How much would you pay a content writer?

I am not angry at them, I am just trying to understand why clients pay low rates.
Is it that they have a low budget or is it that they are just unwilling to pay writers more?
Actually, you seem to be the one who is angry and nope, not going to delete this thread.

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OK, people like you I pay $1/1K words, cause you don't deserve better. If you don't believe me, I can show you screenshots of the job I just awarded on Elance. I am getting 10K+ words for $25

I do have a budget to pay more, but I don't want, I like to exploit people, it's my hobby. I like to see people like you living miserable life.

I use to pay $5 for 100 words quality article and I do find people who are ready to pay decent amount for high quality content.
$1/100 words is for spin articles using some kind of rewriting software.

I would pay around $1 - $2 /100 words depending on the quality of the article.

its not how much it costs, its how much YOU are willing to pay for quality work.

Sure there may be some content writers who can write something up for a buck but it may be worthless.
Quality writing is priceless.

Good writers are very hard to come by, and when they do, they don't stick around long as they find more profitable ways to use their skills than to write BS about a hair removal cream someone wants to sell on their website.

Cheers

G

It depends on quality, where you are and who you're writing for. If you want to make more than $5 per article ($1 per 100 words), then don't write for clients on Fiverr or forums like BHW because that is indeed the going rate. People who outsource their IM content are trying to make money, not spend it. Mostly non-US/UK/Can/Aus/NZ writers do that type of work. It's a global business, after all. $5 goes a long way in India, Belize or the Philippines. But some US writers who are just starting out (or desperate for cash) will do it, too. I have done it in the past; I would do it again if necessary. I'd move someplace cheaper than the US, though, if I weren't making 5x that amount. It's all about geoarbitrage.

$7-10 for 500+ word quality article.

As a writer, you only have to read maximum of 3-4 sources before you can produce an article and it has nothing useful to offer to the readers because all the information can be found on other websites. The writer probably doesn't understand the article very well himself because they aren't an expert in that field. If you want to write for more money, I'd say you pick an area you are most interested with, then become a real expert in that field so that you can offer people knowledge that is easy to comprehend and isn't found on most other sites.

Hahaha Spot on! But another in your face reply from the skyrocket. $0.25/100 words is dirt cheap! Do those articles even make any sense?

I just wrote a 1200 word informative article with a full analysis of the subject including pro's, cons and a summarised conclusion. The article is brimming with LSI keywords. Spent an hour researching and just over an hour writing it. I would charge a minimum of $50 for that piece. So on that basis it works out just shy of $25/hour or just over $4/100 words.

OP, they pay peanuts for a monkey service. Market yourself better and you'll find another group of clients who are more than willing to pay top dollar. If you have the skills to read any subject matter and incorporate the key points into your article then you can charge a premium for your work.

SkyrocketSEO said:

OK, people like you I pay $1/1K words, cause you don't deserve better. If you don't believe me, I can show you screenshots of the job I just awarded on Elance. I am getting 10K+ words for $25

I do have a budget to pay more, but I don't want, I like to exploit people, it's my hobby. I like to see people like you living miserable life.

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Julzwriter said:

I am not angry at them, I am just trying to understand why clients pay low rates.
Is it that they have a low budget or is it that they are just unwilling to pay writers more?
Actually, you seem to be the one who is angry and nope, not going to delete this thread.

Click to expand...

Have you seen the quality of some of these articles? I'm willing to pay $2-$3 per 100 words. But, when someone like me who has no experience writing can write better than the "article writing professional," I'm not going to pay them more than a buck per 100 words.

So far, I've only found a handful of writers here on BHW that I'm willing to pay $2-3 per 100 words for (although some of them charge cheaper than this - but that's their pricing not mine).

One major point is, if you are selling in a competitive market like the forums, freelance sites or place where there are lots of writers,
you will be left with little choice or offer similar/close price range like others.

However, if you take your business off the forum or competitive areas like freelance sites,
you will have a better bargaining power.

My eyes roll up when I see someone paying low $$ per specific number of words, instead of writing the article related to the specific topic.

I have my top quality writer who handles my articles/copywriting for a long time.

The article is written by my writer who refused to deal with Walmart type (cheapskate) buyers:

http://qualitycontentwriter.com/the-blog/a-few-reasons-why-i-wont-write-for-you/

$2/100 words. But at the moment i'm probably going to expand and search for more high quality written articles

portalweb said:

My eyes roll up when I see someone paying low $$ per specific number of words, instead of writing the article related to the specific topic.

I have my top quality writer who handles my articles/copywriting for a long time.

