In the last post I covered the basic information about becoming a freelance writer and the first method to profit from writing articles. If you are just joining us, the previous post contained information about starting an article writing service to provide content to interested individuals for a profit. The methods I will be covering from here on out are much simpler and very easy to get started. You will be able to better your writing skills, have your articles critiqued by other readers and earn money on the content you produce. There will also be opportunities for you to write for clients that are already in need of content, so stay tuned to upcoming posts to get all the details.
The second method I will cover is submitting articles to publishing sites. A publishing site is a website that will publish your articles to be read and possibly purchased by others for a fee that you designate. Some publishing sites will pay you an upfront fee to place the article, and then if it is purchased you will be paid according to how much you stated you want for that particular article. You can usually pick any topic you like and write whatever you want, as long as you use good spelling, grammar, punctuation and structure in the article. A few great publishing sites are AssociatedContent.com, Helium.com and Ehow.com.
What you need to do is go to the website you want to write for (as I said, I use all of these), sign up for a free account, go through the website and get familiar with it and then start writing and submitting content. Make sure to read the submission guidelines before submitting any article so that you know it adheres to the guidelines for each site.
AssociatedContent.com is a site that allows you to write about whatever you like, but you must follow the guidelines for article submission. You will be given the option to set a price for purchasing rights to the article if someone may be interested to do so. You earn upfront payments for the articles submitted and you also earn performance incentives based on how many views the articles get. You can invite new writers for additional income if you like, but the main goal is to submit and earn money on your articles. The more you write and the better you get at it, the more money you will make. The key is to write as much as possible, but make it quality work so you have the option of making additional money if someone is interested in purchasing the article. They also have a list of open orders or calls for content that you can write for individuals needing content for a certain price.
Helium.com is a website that gives you a list of available channels (topics available to write about). You select from the list the channel you want, then you will have the available titles in that channel to select from. Once you select your channel, you write your article and submit it for publishing. Helium does offer upfront payments also, but you have to be consistent in submitting articles because the upfront payments are based on writing and rating stars that you have. The way it works is you sign up for your account, get familiar with the site (definitely read the tutorials and get started information to know exactly how everything works), and write and submit articles. They give you a scale to show you how many articles you need to write to receive a writing star, and with one writing star you qualify for upfront payments. The rating stars are similar to the writing stars except to will read and rate articles written by other writers on the site. This means that every article you submit will also be rated by other readers, which will help you become a better writer. Write and rate articles as much as possible to make sure that you maintain at least one writing and one rating star at all times. This is not hard at all, just be consistent with it and you will build them up. The more writing stars and rating stars you have the more you will make for upfront payments and for other monthly incentives. They also offer many informational articles and services that will help you better your skills as a writer, so this site is really my favorite out of all of these. I write and submit more to this one than the others currently, but plan to try to write more often so I can submit consistently to all three. This is how you will build up your earnings, so remember stay CONSISTENT.
The last of the three that I am going to cover is Ehow.com. This website is just like the other two except you write how to articles on anything and everything under the sun. You can write about "How to fix a perfect bubble bath" or "How to tie your shoes properly", as long as you write it in a how to article format and follow the submission guidelines. You can earn money based on article performance on this site and there are opportunities for you to write on certain topics and have your article shown on the home page for a payment of usually about $10. How great is that. You write on whatever you want and submit it to start earning you money. The better quality your work is the better your earnings will be.
Now that I have covered the publishing sites, lets go over some basics that you need before getting started. Make sure you set up your account and get familiar with the sites (I know it may take a little time to read through everything, but it really does help, trust me.) Take some time and come up with some topics you would like to write about by visiting some of the article directories I mentioned in the last post or looking through each of these sites for ideas. Make sure just to check out titles so that you do not copy any of the work from the articles unknowingly while you are writing because your articles have to be original content. Once you have the topic, jot down some ideas to expand on different aspects of your topic. When you have done this, you are pretty much ready to start writing. You want to make the articles easy to read, and not too long. Make sure to separate the article into paragraphs so the article is cut into sections (this makes it easier to read because it seams shorter with small paragraphs as opposed to one large mass of information...have you ever gotten bored reading something like this...I know I have). Include interesting information, but don't expand so much that you go off topic for a paragraph or two because you want the article to be relevant to what the title is or the specific topic you selected. The more you write the better you will get and the more money you will make, so have fun with it and don't stress about it. You don't have to be an expert, and you don't have to sound like one. I hate reading articles that use tons of words that I don't understand...most times the writer probably doesn't either, so don't try to sound like an expert. Just make sure you research the topic to find enough facts to explain or support your topic and present it in a professional but understandable and easy to read fashion.
