Sleep Addled Questions from a Noob

[cdoug]

Hi there.

So, I'm sitting here riddled with coffee a couple hours after submitting my first article, positively giddy to hear back from the editor. My fingers and toes are all crossed. I don't know if that's a side effect of the coffee, or what -- what I do know, though, is that it makes typing a bit of a chore. But the the questions rattling around in my noob skull seem important to me at the moment, and so I shall press on. (Oh, and thank you for your time. I wanted to say that before I got too busy trying to be cute. I apologize. It's just so nice to have an opportunity to write in the first person again!)

Some small back-story: I'm new to freelancing. Like, really, really new. I think today was my fourth day. Days one and two were spent reading and taking copious notes on an e-book about writing for the web. Yesterday and part of today were spent on four articles for content mills, before I read a few blog posts on the sites in question that made me stop and do the math. I'd like to thank CC's management for creating such a site, because there are worlds of difference between the pay rates I read about, and what I was seeing on the mills and bid sites. First world and third world, namely. But I didn't see much alternative for a new freelancer with no portfolio, and no real credentialed area of expertise. I don't know if I'll make the cut here, but I plan on giving it my best effort, and that's because what's achievable here seems like it might be able to sustain a person of modest needs. Besides, I live in an area where even the burger joints aren't hiring.

My first question is a bit vague: How do you guys write so quickly? Or, rather: How can I write more quickly? The article I submitted was just shy of 600 words, and it took me slightly over 2 hours to write. Some of that was spent generating some ideas for content, but when I see people talking about how they can bang out 500 word article in 20 minutes, and have it accepted by the editors, well, it makes me doubt myself a bit. I think I'm naturally predisposed to be a bit slow. My writing voice naturally tends to include a lot of superfluous information (such as "tends to," a phrase that spends almost as much time with my writing as I do -- and don't forget my love of lengthy parenthetical asides!), and I feel far more competent when editing something that's already been written than when creating totally new content myself. Any tips?

My second is about usage rights and pricing: I don't know if I have the right of this, but I'd sort of like to build a bit of a name for myself as a freelancer (I'm sure I'm getting way ahead of myself, thinking this), and so I'm not totally comfortable with selling any articles that might get accepted with "full" rights. At first, I thought usage rights sounded the most appealing, but browsing these forums brought it to my attention that any article sold under that license is precluded from being sold for the other two, and that makes it less appealing for many potential customers. As such, I've decided to adopt a pricing strategy that's something like 6 cents/word for usage, 8 cents/word for unique, and 12 cents/word for full. Actually, my first article is more like 4/6/9, but I'm just getting my feet wet, and it was for a public request that it would have been substantially over budget for at the other rate. Anyway, does that sound feasible?

My last question is about inventory: I plan on writing a lot of articles. Right now I'm struggling with thinking of things to write about, so I'll basically be forcing myself to write in order to get used to it, trial by fire, etc. But, say my articles all somehow occupy that unhappy space between "good enough to accept" and "nobody wants to buy." Does it look bad to clients if I have a large volume of inventory sitting in my window and making puppy-dog eyes?

Before I go, I also wanted to say that I think it's great that CC has this sort of community. Some of the blogs and the like are very friendly and informative, but there's not a lot of direct interaction, and some of the other forums I've seen are either deserted or full of people happy to make a penny a word. This forum, though, seems to strike a great balance between professional and welcoming, and I look forward to becoming a part of it. Thanks again for your time, and I'll see you around.

--Chris

[Evelyn]

Howdy, Chris. Welcome to C-C!

Let me say right off that if your grammar in article writing is as good as this post, you've already jumped over the first hurdle of writing here. Be very, very careful with that and you'll suffer fewer rejections.

Yep, you have a breezy and conversational voice--some folks would call that wordy. That's not necessarily a sin, but conciseness is always welcomed in Web writing. On the other hand, customers around here expect totally unique content and many of them like a great "voice", so don't cut out your personality. Just use fewer words.

Funny enough, every single successful writer on C-C was also a newcomer to freelancing at some point. We all overcame habits from previous writing styles or our own egos. Here's my personal humble opinion about developing a name for yourself in freelancing:

A. At this point it's more important to get paid.
B. For C-C, write well and often and get few rejections. And write for public requests, any one that's even remotely interesting. It won't take long before private requests start coming to you, and that's your "name for yourself" here on C-C.
C. If you really want a name for yourself out on the world wild internet, start a blog of your own. You can promote your writing here on C-C or other content sites, ebooks you happen to write, affiliate products, whatever. JadeDragon who hangs out here at C-C has a good model to follow at innovativepassiveincome.com. He pops in every once in a while on the forums, always with good advice. I also have a blog that has brought me writing gigs from web surfers at 10000seeds.com, though my blog has been taking a long hiatus lately.
D. At this point it's more important to get paid.

