contact them and show your portfolio.

Know your target market. There is a distinction between clients...

Most corporations pay great rates. Bigger corporation, higher rates. Most
companies pay good rates. Bigger company, higher rates. Most businesses
pay average rates. Bigger business, higher rates. Most individual Internet
marketers running home businesses pay so-so rates. Bigger home
business, higher rates.

Corporations, after getting their attention, usually send a batch of tasks,
say 50 400++-word freshly written articles, for their own evaluation. They
expect you to do your best. If your work does not qualify with their
standards, they still pay for your time. Why?

They treat this situation as an internal HR issue, so it is not your fault if
you cannot deliver what they need. Instead: They consider it a corporate
marketing budgetary loss because it is their fault since they expected you
to be capable of delivering what they need and have spent your time to
verify this...

Would you rather:

Have someone getting a free article from you and this person sending 5 500++-word articles per day for $3/article afterwards, over

Signing up a corporation assigning a batch of 50 400++-word articles at
$20 each, paid whether approved or rejected, of course within "good
faith", then sending regular batches of 500 400++-word articles at $18
each per month?

Don't give freebies, but do show samples.

I would not recommend this process. Samples are a good idea though.

I'm just skimming so I don't know if this has been suggested, but, if you are going to write articles, why not create some PLR packs?

You'll be able to get your name out as a writer and maybe earn a couple of bucks while your at it.

Also, instead of offering free stuff, start a blog so you can showcase your writing abilities. You might make a couple of bucks with it as well.

Just throwing out some ideas as ways you can showcase your talents without becoming free labor.

I've worked with writers in the past who offered me free articles at first but since I liked their articles I hired them again. If you are good at what you do, serious marketers and clients will recognize that.

In my opinion, this is an effective way to get clients. Providing them a free article serves as a sample of how well you write an article.

This amazes me $3 for an article which takes me 45 min to research and write. I notice on Freelancer the offer is usually around $1.25 to $1.50 per article and they are written in India or somewhere. How can you compete?

When I started out writing I put up a website and placed sample articles on there along with testimonials. This worked well for me and I was able to get a number of regular clients.

I would say no. If your articles are of good quality it's going to be difficult to get the price they're worth when you've already given a batch away for nothing.

Never give writing away for free! A portfolio of good quality sample work across a variety of topics and niches will get you regular work. Would be even better if you could direct your prospects to a website with your work.

I think the best way to get started would be to set up a portfolio website with samples of your writing. Give people an idea of what niches you write for, the style of your writing, your pricing, etc. Introduce briefly and mention any writing you have done for the web already. Give them easy ways to contact you.

Then, come back here and put a link in your signature. You can also advertise here on Warriors for Hire.