@shelton_sellers
BANNED
- Sep 16, 2012
- 206
- 143
I will start off this post by saying that I began my writing "career" about 2 months ago, and haven't looked back since.
I haven't made a fortune, but the income continues to increase, and has hit the $100 a week mark, give or take.
There are a few mistakes I made, and wish that I had a guide that would have given me the tips I am about to share with you.
In order to become a successful writer, there are two things you need to concentrate on --- QUALITY & COMMUNICATION.
Hopefully, after reading these tips, your article writing income will rise and continue doing so as you get better.
1. Write, write, and write some more -- Whether it be on iWriter, Textbroker, Freelancer, etc... WRITE A TON. Start out by signing up with a couple of these sites and completing offers. I ONLY take articles that I can confidently write with knowledge I already have under my belt. In my case, video games and sports are my go-to niches, and I write much better when focusing on one of those two. Accept or bid on ANYTHING you think you can do without having to learn a subject from the ground up. You will see more improvement by actually getting out there and writing than you will following any other method.
2. Double check yourself, and then double check yourself again -- Grammar is HUGE. Most buyers will spot grammar mistakes quickly and turn away from you to find a writer that will be more precise. Double check your work to make sure there are no grammar or spelling mistakes before sending it. I usually scan through to spot any obvious mistakes I made along the way, and then write another article. Afterwards, I come back to the first and read over it again, seeing if there are any changes that need to be made. After making sure everything is perfect, no matter what that "turnaround time" was, I send the article. Buyers would rather get the article 5 minutes late than have to spend hours on edits/rewrites. If you are unsure of your Grammar knowledge, there a few sites that are extreme resourceful around the net that can help you improve this. Grammarly is the first that comes to mind and is WONDERFUL for new writers. Copy and paste your work into onto the site and it will not only check spelling and grammar, but offer suggestions to improve your article as well. Yes, it does cost a fee of ~$20 per month, but with the money you will be making, pay it if you are not sure of the quality you will produce; you can always cancel the subscription later.
3. Communication -- In a lot of cases, the communication skills you use to obtain and keep clients are more valuable than the work you send them. If someone posts that they need an article done, respond quickly with all the information in one message. Don't hold anything back when responding, include rates, turnaround, etc... Don't low ball yourself by writing for rates that aren't worth it, or guarantee turnaround times that are tough to meet. If you are honest up front, it not only shows them that you are willing to do the work, but that you are confident with yourself. After sending an article to a potential buyer, simply ask them what they thought. Something as simple as "Hey, did you get that article? What did you think?" will go a long way. It shows that you want to know that everything came out on their end and offers a chance to receive feedback. TAKE ALL FEEDBACK TO HEART. Yes, some buyers will tell you your work is terrible, and quite honestly, it's probably because it was. Improve on any aspects that they suggest and ask for suggestions if they don't provide them. Making the customer happy is all that it takes and shouldn't be neglected in any situation.
4. Gain clients and scale up -- After you have learned what it takes to satisfy customers, scale up. Follow up with every customer that really liked your work, offering to write for them in the future. 99% of my $$$ now comes from people that I have previously written for in the past. If you can set up clients that will send work regularly, your income becomes a lot more stable and guaranteed. Gaining 10 clients that make you $20 a week each is a full time salary for some people, and is fairly easy to obtain. Work on getting a client list and you will be a lot happier than scraping for open articles in the freelance world.
5. NEVER LET YOUR QUALITY SLIP -- No matter what the case is, never let the quality of your articles fall for any reason. When I first started, I would start working when I was getting tired and I paid the price. I didn't write nearly as well as when I could focus and produce the quality I am capable of producing. If you can't write effectively for ANY REASON, don't write at all. Contact the buyer and be honest, telling them that there may be a delay but you want to produce the best quality work for them; they will understand.
6. Become more efficient -- After the quality is there, work on becoming quicker and more efficient with your writing. TIME IS MONEY. If you can write two 500 word articles in an hour that bring in $8 a piece, you are pulling in $16 per hour, which is decent. Keep the same quality, but learn to be more efficient, doubling that to $32 per hour isn't difficult to achieve. There are a couple of tools that can speed up the process of writing once you have the fundamentals down and can keep the quality there. TypingWeb is a free online typing tutorial website that works on speeding up your typing skill, making it easier to write more efficiently. Yes, this sounds ridiculous to most, but I STILL log on to this day and brush up on my skills. 10 minutes a day will improve your typing skills a TON, and help you write articles quicker. The other tool I stand by is Dragon Naturally Speaking. This is a software that you buy .. or "find" on the internet, and will speed up the writing process beyond belief. It's a speech-to-text software that allows you to speak into a microphone, putting all of the speech into writing. I use a wireless headset and walk around while "writing articles". You can write a numerous amount of articles and then go back and edit them later, cutting major time off of the entire process. Remember, time is the most important tool you have at your disposal. The less time you use, the more money you make : simple math.
So to recap, there are only a few things you really need to focus on in the end.
1. Quality -- Make sure your work is ready to send out EVERY TIME before doing so and never let this aspect of your writing suffer at all.
2. Communication -- Learn what the customer wants and provide it. Always get feedback on both positive and negative reviews.
3. Scale up -- Gain clients that you can work with continuously. Keep those clients and continue to make a profit from them.
4. Become more efficient -- NEVER stop learning. The better you get at writing, the more money you will make.
I hope this helps anyone that is going to start writing, or needs help boosting their existent endeavor.
