I am fed up with low paying writing gigs. Please help me.

You're probably not a good writer. 90% Of DP writers are horrendous. If you were a solid writer, you'd have NO problem getting writing gigs that pay 0.03-0.05 a word.

 

Thats rather harsh, mate. Its not really a matter of how good a writer one is, its how you sell yourself. Personally, I have taken jobs offering very little, so I understand where the OP is coming from, but at the same time I have clients that pay me $20 - 30 an article - just that I dont have enough high paying clients to pay the bills but am slowly working my way up.

And really if it was a matter of just being a good writer, then how would you suggest he went about getting good paying gigs, which is what dude is actually enquiring about.

 

LOL.

I've been deciding if I want to come out with a complete "master's" course, a shorter, but info-packed e-book to get the ball rolling or a member-based newsletter.

Who knows . . .

 

This has turned out to be such a useful thread for me. Thanks a million to all those who replied.

Now let me leave some answers and clear a couple of doubts.

I have done my school from a school which was totally English based and right now I am a Computer Engineer who will soon be joining a MNC as Software Engineer. There were around 5000 students who were interviewed for the job and 80 were selected. I was one of them. I guess that explains my capabilities?

Although thanks for that book you pointed out. I will surely get hold of a copy of the same. By the way do you know some website which can help me with improve? I regularly refer thesaurus while writing articles.

This was truly a nice idea. Will work on this quick. Could you PM me a couple of websites or some idea as to how you get hold of such websites?

Thanks in advance.

I have a couple of blogs as I said in my first post and I guess they are enough as proofs. Still I have started a new blog which will display my writing for various clients. Lets see how this comes out to be..

Could you please PM me with a list of couple of client. Not asking you to donate your business to me but some specific direction would be great.

My tech blog gets 500 uv daily and Relationship management blog gets 200 uv daily. I have a celebrity photo site which gets 2000 uv daily. Will sell this celeb site after a couple of days. People say it will be sold for 5k

Thanks for the link. Will check it. Can you tell me what exactly they pay and what is the payment method?

Could you give me some tips on how to create a resume which reflects my writing experience? I have a resume which reflects my engineering skills but writing is all together different.

I am more of a tech guy as I have done my engineering from Computer Science stream so I have good knowledge in it. But still I can write on other topics too. Specializing on one niche some times might result in less work at some part of the day which can be harsh. Right?

I have been blogging for last 2 years. Just cannot quit this

The only problem is I haven't given my hand to affiliate stuff. Just don't want to fill my blog with affiliate links.

I already have two blogs. Check the first post.

 

When I was posting all this in one post it said I cannot post 6 replies in one post so I had to do a re-post so as to answer others. I have no intentions to increase my post count by doing this.

Mods please spare me if I broke any rules

I have done my computer engineering and will be joining a highly reputed MNC very soon. That makes me good in tech field but my two years writing career has brushed me well when it comes to writing.

Could you please PM me a couple of sites where you think I can ping and offer my services?

Check my blogs in the first post of this thread. With 500 uv and 360+ RSS subscribers...I guess I am good enough!

Thank you all for your responses. Would love to get more and more input from everyone else. This has really turned out to be a booster.

 

Well you need to get out of comfort zone to move further with something That's life

 

nofullstop

Not sure I can give you solid tips as I'm still working through mine. I've used the structure of one of my old CVs (different industry); then I've surfed around for other writers' CVs to get some idea of how to present my work. That's it, really.

I believe there's a thread in this section about resumes.

take care...

.

 

Yeah, if you specialize in anything it can be a gamble, it’s good to study a couple of things, I’m just saying if you just write average everyday stuff you will have to compete with average everyday people who will write for .001. No one is going to pay more for weightloss, ebook advertisements or dating tips,

I hate to say it but computer tec stuff is saturated, freelancers have to look ahead and find open fields that aren’t all saturated.

Not sure, but all writers I know that actually get paid well specialize in a certain field.

 

Hi. I'm brand new here but want to respond.

