Pay?

mattsterrr · Post by **mattsterrr** » Mon May 16, 2005 2:58 am

Fantastic concept behind this site, I'm very impressed.

But, I do have a question for the literary laureates on site. I appreciate that most of you probably have other paying gigs but do you manage to make a reasonable amount through this site? By reasonable, I mean enough to pay for a dirty daily smoking habit or something similar.

I ask because, as someone new to the freelance writing game although not the writing aspect, I find myself writing SEO targeted keyword rich articles for about $5-$10 a throw on freelance exchanges.

The stipulations placed on some of these articles are such that all creativity is stifled and any aspirations I have towards being a full time freelancer diminish with every mortgage payment I have to make.

In plain English I want to give up 'regular' work and I want to write but I find it difficult in justifying that to the mrs and the bank manager when I get excited about doing 10 hours work for barely enough to pay for the cat food (I have 5 of them!).

Any advice? Apart from 'Don't quit work' any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for listening!

southernrose · Post by **southernrose** » Mon May 16, 2005 7:58 am

Generally, I won't write an article for CC unless it's paying at least $30 for a 500 word article. Essentially, that would be $0.03 per word since I will be getting half of the selling price, and I generally won't write for less than that. In my opinion, that's the only true way to make money from writing: don't do work for free or for a laughable price. At CC, I've made between $50 and $100 easily per month. I could probably make more if I went for more of the requests. It is possible to earn a living from writing, but most writers will tell you it isn't always easy.

Angela Epps · Post by **Angela Epps** » Mon May 16, 2005 8:07 am

Hello and Welcome,

I am new to this site also and everyone has been really helpful.

I just actually started free-lancing full-time from home myself after the birth of my second child. I though did not have a well paying career beforehand. So my goals to make more freelancing then I did outside the home are not as hard to reach.

You mentioned in your article that you write keyword articles for $5-$10 a peice? Well, if you search through this site, there are many articles for sale and requests for articles that meet that price and even rise above it.

I have no advice for you about quitting to freelance versus sticking it out and freelancing on the side.

But I can tell you the internet has a wealth of resources, and free newslettters that can point you in the right direction. Here are few of my favorite free newsletters ( in no particular order- I am just going down the list in my favorites):

http://www.listpartners.com/cgi-local/subscribe?4581
(This is my personal link for other's to subscribe to WriteSuccess's)

http://www.absolutewrite.com
(they have a free version as well as a paid upgraded version)

http://sellwritingonline.com

http://www.writergazette.com

http://www.worldwidefreelance.com

http://www.writersweekly.com

http://www.writing-world.com

I can try to make a more comprehensive list if you would like. These are just a few that I subscribe to. Another resource that has alot of writing groups and newsletters is Groups at yahoo. The link for them is

http://groups.yahoo.com

Whe you get there just type in keywords such as 'writer' 'writers' etc. and you can find a variety of groups tailored to your needs. I ended up having to quit all the 'discussion groups' because of my time issue but I am still subscribed to alot of the 'newsletter only' groups or 'only posts about jobs/contest etc' groups. But if you have some free time in the evening, where you would just like to relax, a discussion group might be just the thing for you. Try to find one where the people are wanting to quit there jobs and freelance fulltime themeselves or maybe even one where there are a few who already did it

to ask for advice.

I am sorry that I couldn't be of more help to you but I hope that the newsletters will at least get you started!

Carrie · Post by **Carrie** » Mon May 16, 2005 10:42 am

It's certainly possible to make enough money freelancing to pay the bills, but I do think that it will take some time to get to that point. You can't just up and quit your job one day and have well-paying assignments fall in your lap the next, kwim?

The best thing you can do is just keep plugging away - write and query, write and query. Sooner or later someone is going to notice you and you'll start getting steady work. It takes a lot of time and patience, and sometimes a thick skin.

CC is great though - all you need to do is the writing, and the marketing is taken care of for us. Can you make a living wiritng for CC? It's possible if you write to the requests and can churn out good-quality articles quickly, I suppose. But I think most of us use this type of setup to either get publishing credits, or make some extra money on top of traditional writing venues.

mattsterrr · Post by **mattsterrr** » Mon May 16, 2005 11:08 am

Blimey, that's a cool list. I'll spend the rest of the day looking at them.

