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.
No comments:
Post a Comment