If you have trouble with this or you would like specific questions answered just let me know. In the next post I will be covering information on blog posting to earn money, so stay tuned for all the details.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Earn Money Writing Online: Method One
For many people, writing articles and submitting them online is a way to promote a product or service they are selling, but for others it is a way to earn money for the content they produce. I am sure you have heard of freelance writers, but what does that mean? A freelance writer provides a service such as writing articles or posting to an individuals blog, for a fee. Usually the fee paid to the writer is an amount agreed upon by the writer and the individual purchasing the content. The buyer or client will tell the writer what type of content is needed and give some guidelines as to how to present it, and the writer will deliver the content as agreed upon to the buyer for payment. This is a great way to start earning money online, even if you are not an expert writer. So, since it is such a great way to get started, I figured this would be a good place to start, but how do you get started as a freelance writer?
What you should do to get started as a freelance writer is to check out some article directories (www.ezinearticles.com, www.goarticles.com, www.articlecity.com, www.articlealley.com) to get some ideas about how an article should look, and possible ideas you may want to write about. Though I am telling you to check them out, make sure that you do not copy the content directly out of the articles unless the site specifically states you can use the content as you please. These sites are a great way to come up with ideas to write about, or to locate content to place on a website about a certain topic, but if you are going to try freelance writing, do not copy the content from other articles and submit it as your own. More times than not, the site you submit to will ban you or cancel your account if they find out you are doing this. Now that you know where to locate article topics and structure examples, lets talk about how you can earn money writing articles. ( The information on each method will be split into separate blog posts because I will be going into detail on each method so you understand completely the benefits of each and how to utilize what you have learned)
The first way way to earn money writing is to offer an article writing service via classified ads, so that individuals interested in your service can contact you directly for information. This is a way I myself have not tried yet, but have thought about many times. This method would allow you to interact directly with interested customers and set a fee specific to the type of articles they need written, the length of the articles needed and how many they will purchase. This will set you up for building a client base that may provide you with repeat business if you produce decent content. Satisfied customers may also mention your service to others in need of content, so you may even get more exposure for your business.
Now you need to remember, depending on how much you are wanting to earn from your writing, that this is a business, especially if you are utilizing this method. You will have to keep track of your clients information, the prices you will charge, the money you have made, possibly keep a portfolio for customers to look over before deciding if they want to purchase your services, and written agreements to make sure that you are paid for services provided. Treat this as if you are opening a small business in your community. You will need to stay consistent in your advertising methods to make sure you continue to get in new customers, and try as hard as you can to retain the customers you already have. If you want, you may offer some type of discount to purchase more articles, or special prices for first time customers or any other type of limited offer you choose. This may attract business to you and help to retain previous clients as well, so once you get started take it into consideration.
Your advertising methods don't always have to cost you money, there are plenty of ways to advertise for free such as online classifieds, posting fliers or banners advertising your services around your community and making your own business cards. Get creative with it because being creative will also help you build onto your skills and become a better writer. The one word you need to ALWAYS remember is CONSISTENT. You can't just post an ad here and there, you need to set a specific amount of ads such as posting 100-200 ads per week. Sit down and write them out or type them up in a word or notepad document, then read them again and correct or change anything that needs to be changed. Once you complete this you can take those ads and start posting them to different free classified sites to bring in business. Split the number of ads you want to post each week between the number of days you want to post (if 5 days and 200 ads, post 40 ads each day).
Learn to manage your time because if you have a perfect strategy and are an expert writer, you will get nowhere if you have terrible time management. You need to make sure that you set aside time to complete the assignments you take on and still provide your customers with quality content. This again will help you retain customers for future business. As business grows, make sure you adjust your schedule around the needs of the business, and you may eventually be able to replace your full time job with your writing business, if that is your goal.
Basically, the key to this method is to prepare a portfolio and business strategy and then implement your strategy. Once you decide you are set to get going, start advertising and stay consistent with it. Get the word out and provide quality content and customers will come.
Now, this method is a little harder than the other methods I will cover, so if you aren't an expert writer or don't feel your skills are where they need to be for this method, stay tuned for upcoming posts that will cover ways to better yourself as a writer and get you started earning a profit online.
What you should do to get started as a freelance writer is to check out some article directories (www.ezinearticles.com, www.goarticles.com, www.articlecity.com, www.articlealley.com) to get some ideas about how an article should look, and possible ideas you may want to write about. Though I am telling you to check them out, make sure that you do not copy the content directly out of the articles unless the site specifically states you can use the content as you please. These sites are a great way to come up with ideas to write about, or to locate content to place on a website about a certain topic, but if you are going to try freelance writing, do not copy the content from other articles and submit it as your own. More times than not, the site you submit to will ban you or cancel your account if they find out you are doing this. Now that you know where to locate article topics and structure examples, lets talk about how you can earn money writing articles. ( The information on each method will be split into separate blog posts because I will be going into detail on each method so you understand completely the benefits of each and how to utilize what you have learned)
The first way way to earn money writing is to offer an article writing service via classified ads, so that individuals interested in your service can contact you directly for information. This is a way I myself have not tried yet, but have thought about many times. This method would allow you to interact directly with interested customers and set a fee specific to the type of articles they need written, the length of the articles needed and how many they will purchase. This will set you up for building a client base that may provide you with repeat business if you produce decent content. Satisfied customers may also mention your service to others in need of content, so you may even get more exposure for your business.