Thanks everyone for the infomation and opinions, they are greatly appreciated.

ssottile · Post by **ssottile** » Mon May 23, 2005 12:36 pm

Angela,

Thanks for that list of links to writing newsletters. I think all of us that are new to this will benefit. Very generous of you.

To Matt...I'm looking to do the same as you. I of course will not let go of my day job. However, I am able to carve out time at the office to generate some articles and certainly hope to see some of them purchased on Constant-Content.

Good luck to you!

mattsterrr · Post by **mattsterrr** » Tue May 24, 2005 2:54 pm

Thanks ssottile, good luck to you too. All of you, in fact.

Every day I go to work I have a stronger urge not to go in again the next day. Funny that, isn't it?

scribbles · Post by **scribbles** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 1:52 am

I know exactly what you mean regarding the $5 articles that leave no room for creativity (especially those found on the 'coder' sites). If there's one thing I hate, it's writing articles that are for the search engines rather than for real people. I don't mind optimising my articles but when I'm told "don't worry about it making sense, just get the keywords in xxx times", that's when I feel like putting my head in a bucket!

I never accept any work that pays less than $10 an article now and even then it has to be because the client's buying in bulk and on a subject that doesn't require too much research. If we continue to let customers take the p***, then where will that eventually leave us writers? Without the proverbial pot, that's where!

Anyway, to answer your question: yes, you can live off writing. Thousands and thousands of writers do. Why shouldn't you be one of them? It sounds to me as if you have to right attitude to make it and you're sensible enough to know that you shouldn't give up the day-job just yet. The question is, when do you take the big step out into full-time freelancing? While you're writing in your spare time, it's difficult to know for sure whether you could bring in enough work to go full-time but I'd say, if you're turning down work that pays decently, it's time to consider either getting part-time employment and spending more time building up your writing business or "go for it" and see what happens. Somebody once said "The biggest risk in life is to risk nothing at all" and I think there's a lot to be said for that.

Have you got a website? Every freelancer should have a promotional site where they can introduce themselves and showcase their previous work. It doesn't have to be full of bells and whistles (in fact, the simple ones are the best, in my opinion) and you could probably make one yourself. However, having said that, if you really don't have an eye for design, it's probably better to pay somebody to do it because of first impressions and all that. It doesn't have to cost a fortune (I do webdesign as a sideline, should you be interested ... hint, hint).

Anyway, I really do wish you luck in your writing career. It isn't nice when you have to drag yourself to work every day, knowing that you have a talent you should be using and enjoying instead.

If there's anything I can possibly do to help or advise you with, please ask. I'm not a fountain of all knowledge, far from it, but I'm always happy to share whatever knowledge I do have.

~Sharon

mattsterrr · Post by **mattsterrr** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 4:19 pm

Hi everyone. I've not been on in a while, because things have started to take off, to some extent anyway and I'm getting less time to write for CC because of the lack of promise of mortgage paying money at the end of it. A maybe is as good as a missed mortgage payment in my eyes.

I'm still getting out of bed at some unearthly hour to go and do a job I don't particularly like. Such is life, I guess.

Scribbles, I may be interested in talking websites. I had started a site, but a lack of time coupled with all the webdesign talent of a ninety year old blind woman with one arm means I've not finished it.

mattsterrr · Post by **mattsterrr** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:47 am

Still plugging away at the day job, but I'm nearly there. Just need a couple more good sized repeat contracts and I'm there.

I'm looking, now, for a website designer to go into a sort of partnership with but don't really know where to look. I don't intent to pay for the design, I want to do the writing and the admin and the designer do the designing and we do a revenue share.

I want to create Adsense sites, preferably not just static unusable ones, but I've got a report on adsense keywords and you wouldn't believe the price you get for one click!!!

