Attach existing article to request

[Sharion]

Struggling a bit with this one. If someone posts a request and you've got an existing article that may be a good fit, should you submit it to the request?

I did with one but I keep thinking that if they are posting a request, it means they've already looked and didn't find anything they wanted. If I submit something already on the site, am I bugging them with stuff they already know about?

[Ed]

I don't think this necessarily means that the customer has already looked at what articles are on the site. There may be several reasons for a customer posting a request for articles on a topic that is already well represented:

1) It may save the customer time.
2) The customer may not understand or trust that the articles on CC are not indexed by search engines - new articles may be considered to be the better choice.
3) If a customer wants to be able to work with writers more closely to customize content, purchasing content already written may mean purchasing content from writers who are no longer available for work. In this case, attaching an article that's already been published to a new request will do the job of indicating that you are still an active member of the site.

Thanks,
Ed

[nichewriter]

Yes, you can click on the request, contact the buyer, and attach an existing article that fits his request. The buyer may have searched existing articles before posting a request. He may not have found what he wants, but one reason may be he used a different search term. And sometimes, a buyer may just go straight to posting a request without doing a search. I don't do public requests, but I have sold a few articles to buyers who have posted requests because I happened to have articles they are looking for in my portfolio.

[Celeste Stewart]

I've done so with good results many times. Plus, it's an excellent opportunity to interact and show that you're a real person.

[Sharion]

Thank you! I didn't know if there was an etiquette involved. We don't want to bite the hands that buy our goodies