Well, I finally have a few work orders rolling in. I made $80 over the weekend and I made $80 today. I dont consider it a problem, but I am working my butt off for this $160! I have learned that I can only put 2 500 word articles out per hour. I am only charging $.02 per word so I am working about five hours writing while working a full time job. I guess it wouldnt be so bad if I werent working a full time job, but it would take me 10 hours to earn $100 at this rate. I know others are writing content at this rate and just re-writing articles, but I refuse to do that. Will it get easier? Will I be able to raise my rates someday...soon? Again, I am not complaining. I want to make a living at this some day, but I am afraid I might burn out on these low rates. How do I stay motivated?
If low rates are demotivating you, raise them. You might lose some clients, you might even lose all your clients, but then you'll have more time to market yourself to those who'll pay your higher rates. Figure out what you should be making per hour, then translate that into a per word rate. For example, if you need to make $50 an hour, then you'd charge $25 per 500 word article and $.05/word. Give your current clients a month (maybe few months) notice before you increase their rate, or even give them a discount for continuing to use your services.
Unfortunately, my marketing skills are not good enough to market off DP. I tried a couple of adsense campaigns, but lost $100 with zero new clients. It took me three weeks to get a few clients that were willing to pay $.02 per word. They were all well pleased and have ordered more articles I might add
I can tell you frankly, I have used about 30 different writers in the past, some were good, some were fine, some were OK, but none of them kicked ass as much as when I write it myself. The only reason I would pay someone to write for me would be if it was cheap. I have tried expensive writers, mid range ones and cheap ones and they are all the same - none equals my own writing. That led me to conclusion - when writers start charging unreasonable rates, I will simply quit using them and will stick with writing myself. Right now it's only feasible if the rate is reasonable. $0.02 per word is not.
I am confused with your math. 2x 500 words should be $20 an hour or $100 per five hours. You have to consider the cost of gas and other factors related to earning the money from home. I am not sure if you are paying taxes on the money which is another savings if you are not. You have to start somewhere and if you find it is not worth the money, you need to find other ways to earn money. There is stiff competition in the Online copy writing field and it takes time to build a reputation to where you can charge $.05-.$.50 a word and sometimes more. In what world? That is a very reasonable rate for quality writing. You get what you pay for and the $.01 or less per word is normally either rewritten from elsewhere or crap with lousy grammar and bad spelling.
I cannot imagine working that cheap, especially with the dollar so weak that Europeans are insisting that Americans use the healthier Euro instead of tipping in U.S. dollars. Expecting people to automatically know your talents are worth more than they are used to paying is like harboring a death wish. NOBODY is going to pay you more just because you are worth it. People expect you to love working for nothing. When people find out that I write for a living and ask what I would charge for some project I just shake my head and say, "You can't afford me." and walk on off or at least change the subject fast. The only way to get paid well for writing is by finding customers who ALREADY EXPECT to pay what you should be getting. I remember hitting the state capital and writing to every ad agency there asking for work as a free lance writer. Turn down after turn down came back and I almost gave up. Then the largest agency in town rang up and offered me a project. Four pages of writing brought $5,000.00 into my coffers, and the promise of more work. Since you are already selling some pieces you can do as I did, put those samples inside a sheet protector and begin showing them to ad agencies and local businesses, leaving a sales brochure behind with your rates and field of expertise. But, consider this, you will command more response if (instead of offering to write for them) you offer a specific assignment. For example: "I will put a four page web site up for you on the Internet for just $1,000" Since you are only earning two cents a word now you might think that's too high. Actually it is so low it might be suspicious. A low end friend of mine is charging $15,000 for doing just four pages. (that does include a storefront though) Expand your horizons. At your nearest library ask for the latest books by Robert W. Bly Even his hopelessly outdated books can be an inspiration to writers. The other authors sitting on the same shelf with him can give you good service as well.
shkad14 -- I would suggest to you to create some niches (specialities) that you can write about. What are some of your hobbies? What career fields have you worked in? What other things do you know about? Some of these things will lead you to develop your niches. Niches lead to satisfied clients that hire you over and over -- and making good rates. You are starting out.....yes? I think for someone starting out that is not so bad. The first article I ever wrote was for a community newspaper and I made $40 writing it -- and I think it took me like TEN HOURS to put the darned thing together. lol That's four bucks an hour. It gets better. Just keep writing. Look for assignments where you are writing about things you enjoy -- and you'll make more. Have you started a blog? What about starting a blog about something you like?
Writing at 2 cents a word is low pay, yes. But then if you are starting out, you might like to see it as someone paying you to build up your portfolio. Things do get better, and though there are well-paying clients on DP, you will have to build your reputation for quality before you get paid 10 cents a word. But it will happen, so don't get discouraged by the low rates you are getting now.
