Writing Curse! Help!

If you get yourself an Australian or U.S. based email account, people won't assume that you should only be paid cut-rate prices.

Your pay rate will reflect how good your writing is perceived to be.

It honestly does not matter if English is not your native language, so long as the people reading those articles cannot tell that it is not your first language.

Given your post above, it looks like you were raised here in the United States.

So it should not be a problem marketing yourself as a quality writer, who deserves to be paid better money.

Consider placing an ad in http://www.warriorforum.com/warriors-hire/ to sell your writing skills to others. And don't be afraid to charge what you think your time is worth to you.

Some may brow-beat you to try to get you to lower your prices, but don't cave in to them. Stand your ground, and customers worth having will find you.

Olga,

How do your clients know that you are in the Philippines?

From your name I would have assumed that you were Scandinavian. I assume you must be telling them different.

Cheers,
Colin Palfrey

Edit: I see you posted the answer above while I was writing this. In that case you need to find better ways of finding clients, or at least join different websites.

Olga,

It does not lie so much on whether you are or are not a native english speaker. It is just that your writing should come out being natural to your reader, and always provide samples to your potential customers to let them get a taste of your expertise. I do know of a few Chinese who know of no spoken English but could get a easy A1 in the GCE "O" level examinations.

Keep faith, charge what you think you are worth(or maybe a pence more), and quality customers will flock your way!

Have luck,
Tey

Hi Olga! You can go to constant-Content.Com. Sign up as an author. Look at public requests posted there...

Constant-Content.Com public requests are posted by content buyers willing to pay standard professional prices for quality work...

Look at the requests. Pick what you like. Write the content. Upload your work. Contact the buyers who
posted the requests, so they can look at a small portion of your work...

They'll buy it if it qualifies with their approval terms. Specific approval terms are included in each request...

You can also use your uploaded work as samples. Contact North American, European and Australian corporations
operating in industries where you have specialized knowledge and expertise in...

After regularly completing posted requests on Constant-Content.Com for about 2 weeks: I was able to sign a 1-year outsourcing contract with a
prominent software security development firm in BC, Vancouver...

We started with the contract via private requests sent by the corporate client...
This lasted for a month. We completed the remainder of the contract and continued contract renewals outside Constant-Content,
primarily because they bought Constant-Content...

During the 1st month working within Constant-Content.Com: We grossed $90K and netted $35K...

You don't need freelancer sites... Honestly, if you want to get going, offer a try before you buy kind of deal. There are enough marketers in here that someone is bound to take you up on it. You can slowly start building a name for yourself. If you can, give someone a free article so that they can see what you have to offer. If your writing style is to their liking, then they are going to come back. It's how I got started and word of mouth took it from there. Ghostwriting is a business and you should market yourself. This way you're not paying the fees charged by the freelance sites and you're building a client base. Another option would be to put an ad up on Fiverr with an introductory rate. Yes, you might end up writing for some idiots in the beginning who are happy with keyword stuffed garbage looking for a freebie, but over time quality clients will come. If it's one thing I've learned that most people discount is the power of word of mouth. I have had people email me telling me they heard about me from so and so, who I'd never heard of. A few clients will grow to several and the next thing you know you'll have a steady stream of income. Sometimes it helps to brand yourself as a specific type of writer. No matter which route you choose, don't rely on the freelance sites for jobs. Create quality content and let your work speak for itself. Your writing style may not suit everyone and that's ok. Don't let the holier than thou types discourage you when they brag about making $50 a page. You may get to that point, but you're going to pay your dues in the beginning because the reality is that most people aren't going to pay top dollar until you've established a relationship with them. I hope this helps and good luck.

Cheers!!
Mary

Does $10 an article sound better?

If so, check out BrightHub.com and sign up for the "Editorially Managed" channels. Even if they reject you in one channel, they might very well accept you in another, depending on how many authors they already have or need in those channels.

Plus, you'll earn performance payments on top of that $10 once your articles are published. You earn money every time someone reads your articles.

The reason I mention Bright Hub is because they're one of the only American-based companies I know of who are willing to pay non-US citizens.

There's also LondonBrokers.net. They don't pay quite as well, but their assignments are very, very easy to complete, so you might check them out, too.