Now you need to remember, depending on how much you are wanting to earn from your writing, that this is a business, especially if you are utilizing this method. You will have to keep track of your clients information, the prices you will charge, the money you have made, possibly keep a portfolio for customers to look over before deciding if they want to purchase your services, and written agreements to make sure that you are paid for services provided. Treat this as if you are opening a small business in your community. You will need to stay consistent in your advertising methods to make sure you continue to get in new customers, and try as hard as you can to retain the customers you already have. If you want, you may offer some type of discount to purchase more articles, or special prices for first time customers or any other type of limited offer you choose. This may attract business to you and help to retain previous clients as well, so once you get started take it into consideration.
Your advertising methods don't always have to cost you money, there are plenty of ways to advertise for free such as online classifieds, posting fliers or banners advertising your services around your community and making your own business cards. Get creative with it because being creative will also help you build onto your skills and become a better writer. The one word you need to ALWAYS remember is CONSISTENT. You can't just post an ad here and there, you need to set a specific amount of ads such as posting 100-200 ads per week. Sit down and write them out or type them up in a word or notepad document, then read them again and correct or change anything that needs to be changed. Once you complete this you can take those ads and start posting them to different free classified sites to bring in business. Split the number of ads you want to post each week between the number of days you want to post (if 5 days and 200 ads, post 40 ads each day).
Learn to manage your time because if you have a perfect strategy and are an expert writer, you will get nowhere if you have terrible time management. You need to make sure that you set aside time to complete the assignments you take on and still provide your customers with quality content. This again will help you retain customers for future business. As business grows, make sure you adjust your schedule around the needs of the business, and you may eventually be able to replace your full time job with your writing business, if that is your goal.
Basically, the key to this method is to prepare a portfolio and business strategy and then implement your strategy. Once you decide you are set to get going, start advertising and stay consistent with it. Get the word out and provide quality content and customers will come.
Now, this method is a little harder than the other methods I will cover, so if you aren't an expert writer or don't feel your skills are where they need to be for this method, stay tuned for upcoming posts that will cover ways to better yourself as a writer and get you started earning a profit online.
New Beginnings
Previously I used this blog strictly as a means to make money online. Well, I tried to anyways. The problem with this is that I really had no idea where to start to make any type of profit online at all. I researched tons of ideas and opted into many different affiliate programs and selling products, and still, I was unable to make any significant amount of money from any of them. Why was the marketing and the blog and all of my hard work not earning me any type of profit? Well, the problem was not that I had no experience, but that I was not given the information I needed and instructions on how to utilize what I had learned. Even though I spent who knows how much money on different programs and setting up accounts and advertising to earn a profit, none of these programs told me how to implement the information I was provided into my marketing strategies to make a profit. This is the sole purpose of my decision to make my blog a work from home information source that will hopefully help to guide many others on their way to earning a profit online, and in turn becoming financially free.
I will provide all the information that I have ever learned and used, to help my readers find their way as I did, to earning a profit online. The key is not to be an expert, but to have a strategy and to stick to it, be consistent and very determined. You cannot give up no matter what gets in your way. It doesn't cost a ton of money because there are plenty of ways to get your website or product out there for little to no money at all. You just have to know where to look and how to utilize the free sources, so that they work to your advantage. Once you learn this, you are on your way.
If at any time you have questions or would like any information on a certain topic, post a comment or send me an email, and I would be more than happy to post it on my blog. I will make sure to keep the information as short and sweet as I can, keeping the "fluff" to a minimum and as clear and concise as possible. So, with that being said, I hope you find the information and tips I post useful, and that you will let me know what you think in terms of my new beginning and going forward.
I will provide all the information that I have ever learned and used, to help my readers find their way as I did, to earning a profit online. The key is not to be an expert, but to have a strategy and to stick to it, be consistent and very determined. You cannot give up no matter what gets in your way. It doesn't cost a ton of money because there are plenty of ways to get your website or product out there for little to no money at all. You just have to know where to look and how to utilize the free sources, so that they work to your advantage. Once you learn this, you are on your way.
If at any time you have questions or would like any information on a certain topic, post a comment or send me an email, and I would be more than happy to post it on my blog. I will make sure to keep the information as short and sweet as I can, keeping the "fluff" to a minimum and as clear and concise as possible. So, with that being said, I hope you find the information and tips I post useful, and that you will let me know what you think in terms of my new beginning and going forward.
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