Other threads on this forum have suggested that having an inventory of 100 articles here at C-C gets you started. So what if one sits around for a year unsold? The old-timers here say that at some point, 60 to 80 percent of their articles sell, not counting private requests. Be patient and write like a maniac, my friend.

I'd also advise you to establish yourself in some kind of niche, or maybe two. This helps you to write faster if you're researching stuff you're already knowledgeable about, and makes you sound like an expert. Don't just write a random article for the Real Estate category and then turn around and write a random article for the Sports category. Personally, I've written three sets of ten on the same topic (one for gardening and two in the marketing category). The gardening ones bombed but the others I've sold all 20 and gotten several private requests because of them.

Chris, please hang out on the forums and find answers to questions, and ask questions if you're really confused. This site is SO worth it. Be patient, submit only perfect articles to the editors, and keep writing. Just keep writing.

Evelyn

P.S. Jeez, I forgot about Celeste's ebook! Visit celestestewart.com/constant-content-review. Celeste is the most successful writer here at C-C by a long shot, so her advice is total gold for you.

[cdoug]

Thanks, Evelyn, for your reply. It's funny that you should mention Celeste's e-book -- I'd already gone ahead and bought it about half an hour after my post, and was about halfway through before the coffee wore off. If you don't mind, though, could you elaborate a bit on a couple things?

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying when you say, "At this point, it's more important to get paid." I think you mean that when it comes to pricing and whatnot I should pick something that makes it easy for customers to buy, but I've found that when I've just woken up the only thing I can trust my thinker to be is treacherous.

Actually, I think that was it. The rest were really good ideas that I'll take to heart. I've always planned on starting a blog, but I've mentally pushed that back because it seems like right now I shouldn't be blogging when I could be writing. I'll definitely check out JadeDragon's blog and yours as well, though. Oh! My other question was a smaller matter, but how would you go about trying to specialize in a niche or two while also fulfilling public requests? They seem rather diverse, don't they? (Yeah, I've scanned the listings for all of one day. ) I definitely plan on finding a niche for a while. Your points about speed and research were so salient that I'm embarrassed that I didn't realize them on my own.

Thanks again for the welcome, and for giving me such great direction!

[Evelyn]

Chris, I'm just full of pithy advice. I'm glad some of it struck a chord with you.

What I mean is, offer articles for full rights and get paid way more, and probably sell way more, too. Price your articles in a way you think is fair and then keep an eye on them for a few weeks or a couple months. If they aren't selling fast enough for you, lower the price. If they're going like hotcakes, raise your rates. Just don't price yourself out of the market on either end--too cheap or too expensive. It takes time to get a feel for it, and I think Celeste has some great advice on that.

Specialize in a niche for your on-spec writing (not written for public requests). For public requests, just pick anything that seems interesting that day, or something you'd like to learn more about. When nothing seems interesting, write in your niche(s) so at least you get something done each workday. Always let the writing sit for a day or so and re-edit it so it's perfect, and just submit at a steady pace, not all at once.

Hope to see you around the forums more, and keep us updated on your progress. We really are nice folks!

[Celeste Stewart]

Hi Chris and welcome to CC. I think Evelyn answered most of your questions, but this one popped out to me:

My first question is a bit vague: How do you guys write so quickly? Or, rather: How can I write more quickly? The article I submitted was just shy of 600 words, and it took me slightly over 2 hours to write. Some of that was spent generating some ideas for content, but when I see people talking about how they can bang out 500 word article in 20 minutes, and have it accepted by the editors, well, it makes me doubt myself a bit.

Speed comes with time and practice - and familiarity with a given topic. Try not to worry about speed at this point. The article you just researched and wrote? I bet there's another article just waiting to be written on that same topic but with a different angle. That second article may take half as long as the first to write. Sometimes you'll find yourself on a roll with just one topic spawning dozens of article ideas. Also, some writers can write quickly while others take much more time. Both approaches have their pros and cons. Write too fast and you run the risk of mistakes and potentially missing out on the fun part of writing. Write too slow and you risk the curse of perfection and may not be able to make enough money to justify the time spent. For now, don't worry about speed. Take as much time as you need learning, writing, getting to know CC, and enjoying the process.

[jadedragon]

What else can I add? Thanks Evelyn

[cdoug]

Thanks again, everybody, for your help.

[cdoug]

Update: My first two articles were just accepted! Feels good, man. Seriously, though, thank you all for your help.

[CRDonovan]

Cool! Always a good feeling.

[Evelyn]

Good for you. Keep it up!