Content Writing is not for Newcomers

I thought there's a great deal of need for decent high-quality content creators. I am making this post to tell you my case.

First I shortlisted various websites that pay for articles. I applied to all of them, like 15. I didn't care about the payment for each article, I just wanted to break into the content writing field and receive my first amount even if it was one buck. But guess what, those websites:

• didn't reply, or
• had a lot of other experienced people who ate up all the attention, or
• were getting too many requests so ignored the less attractive but better ones, or
• were short on bucks to spare, or
• were going for people whoever charged the least.

I tried content websites like Fiverr, but none of my gigs sold. Closed my account. Then I tried websites they call "content mills" that give you money for each of your article but they must first accept your entry. No luck there too. My articles were great, I just don't know why they didn't accept them. I did full research in my posts, also saw what kind of posts were selling on their websites, and wrote a decent 800-word piece. No response.

Second I tried BHW. I thought people would like to hire a newcomer so that he can move up the ladder, but oh guess what, you cannot advertise your services outside of the Marketplace. I mean, to get inside content writing field for earning money, you have to pay them with money.

Problems I faced in BHW. People need content, cool. But they need content that comes the cheapest. No respect for high-quality articles. Ask them you take one cent for 2000-word articles and they'll take you. They'll take your spun content, post on their website, and poof. The writer got money but the content was so poor-quality that the value of the website didn't increase a penny. I wonder how much money is wasted on low-quality articles.

Also, you have to send a lot of messages and post on a ton of threads to get a single person who just might be interested in buying your service, you know. Reply him and he/she replies after a decade or not at all. All this disappoints, discourages, and irritates me.

So I had this offer of doing 6000 words copywriting and I asked for like a hundred. "Sorry but we don't need the kind of content you write." Oh yeah? Why don't you just tell me that you got somebody who can write your 6000 words for fifty bucks? Or twenty, who knows.

I understand copywriting is more tough than content writing because you have to take care of keywords, proof words, have character-limits, and still have to fit relevant content that can pursue people for buying stuff. But there really are experienced people who would do 6000 word copywriting for a real small amount of money. Not their fault, not mine, not anybody's fault.

Then I got a person who was willing to take a 1000-word article from me for $20. Guess what, he never responded to my message for reasons God only understands.

Connections, networking, and building relationships. The more connections you have, the better. But how is a newbie supposed to get connections? I can't advertise my writing skills, I can't message people who need content (they won't reply), no one is willing to give a chance to newcomers ("You take x?! I got five guys who do it for *half of x*!"), and so on.

Conclusion: This field is NOT for newcomers. Keep endlessly struggling on BHW, content mills, other websites, etc. and after 5 years, perhaps you could earn good connections. But is that worth it? Until that point, you have to write countless articles and samples that you won't get paid for. I've talked to at least 20 people who showed some interest. And let's see how many content writing projects I got till date: Oh wait, it's a huge, round ZERO. All my writing experience, online copywriting courses, and writing skills are worth crap for all I know.

Even if I get someone interested, he/she needs examples of my previous work! Oh come on! You need me to write on healthcare and my previous example is, say, copywriting for makeup brands. How will you judge me? "No I don't need you. Thanks." Dude, you didn't see what I could do for you! Give me a topic you want and THEN I'll give you a sample on that! But until then, it's too late, the person has already become uninterested in my service. Great. Repeat the process all over again a couple gazillion times and you got my situation.

I know your feeling frustrated but you shouldn't complain publicly because it may scare away some of your clients. Always keep a happy attitude and talk to your friends (not your anonymous friends) of your problems.

When I was reading the shitlist, people got scammed not only because of the product was amazing but the scammer was charming, friendly and seems like an alright guy. I'm not saying to scam anyone but getting clients is like having an interview on a real job, they search for the most affordable (salary range), their credibility(say you majored in writing) and their attitude (happy and understanding).

Maybe your scope in writing is too large, you can try to limit it like doing homework for kids or something like that. For samples you can create a website if you have the budget or create a facebook account to showcase your writing skills. Father's day is coming up, write witty jokes or thank you cards, in the USA independence day is also coming up so their is a lot of homework talking about independence day.