I agree! I have been writing for a few months. My first month I made 200$ then it went down to 75$. I actually gave up and haven't been writing. A few days ago, a client I used to work for, called me asking me to write for him and told me he would work with my schedule and my pay. We spoke for 30 min outlining a plan that we both would agree on. The reason I bring this up is because I stopped writing for him, and he liked my work and so he contacted me because of it. I had another client I worked with email me a few days ago, asking me to write on Finance, I agreed because he agreed with my rate increase. What I am trying to say, is that clients will come. The older clients will come back if you do a good job, and the new ones will come from recommendations. Once you set yourself up you are good to go. Make sure that you get repeat business that is very important in this business. Remember it will take time and dedication on your part. Keep looking and keep writing is the key in my opinion.
@ talewins "Since you are only earning two cents a word now you might think that's too high. Actually it is so low it might be suspicious." I agree, I've hired a lot of writers, I've only had one .02 a word writer that I didn't have to edit the article for grammar, spelling and readability. Most stuff I get at that price I am not willing to put on one of my non-adsence sites. I won't even consider another .02 a word writer for my more important sites (client, or my real sites) I have found one source of articles that has been very consistent at .04. They produce articles I'm not embarrassed to put on a clients site at a rate that I can still mark up and make a profit on. I've paid .14 and article (750 word x.14) for a series of article that I wanted to be of much higher quality. You need to decide what class of writer you are and be sure your worth the amount you charge. Once you get a client who expects you at .02 it's real hard to get them to accept they now have to pay you twice as much.
There's really no reason for any writer to think they should take low-paying gigs for an average client just for portfolio pieces though. I actually just wrote an article on the subject of how to build a portfolio with no paying experience under your belt a few days ago. I've been telling writers for a few years now to be careful about who you work for free, or cheaply, for. Only do it for portfolio purposes if you're getting something out of it (and a referral isn't enough - read the article to find out why). If I'm not mistaken, I believe I saw that Deb Ng posted on the same topic either today or yesterday. So go over to her blog - www.freelancewritinggigs.com - and read more about the free work issue (in her case talking specifically about writing for free for nonprofits I believe).
I'll let you in on the partial secret to my several successes: duplicate the success you are giving others. The only reason you snagged a few clients at $0.02/word is because they are making money off of you in the long run. I'd suggest you mimic whatever you see. And not just in writing, but in everyday business. I typically go for a walk around the town and see opportunity, possible ways of duplicating success, and all types of likelihoods of success or failures. And if you didn't get any success in marketing yourself, it's because you aren't offering anything everyone else isn't already offering. Think about it, then try to market yourself again when you have something the others don't (And not just the ability to write without mistakes)
I agree with what everyone else has said but, like you, I also started out at a very low rate per word (some would probably still consider my rates extraordinarily low) but looking back, that job has done nothing but help me. I'm now a much faster, more thorough writer and have a large portfolio of work--work that can help me land higher paying gigs. Of course, what worked for me might not work for everyone.
YOu can always ask your clients to revise their rates.If they like your work,they will surely think about paying you more.
Well, this sounds like a great opportunity to get your marketing skills up. If you can't sell yourself as a freelance writer, you will write for pennies per word until your fingers fall off. You should think about what makes you a good writer. What is it about you that sets you apart from all the other writers out there? Hint: It should not be a low price. When you figure it out, this is what you use to market yourself. It will be your selling point to other clients. Here are some blog posts I wrote a while ago that include links to freelance writing job sites. I haven't checked the links, so some of them might be outdated: Freelance Writing Jobs 1 Freelance Writing Jobs 2 Freelance Writings Jobs with Google + Craigslist Definitely visit Deb Ng's site regularly. Writing jobs are posted on an almost daily basis. Jenn also has a job board: www.allfreelancewritingjobs.com. Visit those job sites religiously and apply for jobs daily. Remember practice makes perfect. You'll never get better at marketing yourself if you never try.
That board is powered by a jobsite - also click the "freelance writing jobs" link in the sidebar, and you'll see the jobs I post daily Monday - Friday; sometimes general freelance writing jobs and sometimes blogging jobs specifically. As for advertising, I don't think I've spent more than $50 advertising my writing services over the last few years, and I'm never hurting for work (even at rates much higher than those you see advertised here at DP). Marketing yourself doesn't mean advertising. It means making yourself visible, making connections (so you get referrals), and giving people a reason to buy from you instead of someone else (you need a USP). It can be as simple as sending an email query to someone about your services, to participating in forums and social networks where your target market is, to even running your own blog to bring attention to yourself.
I had a 300-word post typed up and I realized that I'm tired of giving free content out. I'm going to start a new blog (I think) about this stuff. Think I'll use my answer to this age-old dilemma as my first article. Like Jenn, I don't spend money advertising myself really. The reason why (and other stuff) was in my original post that's now vanishing.
I wrote an article in about 10 minutes. Top quality [Or so i feel] and no research or anything. It is for my website though. I wouldn't sell that article [Around 350 words] for 25$ even. So much good info. All made possible by experience with and passion for the subject [PC gaming ]