I just jumped into content writing and copy writing on the internet. I think it's a great way for professional writers to support themselves... as that's what I aspire to be after I finish by B.S. in English Literature. I heard the standard prices is like $5 per 500 words... I think that's a fair price. I would research and write about whatever. What do you guys think about joining these websites like Textbroker or AC... compared to negotiating contracts on your own? How to Find Work As a Writer**
You can make much of a living on $5 per article. It may be a good way to get started but down the road you will want to build your own list of contacts so you can get paid more per article. I have a friend that gets paid $100 per article and he started like this and raised his prices gradually as he became busier and busier.
How to find work "as" a writer would have worked better.Your thread header appears confusing and not spelt properly.Before you concern yourself with finding work...work on your writing skills. Things like this leave a poor impression with prospective clients and employers. Perhaps not to late to edit?
Touche,but seeing as I'm an executive and do the hiring,I'm allowed to make mistakes.The OP will be looking for work,he can't afford to screwup.
$5 is not a standard price. It is the price charged by folks who often simply rewrite Wikipedia entries, spin content from other sources or are not capable of producing content that garners higher prices. It's sadly also an amount that new writers too often settle for.
I don't see how people can create good, quality content for just $5 per 500 words. That sounds like garbage unless the person is writing garbage. But in any case, I'm interested in how to build up a freelance writing career as well. I think acceptable payment for content writing is $15 per 500 words. $100 per article would be delightful but the writing would need to be completely original and enjoyable to read in order to garner that much money.
Well, the job of a writer is always under demand, irrespectively that there are huge supply. Especially, if you are a good writer. There are a lot of advertisements where writers are required on different forums and at this also. Contact with those who are looking for writers.
You can make much of a living on $5 per article. It may be a good way to get started but down the road you will want to build your own list of contacts so you can get paid more per article. I have a friend that gets paid $100 per article and he started like this and raised his prices gradually as he became busier and busier.
Well considering the fact that this forum has been over-run with low quality writers, it's no wonder that he/she thinks $5 is a good price. I have watched this place become a circus over the past year or so with writers from mainly India and the Philippines claiming that they can "write better" than Americans, blah blah blah but yet many can't string a sentence together.
For starting freelance writers with no experience, is the best starting point as so many projects exist. So many companies need content for their sites and blogs and literature. This area alone can be a fulltime job .
Hi Mothman. I see that you're new here and I'd like to welcome you to DP. If you really want to support yourself as a writer later on, I would suggest that you limit yourself to clients that only want to hire you to write articles for $5 a piece. There are many businesses that would be willing to pay you more as a copywriter for their websites, brochures, ad copy, etc.
Ha!! I completely agree. Only the folks from India and the Philippines charge this low because their English is garbage. They couldn't piece together a well structured sentence if their life depended on it.
I completely agree, mate. Writing a decent article of about 500 words takes time; much longer than $5 is worth. The people offering services for $5 (spinning, translating a couple or times or whatever other rubbish they do) have ruined the market. I wouldn't pay anyone else to write content for me, even if they are good and charging $5 (I would feel like I'm insulting them). I've just looked in BST and someone is advertising $2 for 500 words??? Another person charging $008 (no decimal point!!) or $0.007 per word. Both are ludicrous.
You could also offer your service at Fiverr for $5 per article. You'll get lots of offers. All the best
That's really $4 per article though as Fiverr takes a $1. Pitiful amount. If you're a good writer, start up a blog and get in touch with newspapers, magazines, bigger blogs, etc, in your niche. At least you will have live examples of your work. It might be a loss maker at first, but pay off in the long-term if even one of them likes your writing.
You can always go write stuff on Odesk. They have quite a few writing gigs and various other virtual assistant gigs that you can apply for. The wages on oDesk for writers are a bit higher than here on DP but still not what they should be. Definitely give it a look though.