What To Do If You're Looking for Article Writing Gigs

I'm not an article writer looking for work, my sloppy style is excusable :rolleyes:

Very true, this is becoming a more common trend nowadays.

Exactly, but it's often more subtle than that.

Just to be clear, I'm not being critical, I feel bad when I see people having to fight for a low paying gig. I just think there are things people can do for themselves to improve their own circumstances, and what I'm suggesting isn't really difficult.

rooze has mad an excellent point herer guys. All them things you put on the internet is availabl for ur clients to see. Just sooper happy I keep my english perfect in all the posts. Makes me get hired super quick.

That is a very good point you made. How do you expect to land writing gigs when you are not using proper English? I know I would not hire someone who has p0or grammar skills and lots of misspelled words in their thread. You are correct that anything you put online is your resume. You are putting it out there for the public to see.

Two sites Constant-Content.com - you write, put a price, and wait till someone buys.

TheContentAuthority.com - There are always articles to be written there - however the rates are not very high.

Oh, and don't forget Fiverr.

The problem is that the perceived barrier to entry into the world of professional writing is extremely low. Just go and sign up at Elance or Odesk or any of a thousand other sites and boom -- you're a "writer."

The fact is that writing is a skill just like any other skill and just as knowing how to use Fantastico to install Wordpress doesn't make one a web designer, knowing how to sign up for one of these writing sites doesn't make one a writer.

Of course the flip side of the problem is that most clients don't understand what it means to hire a quality writer either. They focus on word counts and keyword density rather than quality of writing. I keep telling people to look at places like the New York Times, CNN, MSN News or a thousand other professional news sites. Notice the key difference between those and the cheap "article writers" that abound on the web. Even if you find someone capable of writing English without mistakes in grammar and spelling (itself not so simple), simply rehashing what you see elsewhere does not a writer make.

Real writers don't just provide information and keywords. Real writers tell stories which keep people interested and engaged. They do original research, including conducting interviews where necessary and don't just spin an article they find online. Sadly, most people don't seem to understand this or just don't care even if they do. Heck, I once had a client for whom I wrote a very long, well researched piece where I did conduct interviews and spent weeks constructing the article. I was told that the keyword density wasn't high enough and could I please remove or reword some of the quotes to make the keyword appear more often.

Eric

Even the most regarded masters of any craft are not beyond making mistakes, from time to time.

I used to write full time and believe it or not, I found most of my highest paying gigs on craigslist. However, there are a lot of scammers there and want to try and get you to work for free. If you can figure out which ones are legit, you may be able to find you a great job there.

I agree with you, rooze. So many people out there are just throwing away perfect opportunities to show just what they can do when it comes to their writing. The chance to showcase their capabilities is right in front of them, and yet somehow, they don't even see it! It's either that, or a case of laziness.

If you're good at something, you should take advantage of every chance you get to promote that talent.

I have a friend who actaully went to 2 high end clients, one of them hired him and then he got all his other business from referrals.

I still think that this service is not the way to go if you want to create a 6 figure business though. Just saying.

One thing I wanted to add to this is that it goes beyond posts. I personally have checked the Warrior For Hire section and have read quite a few samples. In those samples, I have come across quite a few simple mistakes. If you have an ad in the WFH, make sure your samples are flawless.

There is no reason for them not to be and I doubt that I am the only one who has checked sample writings and noticed mistakes. Get the most out of the money you spend there - silly mistakes there will definitely cost you jobs, if they haven't already.

Great post! I know there are hundreds of thousands of writers out there, supposedly looking for work. If they'll look hard enough, it's definitely there I think sometimes "would-be" writers simply don't want to put forth the effort to find writing projects.

Of course, there are people that want everything handed to them on a "silver platter," but that's in every industry Strange, some of us writers have all we can handle, but perhaps we're just a bit more skilled at navigating the ropes.

I do actually have people email me on occasion wanting to write for me who can't even spell correctly in the email! It's actually sad, really, but some people just weren't meant to be writers.

The irony in this thread is palpable. For this thread alone I think I am starting to like you, rooze :p.

Outsourcing sites are the best place to go if you are looking for writing gigs. I suggest elance, oDesk, freelancer. You can also try fiverr and textbroker. HTH.