I discovered DP a couple of weeks ago. Last week I began writing articles for people here on DP. I really enjoy it. It is my first experience into freelance writing. My question is how do I make good money? I would like to make $400-$500 a week writing articles. I can write 3 400 word articles per hour. My problem is- there are so many people writing articles for $1-$2 per 500 word article. How do you overcome those people? Is there a way to do this off DP? Can some one give me some guidance on where to go to get some part time work? Also, any other tips would be nice!!
Well... there are many writing markets. The higher quality your writing is, the more you can charge. People that write articles that sell, charge thousands per one sales letter. People that write content for others, where the client doesn't care much about quality, can charge $1 per 500 words. These are the two extremes, and there are many opportunities in between those two.
Shkad, I think you might want to check your typos in the headline first. Then worry about making money after that.
What's a dreelance writer? OK anyway, if you know how to market yourself, cheap writers shouldn't be a problem for you as far as competition goes. The best thing for you to do would be to get your own website or blog and then promote it as much as possible. If you can't afford to have a website of your own, you can get a free blog with blogspot or something. Either way, having your own spot on th www where you can showcase your ability is almost inevitable if you want to get any real writing gigs. In the meantime, check getafreelancer.com, elance.com, guru.com and other bidding sites if you haven't already. They're not very different from DP in terms of rates but you might find a couple of clients willing to pay you what you're worth. Cheers
First of all, welcome to one of the most rewarding careers in the world! Always good to see a fresh and eager face Get away from DP. No offense intended to anyone here at all, but if you don't want to get paid $2 per article (which I strongly believe no one should settle for), head to places where the buyer is going to be willing to pay you a fair wage. Otherwise you'll be spending all of your time doing nothing but sitting at your computer trying to pound out a few pennies. Try O-Desk and Elance. Both are bidding sites (which I don't usually recommend, but since you are still getting your feet wet...), but the average buyer there knows that he or she is going to pay more for better quality. Then take a look at Craigslist. Always plenty of writing positions open there, and in every city in the world! As for tips, right now you need to be building yourself a nice portfolio to show to potential clients. Start by picking a topic you are very knowledgeable about, and write three to five of the best articles on that topic that you can. Write as though your entire future depended upon the quality of those articles; which, in a way, it does! Next, get yourself a free blog over at Blogger.com. Pick a topic you'd like to write about every day, and do so. Make it interesting. Be sure to run spell check and check your grammar thoroughly before posting anything. This will also serve as a great set of samples. Be sure to put a notice in your side bar that you are available for hire. Last, but certainly not least, never - ever - take pennies for an article when you can make dollars! I've been in the industry for over 20 years, and I will not, repeat will not, take anything less than .10 per word for articles. Anything less than that is a waste of my time. And to be perfectly honest, I've never had a shortage of people who were willing to pay my prices. In short, don't ever undercharge, or you'll hurt yourself in the long run. For someone just beginning, I'd say .05 per word is about right, but never any lower. Then, as you gain more experience and confidence, you can regularly raise your rates until you feel you're being paid what you're worth. Of course, it's all up to you; that's just one old writer's opinion
The only advice I can give is to write often - and then write some more. That doesn't mean that you should fill your time with "3 400 word articles an hour," and nothing else. That's the quickest way to burn yourself out, and hate writing. Many of us here at DP started out writing for less than a cent a word because we didn't know any better. But most of us (I hope!) have since moved up the ladder. The website idea is an absolute must. It doesn't have to be elaborate. It's just a convenient and professional way to show clients some of your finest work. Don't forget to take some time to to spell out what you can offer your client in terms of quality, commitment etc. And don't completely ditch DP. There's a lot of nightmarish posting going on in the Content Creation section but you'll find some gems there too, although few and far between. When you land one of those, it'll be worth it. It's not entirely a waste of time. I can skim through the Content Creation section with my eyes glazing over most of the threads, till I find one that looks promising. I've found a few great people over the last month. Remember, whether you're applying for a posting on Craigslist, bidding at elance (please don't go near GAF; they have slave labor rates, even worse than some on DP.) or marketing yourself by participating in the forums, the job hunting never ends. And one last thing: spell check, spell check, spell check! No more "dreelance writer!"