Newbie Re-Writer With Questions

Just starting to get into article re-writing, trying to participate in this section as much as possible. I've been getting articles off AC and re-writing them in order to practice improving my times. I've tried my best to pick ones I know nothing about (Tiger Woods, Health, Beauty(im a guy), Soap Operas) and I get about 4 done in an hour. They all include a re-written title & subtitle, however I'm not really taking the time to generate meta tags.

I am interested in starting as a re-writer for GAF, and I have a lot of questions before I get started as I don't want my first jobs to give me bad ratings.

1. How can I make my bid appealing if every listing already has 20+ bids from writers with reputation?
2. What should be included in my profile?
3. How are re-writers generally assigned work? Do I get sent a .txt file or do I just get a list of URLs and extract the article myself?
4. What sort of keyword research is expected of me? And furthermore, am I going to get a list of keywords that have to be in my writing?
5. What are my chances of getting ripped off from a posting from someone with no rating?
6. Do these people have a preferred method of communications other than email? Is there like a specific instant messenger service most people use, or should I just get a program like Trillian and take the time to sign up for everything.
7. What are my chances of getting a workload that will keep me working for 10ish hours/40 articles?
8. What format do writers typically submit their work in? I don't currently have Microsoft Office installed. Should I?
9. How much would a good website for my services help out my reputation? And if it does, what should be in it besides a portfolio and contact info? Would a .co.cc or a .info domain be enough (not trying to get indexed on google), or does that look unprofessional?
10. Is re-writing phrases and sentences enough, or am I expected to restructure the entire article?
11. What are the chances of article re-writing being extict? If AOL or another competitor surpasses Ezines and AC by a lot, and these companies stop paying, are re-writers going to be out of a job?

I realize that a lot of this stuff is going to be different depending on who I'm working with, I'm just trying to find out the "trends" of what most people are doing and what I should be prepared for. I'm very easily distracted and re-writing is not exactly the most exciting work in the world, so if I spend a lot of time setting up stuff like this as I go along, I may not be able to focus on my work very well.

One more side note because I know this reply is coming. I am not currently interested in writing for Associated Content or Ezine's directly. I'm from America, speak English and all that, but I don't feel very comfortable setting up a billion accounts that could get banned. I also don't like the idea in spending hundreds of dollars in order to find decent re-writers. Maybe I'll take a shot at it later, but for now I just need to make some money.

take a week and a half to answer all them questions. One thing i will say mate. Not everyone pays on GAF. To get assignments you'll have to take a chance on accepting payment outside of GAF, and a lot of people will screw you when u send the articles

CMS2009 said:

Not everyone pays on GAF. To get assignments you'll have to take a chance on accepting payment outside of GAF, and a lot of people will screw you when u send the articles

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Thanks for the warning.

CMS2009 said:

take a week and a half to answer all them questions.

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Well I don't expect somone to answer all of them, just pick one or two they know something about.

6. MSN is generally considered to be the norm

5. Yes. Gaf lets new people list without paying. All you need is a fresh email address to do it over and over again. You will get scammed

8. Get word, its the best. Get the 2007 free trial student version, and get a registration code (i got one on youtube)

10. Changing the words with synonms is not enough, but you dont need to restructure the whole article. Just say the same thing in different words, ensuring it makes sense

sorry for the dodgy order lol

CMS2009 said:

10. Changing the words with synonms is not enough, but you dont need to restructure the whole article. Just say the same thing in different words, ensuring it makes sense

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Yeah, I figured something more like this:

Original:
"Every night I drink a glass of milk before I go to bed."

My re-write:
"I usually pour myself a cup of milk right before I go to sleep."

EDIT: I kind of just re-write the phrases rather than make a whole new sentence. I know enough not to just synonym the words.
EDIT: and for the most part, the sentences would be in the same order relative to the paragraph.

My general advice to anyone starting out with writing, is stay away from GaF.

1. How can I make my bid appealing if every listing already has 20+ bids from writers with reputation?

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You don't. The best thing is to have a standard "I am a native English speaker" paragraph or two that you customise to each individual bid. Any more would be a waste of time. You do get bonus points though if you post something that shows that you have read the bid offer. The standard practice on GaF is to put a place bid, and then post more detail in the follow-through private message

2. What should be included in my profile?

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See above.

3. How are re-writers generally assigned work? Do I get sent a .txt file or do I just get a list of URLs and extract the article myself?

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The best will supply a .txt file. Makes it easier to work offline. Some do supply URLs. It can get messy though ...

4. What sort of keyword research is expected of me? And furthermore, am I going to get a list of keywords that have to be in my writing?

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You want to stay away from any such demands. You just don't get paid enough on GaF to make it worth your while. People talking about keyword density and the like usually spell trouble when it comes to getting paid.

5. What are my chances of getting ripped off from a posting from someone with no rating?

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Quite high. There are always comments about people posting jobs, then asking for a sample from each bidder on the topic, and then never awarding the job. Think about it, they have just received a large amount of *free* content. Why pay for more. At the same time, you have people who want 50 articles before they pay you. You have no recourse, if after supplying the goods you don't get paid. Always submit, and get paid in small batches, (10?), till you have a relationship with the buyer.

