I would like to write articles for people on DP. Previously, I've only written for my own websites, but it's something that I can do well, and quickly, and I enjoy it. I was thinking of starting at $10/article, or perhaps $.02 a word. I assume that the correct place to do this is the "Content Creation" forum in BST - but that forum is always choked with video-creation posts and other stuff, and anyway the forum is so busy that, right now for example, the main page is only showing 4 hours worth of posts. So, assuming there is a market on this site for real, human-written articles at the prices I'm thinking, how do people find writing jobs on DP? Is it uncool to post such things in this forum? Thanks!
Well LH, for one thing, I've seen very few 'video creation' offers if any on the "content creation" forum. Right now, all I can see on there is 'forum posting' and 'article writing' services. Your rates are decent but I'd suggest you start out with a price of 0.01/wd and then gradually raise it to meet your pricing. You can put up some sort of special offer until New Year's or something. This isn't absolutely necessary but it can give you a feel of how things work on the BST forums. Most people here on DP seem to be ok with sub-par material as long as they feed it to search engine spiders. If you're serious about writing on DP, you'd best get some serious rep and iTrader under your belt and once you prove yourself capable, I'm sure people will be begging to have you write for them
Hm, you're right about the video creation ads, seemed like there were a lot yesterday when I looked. The thing about $.01 a word is that I don't just write sub-par articles for the sake of filling space - I actually do research, and make sure the English is up to snuff. (I edit a website on which people submit articles, and as editor I've seen some amazing grammatical and other mistakes!). So for actually doing research, and writing an article that people will want to read and may actually link to, if I'm getting $5 for a 500-word article that takes an hour I would be better off working at a fast food place. But anyway, my main point of this is that I've advertised services in other categories, like design and programming, and the ad slides off of page 1 in a couple hours and nobody ever sees it, because someone else has posted a new, basically identical ad. I mean, I'll try it, but it the forum seems clogged with people advertising $1/article or whatever. I even went to getafreelancer.com and people were bidding $50 for 15 articles and stuff. How long would it take to write 15 good articles?? A really long day, maybe 2-3? For $50?
no, it's not uncool to post such things in DP. why would you think that? as long as you're capable of delivering content worth the price you quoted, i don't think there's a problem.
This forum is not for advertising your services, just for discussion. Advertise your services in the Content Creation forum. If you can promise quality, and build up a reputation of being able to deliver it on time, you'll definitely get clients - especially at those prices
If you're good in writing and have a blogs you can join PPP like program, that will be much better rather than looking work for individual.
Long, if you're really all that dedicated I'd say you're in the wrong place for your caliber. Most people who advertise content services here are just bored college students who just want to make a fast buck. Most of them aren't out to provide quality, they just want to buy a new phone or pay off a bet they lost yesterday . This attitude has shaped the buyer mentality around these forums so now buyers expect cheap prices in the range of $0.01/wd and are willing to settle for low-grade material. I seriously suggest you build your own website (for advertising your OWN writing services) like I'm doing... Then do some SEO, post some ads in free ad sites etc. and bring people to your own site instead of posting offers in forums. You should also put your site's url in your signature as you participate in places like DP. And as someone else has already suggested, buying links in other people's sigs is also a great way to promote yourself. In my humble opinion, having your own site is the only reliable way to actually land some decent gigs unless you're willing to settle for minimum wage or less. Cheers
Great reply godofwriting, and everyone else. Thanks, making a dedicated website sounds like it would be a good idea! What you say about the buyer's market around here rings true
Getting a decent wage for writing can be tough on Digital Point. As others have said, you're going to have to build up some itrader and a positive rep. You're competing with people who'll write 1000 word articles for $3. Some webmasters understand the importance of a good writer, but many don't.
This is really bad advice. Don't lower your rates to fit the going DP rate. It's not smart for your writing business. There are people on DP who are looking for good quality work and are willing to pay more than $.01/word. However, they're not usually the ones advertising their projects or responding to writers' ads. You have to find them and make it easier for them to find you. Even though the BST forum is inundated with low-rate offers for work, it wouldn't hurt to create a thread there advertising your services. Even if you don't get any responses, you've gotten your name out there. If you don't already have one, build an online portfolio and put a link to it in your signature. That way people will see the link when they read your posts, including potential clients. Actively participate in forum discussions. Take a look around the other forums on this board to see if you can provide some valuable input there. The key is to get your name out there and establish yourself as someone who is knowledgeable and experienced. Network with other successful writers. Build a relationship with them and make sure they're familiar with your work. When writers are at capacity or get requests for work outside their niche, they sometimes refer the client to another writer. Referrals are usually guaranteed work. You can find jobs on DP, you just won't find the good ones by doing what you see everyone else do.
Latoya, and some others, are right. $.02 / word is already quite low for most writers, so lowering it just to fit the DP market isn't too bright. If anything, you change your market to earn what you want or need to... you don't simply lower your rates. That's how so many writers fail - they lower rates too much thinking they have to in order to compete, have to take on hoards of work at those lower rates to get by, and they eventually burn out and start truly hating their work. Don't be one of those writers. @GodofWriting - you were wrong on another point. Most DP writers aren't just bored college kids. Quite a few of us are professional writers (and much more highly paid than the rates you see advertised here). We just don't advertise low article writing rates, because we know how to bring in the clients privately (the best paying clients generally don't advertise publicly). Many of the writers charging much lower rates also don't fit into your generalization... again, quite a few are simply overseas writers with a lower cost of living. Others have made some good points. To get decent gigs: 1. Don't advertise in places where you're not supposed to (like this forum). It just makes you look desperate, and you risk having it moved or getting an infraction anyway. 2. Set up a professional site and portfolio. 3. Network heavily with other writers, even if they aren't involved in the same type of writing (we have a very referral-friendly industry). 4. Do your best to keep clients happy, but at the same time that doesn't mean letting anyone walk all over you. A happy client base leads to more private referrals. 5. Diversify your income streams. Offer other things (e-books, PLR articles, pre-written unique articles, small content sites, other services, etc.) or run your own sites if you're able to to keep income coming from different sources. 6. When you post to forums, make sure you're posting much more than just advertisements. You'll get better paying clients if you specialize in a niche. So post things related to that niche as much as possible, and build some authority status on the topic. That's another excellent way to get unadvertised gigs (people see that you have something intelligent to say, and they'll contact you privately). Best of luck! Jenn
Listen to this poster (jhmattern). Always has good sound advice. BTW what is a good rate? If you are "average" at writing articles and have a good turnaround time, what is the typical per word rate you would get? I'm just curious. Good thing I'm not a cat.
Just to add my two cents here chaps, I 100% agree that lowering your prices to fit in with the DP economy is the wrong way to go. I have seen what many of these article writers churn out, and without being unkind its 99% bullsh*t to be honest. I think a decent copywriter, if thats what you want to be, should set up their own website (as above suggested) and contact many of the advertising agencies OR webdesign companies canvassing for work. In my experience ONE good job for a busy webdesign agency will bring you plenty of work ongoing.... good luck my friend!
The problem with DP is that there are a lot of international markets in the mix. This makes getting a decent rate for someone in the US or the UK very difficult because of the exchange. $5 for someone in India may be like a US writer getting $20 or $30 for the same amount of work. So people in the US will use the writers from India to save a few bucks. I don't actually know the exchange rate, but that was just an example. It could be better or worse.