Another is tip that pictures tells a lot. Remember you are advertizing your writing skills and when you are telling about it make it look professional like this one "Real Guest posts with High Quality Articles (NATIVE ENGLISH) - $10 per post", search it because I can't post links.(Study the competition and what they are offering, if someone in blackhat is offering $3 for 1000 word article, you must think of ways why they should choose you, or find other websites that are not well known). You can try slave labor on reddit but they always expect fast quality content (like one hour fast) and ensure that your offer is on the first page.

As a newbie, instead of cash, they write for good reviews. For example I will write hundred word response in postloop (A paying forum) in exchange for a 25 word 5 star review in my fiverr account. Also don't bot on your fiverr, usually I skip people who have an "outstanding experience" over and over in their reviews, their even once a fiverr account who gave his own account a review with the same content of the client.

All in all I want to tell you that I'm jealous of your talent, I wish I have some creativity and I'm still trying to cultivate one but as of now I'm looking for a real job because the only way I can get to IM is either enroll to a program to be great at it or hire someone to make a start in building websites.

roxblade said:

...one cent for 2000-word articles...

Click to expand...

What!!
Guess you got a job with me pal!!

Nah seriously, read my journey threads (links in description), i started with $0 and scaled it to 5 figures a month. Takes attitude to go through hell but at the end is really cool.

I started selling gsa ser lists here around 1.5 years ago, earned $2k or so and with that I ranked my site in G

More money came in, ranked higher, more money cam in and started building more sites. Got them ranked and I just started my company and waiting for my bank to approve the account

Don't give up pal!

i can understand your frustration and i can agree with lots of your points, the competition is really tough in content writing, but you're cheap yourself when you are talking about BHW letting people advertise their service in the BST section only, i mean you are here with us for almost 2 years now and only made 19 quality posts (when you're a content writer), can't it be that you concentrated your energy in the wrong direction? reach that 100 posts, so you can pay for Jr Vip & the BST fee

you constantly complain about prices, it may have escaped your attention, but the internet is an international thing, BHW and every other marketplace have members from all around the world, so if you're from the US for instance, you always need to expect someone low balling you from other parts of the world, because he/she can afford to take the job for less, which doesn't automatically mean lower quality either, if you're getting upset because of this, though luck

it seems you're pretty confident of your writing skills, if you provide a top notch service, it will sell here, so you can't really go wrong with paying the fees of being a Jr Vip & the BST, build trust at first, help people out where you can for FREE (like it or not), contribute to relevant threads in the area of your expertise and then when ppl get to know you, start your BST or start it right away hand out review copies and hope for the best

starting out as a newbie was never easy, you always need to prove yourself by handing out free samples in exchange for good feedbacks for instance, but most people do this without connections at first, well, at least those who weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth, if we can use this discordancy here

It took me a long time to get up and running with content creation OP, its more so keeping steady clients and branding yourself.

Obviously you have to deliver on your promise every single time, and I'm always as flexbible as I can possibly be (in order to ensure a client their happiness).

I'm not about to give away my secrets, but I started off making nothing and took me a year before I cut even with writing. Took 2 years for me to say I finally carved a place for myself in the field.

BHW is not a place to look for making money in writing. People are just looking for filler.

You can't compete in price with the poor countries. I compete on quality and on my area of expertise. If you want an expert, you need me. That's my sales pitch, basically. I have a strong portfolio though. Just landed another big name that everyone knows. I rely heavily on these big names to sell other names, so yes you need to start off broke and selling to shitty blaaahgers and work your way up.

Another issue is that big customers and ones with real businesses want to speak with you. So, you need to sell on the phone too when they want to speak with you to filter out the duds. Big companies take time to build relationships with writers.

Finally, another thing is that you gotta know what type of content people want. It's a skill that I had to learn. Web content has a certain angle that customers like, and you have to learn that angle while keeping your voice. If you have personality, it will show in the writing. People like writing with personality. It "speaks" to their potential customers, which means cash in their pocket. This separates the shitty blaahgers from real companies. Real companies that want good writers are willing to spend the money because your writing will make them money.

Also, tbh, you don't sound like a native. Are you?