How-To Articles: MS Excel, Word, Access?

[DavidLeePortwood]

My "day job" involves contract work using MS Excel, primarily, although I also bruit it about that I'm expert with Access and Word. However, I've avoided writing about these subjects because I can't imagine who might buy them. I can see such articles appealing to the isolated geek, but I have always believed that isolated geeks wouldn't be interested in buying them because they would certainly have reference texts which already discuss this stuff, probably in more detail than I could.

Am I right or wrong about this? Suppose that I write how-to Excel articles such as "Database Management Using Excel" and "Understanding Excel Array Formulas". Do such articles sell? I probably could pump out a million or so.

By the way, I am not going to hold anyone's feet to the fire if someone tells me that these subjects should sell, if the articles are well crafted - and mine don't. I accept the risk that my writing skills may not be up to the task. I just want to know if, in your opinion, you think it is worth a try.

Finally, generally speaking, is there a categorical listing of subjects that sell perennially and/or are currently in demand? Where might I find such a thing? Hmm. This might make for a nice Excel project. I'm just ruminating...

Thanks in advance.

[Celeste Stewart]

CC has lots of customers, many of which run business and technology sites. I've sold quite a few articles about MS Word and Excel. Good luck!

[Amy W]

You can check out a few places to see what topics are popular. Head to the Recently Sold Content link when you sign in, and you'll see a list of all the articles that have sold recently, and for how much. If you click on the Search Topics heading, you can see the most popular search terms and the most recent search terms - it'll tell you what customers are searching for, and what they'll hopefully buy in the future. But with this site, in general, anything goes. If you write it, they will come. So don't rule out any topic, because well-crafted articles will sell

[Nessiee]

A while back there was a request listed for articles about Microsoft Access. Though I was no expert on the topic, I did manage to write a couple articles on the topic, which sold. From experience, if you can get it approved by Ed, then there's a great chance that it will sell. You just need that right buyer to come along and see it.

Good luck

[jadedragon]

You are looking for a buyer, yes, but the buyers are looking for information that average people can use. Actionable content sells on the web. Use https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal to search "use access" and you will see hundred of thousands of people searching for these and related keywords.

[Antonia]

Ah, but the time is past when only "isolated geeks" wanted to brush up on their Excel/Word skills....your articles should appeal to a pretty wide audience. College students, freelancers, office administrators....and you can tweak your titles to appeal to niche audiences too! For example, an article with basically the same technical info could be reworked many times: "How to Use Excel to Manage Your (Grocery List/Soccer Schedule/Freelance Income/Client Database/Household Chores/Snail Collection/Ms Pacman Scores...whatever!)"