Post by **constant-content** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 8:03 am

You will have a lot of competition... And those reports don't tell you that most of the time people paying for those clicks only pay from google.com, they don't all pay for links on other websites. Its an option when setting up a Google Adwords campaign. But with that said many people are doing just this, and it pretty much why I started Constant Content.

Also you need a lot of traffic before you start making money with adsense... No to mention SEO skills. You can't just create a content site and watch the money roll in, its not that easy.

mattsterrr · Post by **mattsterrr** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 3:24 pm

Thanks for the words of warning, Chris.

In my defence, though, I do SEO work, web marketing and link exchanges etc... (diversification is survival. survival is key) as part of my freelance and can promote a site very well (I generalised it all in the term Admin, which berates the actual work, I know).

I didn't expect it to be an overnight thing but the potential must be there and I'm more than willing to work at it. A couple of my 'employers' have given me a few tips that should come in handy.

As far as I can make out so far, the hardest part is getting Google to answer my application. The site says 24-48 hours, it's been a week. I don't like to hassle them because we all know they have a serious superiority complex and will banish you forever for putting a foot out of place.

Geoff · Post by **Geoff** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 11:07 pm

Hello Elizabeth
I am a newbie just learning all about CC. Believing you have made $50-$100 easily per month, could you please give me some guidance so I could do the same ? I am a disabled person confined to a wheelchair and your information and assistance will help me a great deal. I love writing and have many articles to submit....Geoff.

southernrose wrote:Generally, I won't write an article for CC unless it's paying at least $30 for a 500 word article. Essentially, that would be $0.03 per word since I will be getting half of the selling price, and I generally won't write for less than that. In my opinion, that's the only true way to make money from writing: don't do work for free or for a laughable price. At CC, I've made between $50 and $100 easily per month. I could probably make more if I went for more of the requests. It is possible to earn a living from writing, but most writers will tell you it isn't always easy.

LJade · Post by **LJade** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 7:18 am

I have to get in on this!

I work from home and all I do is write, personally I've earned as much as $900-$1000 in a month from C-C. (I'm not the only one by far either!)

Ok, well I do more than write. I also develop Meta's but for the most part I write.

The first thing you have to realize when you work for yourself is that some months will be good and some will be bad. Contractors know that the winter months will usually be slower and they prepare, with us, we don't always know yet we still need to prepare.

As far as regular work goes, I only have 2. One of those pays $30 a month and all I do is go to one website every day to post an ad for someone. The other, I submit one article every week and that's $15 a week. The rest of my time is spent writing for C-C and searching for work, clients who have used me do tend to come back though so I do grab some work at times without looking for it.

I will say that the majority of the jobs I go after...I get and I credit that to my ability to communicate plus I know how to market myself. That's the biggest downfall that I see with lots of writers, they simply don't know how to market themselves the right way.

I'll openly admit it, compared to a lot of talented writers...my writing sucks but I'm working when a lot of writers, more talented than myself are not.

On this site, I tend to let my hair down and kick back, however, the most common compliment my clients give me is "you're easy to work with and thanks for the professional approach".

Internet writing is so competitive but the good thing about it is that there's plenty of work to go around. You just have to find what separates you from all the rest and run with it!

I haven't worked for anyone else outside of my home for over a year and there's no end in sight. So, if you're struggling...struggle some more and try harder, it's not easy--you can do it though. I didn't think I ever could but I have.

That's my 2 cents for today too. LOL

LJ

PS. I'm real optomistic!

southernrose · Post by **southernrose** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:27 am

Geoff,

I would say that the amount of money you make at CC depends largely on the hours you invest and the topics you write about. Focus on requests, and you will be more likely to sell your articles at decent prices within a short period of time. By looking at requests and at recently sold content, you can get a good idea of which topics are popular. Then, even if it's a slow time at CC, you can write a few articles in your spare time targeted toward poplular topics. These may not sell right away, but gradually you will build up a large inventory of articles that can sell at any time. I think several of the authors here have been able to make good money at CC by doing this. Also, make sure the title and initial description are accurate and will grab a customer's attention. I hope this bit of advice is useful to you and I wish you luck at CC!

Constant Content

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