What is your CC "Eureka" moment?

[Word Gypsy]

Congrats on your sales. It's a great goal! WG

[squonk]

It sure hasn't happened yet. I've answered a few requests, but no response. And the articles are niche enough that I doubt anyone else will buy the rights to them, even after a hundred years. Is this kind of thing pretty normal on CC?

[AlexBramwell]

Writing for very specific requests is always a risk. You would do better writing your own articles in high sales categories (monitor the recent sales list).

[squonk]

Yeah, I'm starting to realize that. Maybe I'll just stick to writing in-demand stuff and posting it in the catalogue instead of answering requests. Thanks for the advice.

[riccinorris]

I had been going through it trying to learn how to make money from writing. I heard about this site from a friend who was complaining about how difficult it was to get approved. I figured I'd give it a shot anyway instead of letting someone else' experience taint my perception. I put up one article, about 430 words and waited.

Within 24 hours, my article was approved and sold. After getting over the high of selling my first article so fast, I came back down to earth. I understood my experience was probably atypical, but what I did figure out was success on CC was at least possible. That's all I needed to know.

[Sherri2012]

What an encouraging thread! My "Eureka" moments have been on a gradual increase; first, getting accepted by the site at all, second, having the first article I wrote accepted after only one revision - I'd already read some depressing comments on the forums about rejections - and so I am hopeful that the next inspiring moment will be when one of my articles sells! Will keep you posted. I have been wanting to do something like this for years.

[stelle]

Is it ok to revive a thread a year later?

I had a major Eureka moment yesterday. I wrote 8 articles for CC two years ago, but then got a full-time job and got distracted. I sold 6 of those articles within a few months, and then stopped thinking about CC at all...until last month, when I got an ARTICLE SOLD email from CC. Yes, 2 years after the fact! Anyway, that encouraged me to jump back into CC.

This week I submitted 8 articles, and yesterday I sold four of them. Here's the most interesting part: the buyer who bought two of my new articles also bought two of my original articles in 2011. The 2011 articles were priced at 30 and 35 dollars for full rights. Well, the articles s/he bought this week were priced at 50 and 60 dollars each for full rights. The articles were neither longer nor better than my original articles...in fact 1 of them was shorter and less in-depth than the one that sold for 30 dollars in 2011.

So here's my Eureka moment:

I don't have to charge 30 dollars for a 500-word article. I can charge 50 and still make a sale. I don't have to feel weird or self-conscious about pricing...if someone wants to buy it, they will. No one's going to roll their eyes at me because they think I'm overcharging...they just won't buy my work. Simple supply and demand. There's no need for me to undervalue my work. Yes, some of my articles might sit in the vaults for longer (like, say, two years), but I'd rather wait and make more money than take less money on quick sale. I've even gone back to my final 2011 article that never sold and raised its price. If it's going to sit there for another two years, it may as well make me a bit more money when it finally sells!

(I hope this doesn't sound braggy. I just wanted to share my experiences and reassure people who are stressed about pricing their articles...maybe it's ok to charge a little bit more!)

[Julie37]

This thread is so encouraging

I'm new to CC. Hoping to post in this thread at some point with my Eureka moment. It's lovely to read everyone elses, though. I'm sure it'll be a great source of motivation in the future!

[Abbamay]

Well done, Stelle! I agree. Selling for a tiny amount isn't usually worth it. So glad you got the sales!

[contentwriter]

I base my pricing on factors such as:

Usefulness, originality and quality of the article
Typical price range for that niche
Amount of work it takes to write it

The word count itself is less relevant to me. I could write a 1000 word article, but if there's lots of it out there already, I won't charge too much for it. As a webmaster, I know that not everyone who needs articles has money pouring out of their pockets. So I try to offer value without making my work seem worthless.

My "Eureka" moment came earlier today when one of my articles were sold almost as soon as they were approved. I now have a good idea which of my articles will sell quickly.

Now, I will divide my time between writing in-demand articles and writing about things I love (even if they won't sell right away). I will also try writing for standing requests.

[remoteriverman]

I recognised the value of CC when I made nearly $1000 during my very first month (Nov 2013), and sold the majority of articles submitted - working very part-time. I think one aspect of CC that is perhaps not given due recognition is that all the time you save by not having to market your work means you can write more. Elsewhere, writers (especially copywriters and blog writers) can spend 70% of their time marketing, cold calling, going to meetings, showing portfolios, networking and all that, with just 30% of their time left for actual writing. Here you can just write, and don't have to spend your mental energy on all that other stuff.

I was hoping to get my first 50 articles submitted without a typo/spelling hand slap from the editors, but I only made it to about article 42 I think. But I can't complain about selling 28 articles in my first month. This is only the second online site I've written for (I gave Textbroker UK a try for about a week, but the money was terrible), and am pleased with the simplicity of the site, the competence of the editors, and the fact that it's Canadian (some US writing sites are a bit painful regarding IRS forms, etc.).

In my quest to earn enough money to pay for my other hobby (exploring wilderness rivers around the planet as the Remote River Man), I had been working part-time in an outdoor equipment shop. But spending over 2 hours per day (total) on a bus to get to and from work wasn't time-efficient. On CC, there's no commute and no bus fare, and I can churn out articles with the lorikeets and kookaburras calling outside my screen door, dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts (me, not the birds), while digging into a bowl of fresh Queensland summer mangoes (I've only spilled on the keyboard twice). Freelance writing, Aussie style...

Cheers,
Kevin Casey

[topquark]

Well done Kevin, that's really impressive! Do you tend to write in specific categories, for requests, or about anything that takes your fancy?

Is CC Canadian? I never realized, and I've been here for 2 years! I always assumed it was US-based.

[Lysis]

I thought it was bought out by a US company? So confuse.

[Sakmeht]

I initially signed up for the site over a year ago. I wrote seven articles in three months and none sold. I stopped writing for a bit and then three months later, got a "your article sold" email. It was exciting enough for me to jump back in and write seven more articles, three of which sold a month later. That's when it finally clicked for me that writing more equals selling more. Two of those articles were energy related, and two were in the health and lifestyles category, so I've got a better handle on what sells well for me now...

[MKatz]

It always seems as if an article or two sell shortly after I get new content approved.

These are not always the new articles, so some buyers must click through our names from the new articles list and decide to buy something else. Anyway, it is anther reason to submit regularly.