October 2009 Get out of a Price Rut Challenge - Who's In?

[Celeste Stewart]

Another month, another challenge!

We've all seen those $75, $100, and $200 articles on the recently sold list (non-private request articles), right? Many of us have been the lucky writers who have sold those higher dollar articles, but not all. Of course it helps to have content with the higher price tag in your portfolio. If you don't have a few longer, more expensive pieces in your portfolio, this month's challenge is the perfect excuse to add some. This month's challenge is to write one high dollar article on any topic that you think is worthy. Your final price is yours to set but the goal is to get out of your current price rut. For example, if you regularly write $30 articles, then shoot for a $60 article this month. If you're successful selling $80 articles, why not try a $150 one?

Now, this is different than the premium content challenge from a few months back. Yes, premium content tends to have a higher price tag and if your article gets designated in that category all the better, but the goal this month isn't so much writing premium content but rather forcing us to look at our pricing strategies and not undersell ourselves. We all have the skills to write well, so that's a given.

This doesn't mean to keep doing what you've been doing and then slapping a higher price tag on the article, though. It means this:
* Understanding how much time you put into the article
* Understanding how much your time is worth
* Understanding how much a customer may be willing to pay
* Writing an article that is worthy of all of the above

If you accept this challenge, keep an eye on the Recently Sold List and note what topics the higher dollar, non-private articles are on. That will give you a place to start. Today I saw one for $200 on vitamins and supplements. Earlier this month I personally sold several higher priced articles. One was on leadership for $130, another on Bing for $75, a Twitter article for $70, and a usage financial article for $65. Customers are buying articles above and beyond the $30ish average. It's up to us to make sure there's something for the high end as well as the lower end and this month we are focusing on the higher end. Don't expect a fast sale (though you'd be surpised at how quickly some of them go) but approach this one for the longer term and eventual sale.

Who's in?

[Celeste Stewart]

Oooh, a couple nice $100+ requests came in today. If you normally wouldn't write a $100+ article on something like antique clocks or vintage porcelain, go ahead and give it a try as part of this challenge. What's the worst that can happen? You spent an hour or two writing (and that's not a bad thing). What's the best that can happen? You can get a terrific sale

[eek]

I'll take the challenge! But I would appreciate some advice on the pricing strategy I've relied on so far. I've always been reluctant to price my articles according to time spent, because I'm not a "speedy" writer. If I write an article based on a lot of experience with the subject, I might charge more per hour simply because I consider myself an "expert" (so to speak). However, if I need to spend time understanding the subject and chasing down details, I may charge the same price in the end, even though I spent hours longer than an expert would to write the article. I still became knowledgeable enough to write the article, but I charge less per hour to reach a fair price. And I also charge a bit more if I think I've found a unique angle on a popular topic.

I'd love to be able to churn out several articles per day, but I just don't. Others here have expressed the same thought. Are we underselling ourselves? Does anyone have any tricks or secrets to share to speed things up a bit?

Thanks,
Emma

[Debbi]

Emma,

I'd like some tips on speeding things up too. It takes me so long to reserach and write an article, then groom it to what I consider adequate. I only seem to be able to produce two a day or maybe up t four if I kill myself doing it. I really need some help in this area or I am going to remain poor! Maybe my poor little brain just can't process or retain as much information as it used to?

Debbi

[Ed]

I'm a firm believer in "slow and steady wins the race." While at some point all authors must find a point at which they've spent enough time on an article, comprehensive research, careful writing, and thorough proofreading result in better articles that command higher prices and heighten a writer's reputation as someone who can be depended upon to produce quality work. If you have high standards that you require yourself to meet, it shows.

Constant Content isn't the site for writers looking to "churn out" articles. If you're a slow writer, it means you're a careful writer, and that's the type of writer we are looking for. No one here should feel pressured when they hear others talking about pounding out an article in a few minutes, because it should take more than a few minutes to write an article.

Thanks,
Ed

[Lysis]

Emma,

I'd like some tips on speeding things up too. It takes me so long to reserach and write an article, then groom it to what I consider adequate. I only seem to be able to produce two a day or maybe up t four if I kill myself doing it. I really need some help in this area or I am going to remain poor! Maybe my poor little brain just can't process or retain as much information as it used to?

Debbi

I've only been able to do 5 in a day for CC. The hard part is proofing! What's been working for me is to just write and get it out of my head. I let my free spirit write what I think is brilliant prose! Then, go back and proof and find I'm not so brilliant and tone it down. LOL It's amazing how dumb things sound when you really go back after a few days, but it sounded so brilliant at the time! I usually add about 100 words in the proofing process and then go back and proof what I added. Since I charge ~$.10 a word, the added 100 words usually gets me to my goal of at least $25 profit for an article. Sometimes, I miss a word or two, but it's been working. This is the only place where the proofing process takes longer than the writing process for me, but I just love being able to do my own thing.

[Debbi]

The only thing I feel pressured by is my power company, telephone company, and credit card company

I agree that writers should be careful and methodical. I wish all web content was as well-written as the articles I see on CC. Most of the time all you can find online are poorly written rehashes of other people's work, often in some kind of bruised and battered English. Perhaps if good writing was valued as much as it should be (I'm sure every artist, photographer, and musician wishes that too), taking your time would pay off better. So far, CC is the only place I have found where a writer's work brings anywhere near the compensation it should. So I keep submitting and hoping for sales

However, there must be some tips and tricks for more efficient writing -- routines, schedules, research options, etc.