I also recommend Elance. One good thing about it - even if many of the jobs are about .01 per word, I encourage you to build a reputation there. It may take a little while to get started, but the good thing is that you can always refer future clients to whatever reputation you are able to establish. Do not waste your time and go lower than .01 on any bid - you will not be happy with it.

When you do those jobs well, have people leave testimonials about your work. They also leave ratings - which any other client can see. To win bids, you need to have a positive can do attitude that lets potential buyers know they are dealing with someone who is qualified and ready.

Besides this, many writers - at least until they are established - have to grab a lower paying job every now and then for a fill-in. Even for good writers, not every job is high-paying, however, but they are wonderful when they are available.

Keep going. Read articles online about how to be a successful writer - they will help.

 

ALSO TRY INCORPORATING SEO INTO YOUR ARTICLES then you can charge more and have success stories of what happenend when a certain person used your article THEN WITH YOUR PORFOLIO start calling what you are doing SEO Services AND CHARGE 500 DOLLARS PER GIG !

 

I hope you are kidding. I wouldn't open my word processing program for less than .25 cents and usually I make .50 cents to 1.00 a word. If people are working for pennies a word I understand why no one makes much money and reputable companies probably avoid you thinking you aren't very good. If you want to be taken seriously as a writer, I'd stop doing this immediately, get together a PDF of some solid clips and start contacting the real publications that are going to help you make your car payment.

Pick up a current copy of The Writer's Market...if it's too expensive, then go to the local library.

 

Getting good jobs is all about advertising your skills and yourself.You should make a powerful portfolio and try different freelance sites.They gave a great start to me.

 

could you please suggest some other fields? I know tech stuff is totally saturated. I have experienced that..

lol that was cool ...unique...and awesome..

thanks for the tip..

wow...$1 a word...you have some portfolio or something....would like to learn from your journey...

which freelance site helped you??could you please PM me if you do not want to post here??

this thread seems to have become a nice knowledge base for all young writers who suffer like I have been

Thanks all

 

I think you need to maybe expand your comfort zone and move beyond trying to compete with the cheap article writers. There is more money to be made in good quality sales copy than articles. In other words moving beyond writing and into persuasive sales copy...

Just a thought...

 

To make more money I'd suggest looking into some of your own interests. You probably have deep knowledge on some topics that could help you write well about them. Some "hot" topics pay better than others. If you like computer science, maybe you like gadgets too? It seems to me that gadgety type of copy and articles seem to be well-paying.

Your interests will help you earn more money. My highest paying clients are the ones that relate to my interests and experiences. I have knowledge of a topic that many people do not -- and this makes me valuable to one of my clients. But I learned about this topic because I WANTED to, not just to get a job.

Start with your interests, they'll help you get the gigs. Good luck!

 

This is the best advice given in this thread so far. Don't bother wasting your time looking for decent pay from online writing, nearly all of the online employers want to pay peanuts for their content. Instead, don't work for the monkeys and go where the writers get paid decent coin (25 cents - $2 a word.)

 

I'm flabbergasted! I had no idea people were working for 1 cent or 2 cents per word.

I usually charge for entire, completed projects - not by the word. I think this helps me get a reasonable fee. Managers from different industries understand "brochure," "sales letter," "website." They want to pay for a "brochure that sales", not for 250 words. Try repackaging your services.

Specializing in an industry certainly helps. I think you need to have some formal education or real life experience in that industry before you can start writing about it.

 

Well right now a lot of web designers are starting to do a lot of alternative fuel, hybrid cars, saving gas, sites, I noticed there is a lack of good reliable info floating around, seems like a lot of it is copy paste junk from a few small sources.

I bet if someone came up with some new info in that field people would pay well for it.

Also “Green” green building, green living, sustainable living, I notice a lack of good info in those fields.

Those are a couple of fields that seem like they will be hot for a few years.

I usually just try to think of stuff and then google it and see how saturated it already is sometimes it is just saturated with the same old PLR junk if that’s the case a writer can probably make some money if he has fresh material.

Just a couple of thoughts.

 

I think that if you are truly a good writer you should be able to make a truly unique website that will get views and make money with adsense, correct?

 

think outside of DP..man there is a bigger world that you see or have access to here