Taking Content Writing to the Next Level and Increasing Profits/Efficiency

Please feel free to respond, give feedback, criticism, etc.. It all helps

Backstory:

For about 2 years now I have used Fiverr to do content writing for others. Being born and raised in Canada and going to a great University I have always believed my writing and English proficiency was "on another level" compared to some of my competition. I have made a suitable amount of money ( well over the thousand dollar range) over this time to pay for some luxuries (iPhone, clothes, fine dining, etc.). School, housing, utilities are all provided by my parents at this time so I live a very comfortable life. Though I can not continue to live through my parents and even though I would like to continue my education (and will) I need to make MORE money so I can be less of a burden on them (they also support my younger siblings).



Pleasures and Frustrations Given from Fiverr:

I am blessed that I was given the outlet of Fiverr to use to sell my writing service. At the start I would like to think I dominated. I might not have had the most used writing service but I had customers who loved my work. On a quality based level I also thought I delivered the most "bang for your buck" service, spending over 1 hour writing an article of 400-500 words from scratch and never simply taking the spinning way to get things done. This is where the problems arise, $4 is something but is it worth it? At first I was so happy to be making it but as time continued I lost a passion.Yesterday night I probably wrote one of my best written articles yet but I was not happy writing it. In fact at some points I just want to close my gig cash my money and just walk away. I can't though, I need to make money.


Solutions:

1. Selling my writing independent on Fiverr through word of mouth or posting in places like the market place on BHW:

I have thought about this one for a while now, but would people really be interested. I feel like my work is worth at least $20 and even if I sold it at $10 I would have to always be competing with sites like Fiverr who have writers that write for a fraction of what I do. Maybe they spin it or write poorly but maybe people just like cheap work over well done work?

2. Using My Content Myself on my Own Website:

Alternative to selling my work to another person I could invest in making my own website and writing about a niche I love. Food, Sports, Healthcare, etc. The issue I have here is getting a real fan base, what if no one comes or it never takes off. I've spent money, writing time, etc in a project that made less money than my Fiverr endeavours. Now that is scary.


3. Get a "real job"

Yeah I don't think I could work for anyone unless I was the boss .



So What's Next:

I'll have to report back to you in the next few days while I think, I really don't know.


The Future (no pun intended) Goal:

Maximizing my profits and working less.

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Your thoughts and opinions are always welcomed here. I will add more as time goes on.

Thank you,

The Future.

Fiverr is a joke. You're essentially earning $4 an hour

If you're really a great writer you could be making soooo much more. Don't compete with the people who are willing to write for pennies. That's a good way to starve.

You could always try to make your own website, and if that fails/you don't like it, you could always sell your pre-made articles somewhere else (there are quite a few sites buying already written content).

Do you mean you need write an article 400-500 words cost 20$? or 1 hours 20$?

I could never see myself being a full time writer and living exclusively from this income source.I would preferred to diversify my online business to other areas like Affiliated Marketing.

marl09 said:

I could never see myself being a full time writer and living exclusively from this income source.I would preferred to diversify my online business to other areas like Affiliated Marketing.

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THIS. Write articles for other people to get the money you need to sustain, but during your free time crank out a few articles promoting affiliate offers. Slap them on some article directory sites, and just forget about it. Do this every so often, and eventually, you'll have an automated monthly income rolling in. It's something that I need to work on myself because I know that it works. Just don't cut off your gravy train until you've got a new one to keep you fed.

There are services here on BHW that charge more than $5 for writing articles - i.e. not scraping the bottom of the barrel. Send them a writing sample and ask to subcontract?

Responding to a pm from user quality service (I can't do it via pm yet - so embarassing):
Hello,
Regarding your post in the above mentioned thread, can you please tell me the names of the websites where we can sell pre-written content? I have many unused articles which I want to see off.

Your advice would be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Mart

My response:

You have a couple of options really.
1 Google the exact phrase and you'll find some decent results (I've checked that)
2 Use Constant-Content, Articlesale, or contact sites/blogs in the same niche (the latter might net you the best price if you find people with serious businesses, assuming you can provide good enough quality that is)
3 Places like infobarrel, triond, eHow, etc fall into the category of 'revenue sharing platforms'. What this means is that they will usually gladly publish your articles with ads on them and will give you a good portion of the money the articles generate (infobarrel I believe gives you as much as 75%). This option may be best for long term residual income.
4 Be creative, if you have unique content there's always someone who would buy from you.

Good luck.

Fiverr is not the right place to attract higher quality clients who pay for quality. My wife earns a consistent $1000+ (some months 2-3 times that) from her writing. She picks up a lot of work from the big freelance sites, the trick here is you need to build up a reputation which takes time and when you are good with good reputation, you will start getting invites to jobs and can ask up to $25-$30 per article. The other trick is to find some solid corporate clients who invest in their SEO and PR and these clients look for quality, reliability and consistency over price and again you can be earning the $20 per article you want.

Hey guys thanks for the wise words. I have mulled over this for a while and think I will be starting my own website with my own writing. My goal is to use advertisements and sales through sites like Amazon to generate an income. A bit nerve racking since I have never done anything of the sort but I am hoping it works out.

The Future said:

Hey guys thanks for the wise words. I have mulled over this for a while and think I will be starting my own website with my own writing. My goal is to use advertisements and sales through sites like Amazon to generate an income. A bit nerve racking since I have never done anything of the sort but I am hoping it works out.

Click to expand...

I think that this is the best route for you. Just don't expect immediate results. I was in a similar position and after much trial and error, I now make a profit with a number of sites. Take it from me, being a writer in this field is a massive advantage. Best of luck!