If you have any questions, feel free to reply to this thread and I will get back to you when I can.
Thank you and good luck!
I haven't made a fortune, but the income continues to increase, and has hit the $100 a week mark, give or take.
There are a few mistakes I made, and wish that I had a guide that would have given me the tips I am about to share with you.
In order to become a successful writer, there are two things you need to concentrate on --- QUALITY & COMMUNICATION.
Hopefully, after reading these tips, your article writing income will rise and continue doing so as you get better.
1. Write, write, and write some more -- Whether it be on iWriter, Textbroker, Freelancer, etc... WRITE A TON. Start out by signing up with a couple of these sites and completing offers. I ONLY take articles that I can confidently write with knowledge I already have under my belt. In my case, video games and sports are my go-to niches, and I write much better when focusing on one of those two. Accept or bid on ANYTHING you think you can do without having to learn a subject from the ground up. You will see more improvement by actually getting out there and writing than you will following any other method.
2. Double check yourself, and then double check yourself again -- Grammar is HUGE. Most buyers will spot grammar mistakes quickly and turn away from you to find a writer that will be more precise. Double check your work to make sure there are no grammar or spelling mistakes before sending it. I usually scan through to spot any obvious mistakes I made along the way, and then write another article. Afterwards, I come back to the first and read over it again, seeing if there are any changes that need to be made. After making sure everything is perfect, no matter what that "turnaround time" was, I send the article. Buyers would rather get the article 5 minutes late than have to spend hours on edits/rewrites. If you are unsure of your Grammar knowledge, there a few sites that are extreme resourceful around the net that can help you improve this. Grammarly is the first that comes to mind and is WONDERFUL for new writers. Copy and paste your work into onto the site and it will not only check spelling and grammar, but offer suggestions to improve your article as well. Yes, it does cost a fee of ~$20 per month, but with the money you will be making, pay it if you are not sure of the quality you will produce; you can always cancel the subscription later.
3. Communication -- In a lot of cases, the communication skills you use to obtain and keep clients are more valuable than the work you send them. If someone posts that they need an article done, respond quickly with all the information in one message. Don't hold anything back when responding, include rates, turnaround, etc... Don't low ball yourself by writing for rates that aren't worth it, or guarantee turnaround times that are tough to meet. If you are honest up front, it not only shows them that you are willing to do the work, but that you are confident with yourself. After sending an article to a potential buyer, simply ask them what they thought. Something as simple as "Hey, did you get that article? What did you think?" will go a long way. It shows that you want to know that everything came out on their end and offers a chance to receive feedback. TAKE ALL FEEDBACK TO HEART. Yes, some buyers will tell you your work is terrible, and quite honestly, it's probably because it was. Improve on any aspects that they suggest and ask for suggestions if they don't provide them. Making the customer happy is all that it takes and shouldn't be neglected in any situation.
4. Gain clients and scale up -- After you have learned what it takes to satisfy customers, scale up. Follow up with every customer that really liked your work, offering to write for them in the future. 99% of my $$$ now comes from people that I have previously written for in the past. If you can set up clients that will send work regularly, your income becomes a lot more stable and guaranteed. Gaining 10 clients that make you $20 a week each is a full time salary for some people, and is fairly easy to obtain. Work on getting a client list and you will be a lot happier than scraping for open articles in the freelance world.
5. NEVER LET YOUR QUALITY SLIP -- No matter what the case is, never let the quality of your articles fall for any reason. When I first started, I would start working when I was getting tired and I paid the price. I didn't write nearly as well as when I could focus and produce the quality I am capable of producing. If you can't write effectively for ANY REASON, don't write at all. Contact the buyer and be honest, telling them that there may be a delay but you want to produce the best quality work for them; they will understand.
6. Become more efficient -- After the quality is there, work on becoming quicker and more efficient with your writing. TIME IS MONEY. If you can write two 500 word articles in an hour that bring in $8 a piece, you are pulling in $16 per hour, which is decent. Keep the same quality, but learn to be more efficient, doubling that to $32 per hour isn't difficult to achieve. There are a couple of tools that can speed up the process of writing once you have the fundamentals down and can keep the quality there. TypingWeb is a free online typing tutorial website that works on speeding up your typing skill, making it easier to write more efficiently. Yes, this sounds ridiculous to most, but I STILL log on to this day and brush up on my skills. 10 minutes a day will improve your typing skills a TON, and help you write articles quicker. The other tool I stand by is Dragon Naturally Speaking. This is a software that you buy .. or "find" on the internet, and will speed up the writing process beyond belief. It's a speech-to-text software that allows you to speak into a microphone, putting all of the speech into writing. I use a wireless headset and walk around while "writing articles". You can write a numerous amount of articles and then go back and edit them later, cutting major time off of the entire process. Remember, time is the most important tool you have at your disposal. The less time you use, the more money you make : simple math.
So to recap, there are only a few things you really need to focus on in the end.
1. Quality -- Make sure your work is ready to send out EVERY TIME before doing so and never let this aspect of your writing suffer at all.
2. Communication -- Learn what the customer wants and provide it. Always get feedback on both positive and negative reviews.
3. Scale up -- Gain clients that you can work with continuously. Keep those clients and continue to make a profit from them.
4. Become more efficient -- NEVER stop learning. The better you get at writing, the more money you will make.
I hope this helps anyone that is going to start writing, or needs help boosting their existent endeavor.
If you have any questions, feel free to reply to this thread and I will get back to you when I can.
Thank you and good luck!