The article is written by my writer who refused to deal with Walmart type (cheapskate) buyers:

http://qualitycontentwriter.com/the-blog/a-few-reasons-why-i-wont-write-for-you/

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You have to keep in mind that most article writers aren't actual professional writers here. And also the fact that most people here are trying to get the most "bang" for their buck in order to maximize ROI. I don't mind paying hundreds for a landing page article, but for filler content that may or may not ever get read; a cheap article accomplishes the same thing. I guess it depends on what kind of marketing people are doing, but I'm guessing majority of BHW members have 3-5 landing pages on their site, lots of filler articles to bring in long tail keywords and funnel them to the landing pages, and the rest of the filler content is used for tier 1.

If a $5 article does the trick, why pay $100 for it. The small increase in conversion wouldn't justify it. But like I said, it depends on what strategy people are using. I do affiliate marketing, so for me personally, I only need about 5 top notch articles on my site to make good ROI, the rest of the articles can be written by an 8th grader for all I care (but since I'm paranoid, I still use decent articles for my filler and tier 1 content).

There is such a vast range of quality and pricing. But the fact remains if you're writing for people outsourcing their content for IM purposes, you're competing with writers in India and the Philippines. They're fluent in English, many of them; they can live dirt-cheap so they will work dirt-cheap. If content writing weren't a globally competitive business, the going rate would be much higher.

While this is true if your service is of the same QUALITY as forums/freelance sites, this doesn't apply to people who do x5 better and prove it. I'm willing to pay top dollar for an article that converts, rather than tier 2 article quality.

Sum it up? Be better than everyone in your class.

john1444 said:

One major point is, if you are selling in a competitive market like the forums, freelance sites or place where there are lots of writers,
you will be left with little choice or offer similar/close price range like others.

However, if you take your business off the forum or competitive areas like freelance sites,
you will have a better bargaining power.

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would you consider writting a 500 words press release on my new site ohlookhoney and post it here for other to see your writting skills and style? it would help me too for as is now i have zero marketing for the site outside of fb likes

I usually pay $20 to $50 per 450 words for an article with research.
However I am most likely the exception.

Website owners usually want to pay as little as possible.
Generally they end up paying $1 to $2 per 100 words if they hire Indians or Filipinos.
The end result is generally piss poor and in my experience it reads very badly, with terrible grammar and has no point.
Badly written articles usually turn away buyers, which is not surprising because hey if you cannot spell or apply grammar properly, then you most likely cannot provide the service/goods well either.

I *only* hire US UK or Australian writers. No exceptions (I did make exceptions in the past but it was a waste of money and unusable content).

Which would a website owner prefer:
(a) Pay someone $50 for a good well written 450 word article that brings me in (lets say) $100 or more of sales?
or
(b) Pay someone $15 for three articles that bring in no sales because the writing is so poor that it would be an embarrassment to post it anywhere?

I have hired many dozens of writers over the years. Out of maybe 100 writers there are just 5 writers that can actually write well.
Its been my experience that most writers vastly overrate themselves, but then you read the stuff you asked them to write its really just keyword soup or it doesn't make sense (or doesn't have a point).

An article should have:

A well written headline
An intro
A continuation of the topic
Conclusion that makes sense.

Sadly very few people can actually do that.

Ironically in my opinion, a collage major in English is usually the worse writer you can get (thats from over a decade of hiring people).

I rest my case.

Julzwriter said:

How much would you be willing to pay
a content writer for quality articles for your website?
I have been checking this forum and most people just
want to pay writers peanuts but they want high
quality articles. Why are website owners paying writers such low rates?

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Thats true. I guess analogy would be like a photo. Not all are the same... Some are blurry, underexpose, bad composition and no expression. Where other can evoke emotion, story telling, or just damn too beautiful. I guess you get what you pay for. Finding a good writer within one budget will be a quest... for me anyway. Thnx blackberry for your insight and wisdom.

Many clients think whatever may be the content is, it doesn't affect much if Kws are properly placed .So they eventually end up giving some cheap rates that in turn downgrade the whole system.
I ran a Company Akroswriters and I never pay my UK, and Canadian Writers below 4 cents per word, sometimes $50 for 500 sometimes 200 for 500 words as well . Some of them are from Law colleges, many are English Grads with good GPA .. But its very tough to find good clients from here who actually knows and understands that quality. So we all need to market in all possible way...

I think it all depends on you. If you want to bank hard doing writing services - I have an idea for you.

You have to always write a masterpiece and target only " high-end " buyers because they have big bucks to pay. Not like you target normal buyers and complain why they pay so little - they simply just are not used to paying a lot.

You can go up to them and offer to write for free - because there'll be a much better chance for them to give you an opportunity.
Show them that you can craft masterpieces - the rest will be how you will deal and market to "them".

Seriously, you cannot be a profitable writer if you are not a good marketer.

** I am not a writer, my writing sucks, I am just telling you from a marketer's perspective. Get the first " yes " and show them what writing magic you have then try to close the sale or sign a contract.