Debbi

[eek]

Thank you for your input, Ed. Your words of wisdom are validating, if that's not too bold to assume. Yep, I'm a tortoise! And while slow and steady is a winning strategy, I was hoping that maybe there are some secrets I haven't learned yet. Speedier research techniques, for instance. Ah well, I have a brain and I suppose I should go do the research on that myself, but we have such a kind, sharing community here that I was hoping for some quick tips.

Debbi, thank you too for chiming in. Tortoises unite! Not that we're old or anything , but I'm with you in wondering about age and how we process and retain information. I suspect that the processing and retaining has more to do with personality and work habits than the age of our brains. If anything, we should be more capable, having more experience to rely on. Not much I can do about my personality, but work habits are another matter. However, I tend to suffer if I take on too much in a day, as well, ending up with a massive headache.

So I'll keep plodding on. Maybe it would help if someone (Celeste?) defines what qualities - besides a desirable topic - should go into a $100-$150 article? That's my personal goal. I've sold articles for that amount, but they were either private or public requests, in which the client indicated a willingness to pay that much, and what he wanted for it.
Emma
p.s. Okay, now I feel reeeeeeeally slow. In the time it took me to compose the above, two others contributed.

[Ed]

Tip:

Do your thinking about the topic throughout the day while you're doing other tasks. Jot down your thoughts in the form of notes. When you're ready to write, you have part of the preparation already complete. It also helps if you have a printer, so you can print out sources and take them with you if you'll be out and about.

[Celeste Stewart]

Ed's tip is spot on. THinking about the topic throughout the day is part of the creative process. Brainstorm, think about it, forget about it, do something else, and have fun. Meanwhile, your subconscious is doing some of the work for you. It may not give you the facts but it plays a key role in your approach.

This challenge isn't about speed. As an expert on widgets, I could write a widget article quickly - but should I charge a lower price because it came naturally to me and was easy to write? Not necessarily. Likewise, if I'm not an expert on widgets and the article takes me five times longer to write than a typical article due to research, should I charge five times more? Not necessarily. It's about finding the right price and not automatically doing what you've always done pricewise. It's about trying a higher priced assignment that may have been too intimating to try before because of its price and/or time investment.

As far as writing faster tips go, it helps to be a good first draft writer because then there's less work to do on the second draft but that's really an individual approach and I'm not sure it is any faster. I tend to have the big picture of the article organized in my mind and then write one sentence at a time where others I know get the words out first, not worrying about sentence structure, spelling, and overall organization until the second draft. Either way, time is spent either at the front end or the back end, so it probably evens out.

[eek]

You are absolutely right, Celeste, this challenge is not about fast articles. I think I've come up with a worthy topic and slant for this article, but it's definitely going to take some time to wrap my head around it. I usually do the "let it simmer" thing, but I don't always remember to print out info to read up on when away from the computer. Thanks for that reminder, Ed.
Emma

[CRDonovan]

[quote] I've always been reluctant to price my articles according to time spent, because I'm not a "speedy" writer. If I write an article based on a lot of experience with the subject, I might charge more per hour simply because I consider myself an "expert" (so to speak). However, if I need to spend time understanding the subject and chasing down details, I may charge the same price in the end, even though I spent hours longer than an expert would to write the article. I still became knowledgeable enough to write the article, but I charge less per hour to reach a fair price. [/quote]

eek, I think you should consider research valid time spent in putting an article together, and adjust your price accordingly. I do price for time spent, and most of what I've submitted is research based. Like you, I'd like to get - a bit more efficient, a bit better at knowing when I have enough information to dig into writing. There are customers who aren't looking for speedily written articles, but rather something with depth and an interesting slant.

Works out nicely that there are customers, and writers, for everyone's taste.

[eek]

Thanks for that, CR. You make a valid point and made me think of something else. I was comparing myself to an expert who was already up to speed on a topic, but many writers aren't experts. Sometimes the clients aren't either. The client, if in my shoes with my level of understanding and writing, might have to spend the same amount of time to produce a worthy article.

Still, if I set my price according to time spent I'd not charge quite as much per hour if it's a relatively new topic to me and I had to do more work to understand the subject. Does that seem fair, or am I still shooting myself in the foot? Plus, it's rather difficult to account for all of the time spent - stewing over it while cooking a meal, picking my husband's brain when he comes home from work, subtracting time that I spent on this forum... When I find a topic that I think will be a winner, many times I take days to mull it over, or I'll start it and then let it sit for awhile before tackling it again. In the end I look at the article and try to fix a price that seems reasonable, because I do want it to sell. And yes, it is so very nice when a customer strolls along and thinks your well-researched article is worthy enough to snatch up at the price you set.

[Debbi]

Ultimately, I think pricing has to be done on what the market will bear. I culd spend two days off and on writing an article about spinal cord injuries in dogs but so far I haven't seen any dog articles sell for $50, more like $20 or ecven $5.

That being said, I am still struggling with pricing. Even when the customer gives a price range for a public request, I'm not quite sure what to do. Ask for the highest amount, say $50 for the $40-$50 range given, or ask for $40? Is the customer more likely to just find the least expensive article listed and see if it is good enuogh and not read the rest? Or will he or she read through all the articles submitted and choose the best one regardless of the price (within his or her range). Busniess people are usually pretty busy so I'd assume the first scenario. What to do, what to do........

Sorry for getting so off-topic in this thread!

Debbi

[Celeste Stewart]

Debbi,
Customers vary with what they want. Sure, some go for the lowest price but others look for writers that "get it" even if the article's price is higher than the others. A unique angle or an obvious understanding of the topic can make the difference.