6. Do these people have a preferred method of communications other than email? Is there like a specific instant messenger service most people use, or should I just get a program like Trillian and take the time to sign up for everything.

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Again, see above. Stay away from buyers who want to slave-drive/bother you on IM. You get an assignment. You deliver. There really is no need to be speaking on IM.

7. What are my chances of getting a workload that will keep me working for 10ish hours/40 articles?

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Quite low, and quite high. You will get the work, but expect to be paid peanuts for it when you do.

8. What format do writers typically submit their work in? I don't currently have Microsoft Office installed. Should I?

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The best people will just ask for a simple .txt as it makes it easy for the copy-and-paste into the CMS. You do get some weird requests though. Try and stay away from those.

9. How much would a good website for my services help out my reputation? And if it does, what should be in it besides a portfolio and contact info? Would a .co.cc or a .info domain be enough (not trying to get indexed on google), or does that look unprofessional?

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Not sure. Given the quality of buyer on those sites, a website might actually work against you. GaF is not for anyone serious about getting into article writing. It is probably a good way to find your initial clients, but it is a hard way of going about it.

10. Is re-writing phrases and sentences enough, or am I expected to restructure the entire article?

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The best buyers I ever came across just asked for their originals to be rewritten a paragraph at a time. Never a need to restructure the entire article. One of the main problems you will come across is that the PLR articles you are being asked to rewrite are generally drivel. I have to emphasise that, they are generally *drivel*. Any resturcturing of the article as a whole is really you writing a new article. You should be paid more for it.

11. What are the chances of article re-writing being extict? If AOL or another competitor surpasses Ezines and AC by a lot, and these companies stop paying, are re-writers going to be out of a job?

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Your best customers are probably people looking for content for their own sites. They will still be around if AC and Ezines bugger off. At the same time, these customers appreciate (and pay for) quality, and not just pass-copyscape articles.

What should you do then, after my (hopefully) discouraging comments above?

Advertise yourself as a low volume, high quality article writer here. I am sure you will find plenty of work, especially if you have good feedback from customers.

Another place you are probably better off looking for work on, is the digitalpoint forums. Another beauty of DP, is that you can lump your articles into packs of 5, 10,15 etc, and flog them there. Check out their BuySellTrade-->Content section, and look at what has sold, and then take it from there.

Another good point, is that you can offer your writing and rewriting services to anyone who has bought your articles. If your stuff is good, you will not have any problems getting additional work.

Thank you VERY much for that, must have taken forever to answer.

judson said:

What should you do then, after my (hopefully) discouraging comments above?

Advertise yourself as a low volume, high quality article writer here. I am sure you will find plenty of work, especially if you have good feedback from customers.

Another place you are probably better off looking for work on, is the digitalpoint forums. Another beauty of DP, is that you can lump your articles into packs of 5, 10,15 etc, and flog them there. Check out their BuySellTrade-->Content section, and look at what has sold, and then take it from there.

Another good point, is that you can offer your writing and rewriting services to anyone who has bought your articles. If your stuff is good, you will not have any problems getting additional work.

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I saw the services section and thought about it, but figured it would be safer to go through GAF since they have their own payment system. But after your post I guess I was wrong. Anyway, at least I could research the people I'm working for by their specs and previous posts.

GaF have their own payment system, but very few people use it. You are better off with RaC (Rent a Coder), since they insist that the money be put in escrow before you commence working. I also think that the rates you are paid are generally higher on RaC than they are on GaF.

If you do want to go down that route, give GaF a go.

My comments not withstanding, I think you should give RaC a go. Just bid on as many 'current/open' jobs as you can find. Then examine the responses, particularly in light of what has been posted here by myself and other posters. Then make up your own mind.

At the same time, bunch the stuff you have written into some meaningful groupings, and try and flog them cheap on DP.

Compare *your* results, and then rinse and repeat. Nothing will beat personal experience.

Will give them both a go, thank you very much.

WOW! Looked up articles for sale on DP and they go for almost $3 a piece, vs $1.75ish on GAF. Plus, no deadlines or people working you to death. Definately going to try that route first. Hopefully I wont get screwed over for $.

Just note you probably won't be getting top $$ from the get go on DP. Adjust your prices to shift stuff till you have some reasonable iTrader on your account.

And remember to offer additional writing services to your satisfied customers. If your output is good enough, you will be drowning in work.

Just read the threads here (and at DP) about how difficult it is to find a good writer. When buyers find one, they tend to want to hold onto them.

judson said:

Just note you probably won't be getting top $$ from the get go on DP. Adjust your prices to shift stuff till you have some reasonable iTrader on your account. .

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Figured that, but it seems fair.

judson said:

And remember to offer additional writing services to your satisfied customers. If your output is good enough, you will be drowning in work.
Just read the threads here (and at DP) about how difficult it is to find a good writer. When buyers find one, they tend to want to hold onto them.

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I have been reading the $30 thread, though it doesn't tell much about my point of view, it tells me what my clients would want and thats very helpful.

You seem switched on, and keen enough. Good luck, and I am sure you will go far whichever route you take.