First of all, thanks for taking time out of your day to read my post. Here's my issue; lately I have a couple of potential clients request sample articles on a specific topic, then once it is received I never hear from them again. Obviously there are many explanations for this, including the possibility that they simply did not like my content. However, my dilemma is that I want to protect myself and my time as much as I can. I have this nagging suspicion that some of them are simply using my samples as a way to get content for free. Any experience with this? Advice?
Kisforkarla, I would ask how you are getting your clients. I have done a lot copy writing and the key to making any real money is selecting appropriate clients. If you are going to be a writer you need to approach your work as a professional. Meaning that you should be dealing with real people and companies that you can reach on the phone, send email to directly and send contracts to. You can build a portfolio if you want and publish it as flash documents that would make the copying difficult they would need to retype. For online clients I send them likes to ezinearticles that I have already published for free consumption anyway. Or I will send them links to content for other people that is already published. If you want to be a copywriter you should go get a book by Bob Bly he is one of the best out there and is a straight shooter. There is always demand for good writers. Don't devalue your skill by writing for bad clients.
do you have any portfolio of your own writing.. ? if so then show them your portfolio so then they will don't ask for samples... if you want more information i can provide you.. i have lots of experience on it..
We all have the same problem, kisforkarla. Even the top-notch pros have the same problem. The fact is that most do not bother to reply back. Most are too lazy, too inconsiderate. Get use to it. Now, on the other hand, your writing may not be all that great. Get critiques on the article(s) in question. I know that if I got an article that was missing commas, periods, or they couldn't spell a simple word, I wouldn't even bother to reply back! It's like: Thanks for wasting my time, jackass. Yes, some may steal, but you can't do anything about it. Just know that it happens more with the typical dipsitck who has a ghost town of a website, so I wouldn't worry about it. Like so many of us do, you could send say, half of the article for their consideration.
Thanks for all the advice. Interesting tip on the flash, ezine articles, and sending only a portion of the article. I appreciate all the help.
Copywriting is a competitive field. I've found the easiest way to prove my prowess is to simply refer the prospect to my own site along the lines of...If you came to my site by way of a Google search, I obviously have the ability to write effectively for SEO as well as get prospects to heed my call to action - after all, we're talking aren't we? I never give free samples. The risk just isn't worth the reward. I refer folks to my own sites and if they want specific examples, I refer them to the sites of other clients. To give you a couple of non-writing examples, do you really think the kitchen cabinet maker would agree to make and give a prospect a free kitchen island just to prove they could do the rest of the kitchen? Or a painter would agree to paint the first wall for free to ensure you like his work?
Hello, I have faced the same issue before when I was a newbie. What I would suggest you is just a make a profile on ezinearticles.com and post 10 articles on sough-after niches such as Insurance, Health and Fitness, Dating and so on. When your clients ask, just show the link/URL of the ezine profile. You can write a 50-words sample to show your writing style, which is more than enough to gauge your writing style. So, never write even 200 words sample article and waste your time rather find clients, who believe in you and your words. Thanks, Ruth
That's a good analogy, YMC, but wouldn't they just take the article there? If one ever has hopes to bring in enough money to pay their rent, and on a continuous basis, it means sending queries to the big guys on the block, like online mags, and they want to see a sample article in the body of the e-mail. Many of the cities in the U.S. have their own little "city magazine," and this field is easier to break into, but they also require it. "Why"? one would ask. It beats the shit out of me. It just makes it so much easier to just send them a link to one of the pages in the site, but, that's the way it is.
"wouldn't they just take the article there?" I assume you mean that they would steal the other article then? Yes, they might, but it would already be indexed and ownership would be established whereas an unpublished sample becomes virtually worthless once it's been published on a thief's site(s). When you send the sample in your query letter, doesn't it pay to include one that's already been published somewhere else to show that your writing is of a quality that another publication has already paid you, even if you are including the text in the message?
Do not provide free articles! Create a portfolio and direct all customers to it. So they can understand, whether your writing style matches their requirements or not. Instead of waisting your time on writing free copies, you can publish your articles on websites that share profit from Google AdSense with writers.
Portfolio's work. When I'm asked to write a free sample, I usually ask a free sample of cash in advance
"I usually ask a free sample of cash in advance" lol that would be funny. But, unfortunately, the bigger sites would just ignore it, thus the writer would lose money.
In translation this is a huge issue as well. If you have your portfolio and your potential clients still ask you to write a free copy for them as a test, OK but ask them back for money.
Yeah. I had situations, when people didn't reply me, after I sent them ready articles. But I sold them to other persons and that was all. Nobody was disappointed. But this is not good. I ask all the clients to reply me, even if they don't like my portfolio. But people are different and there are persons, who won't reply even without using your sample. They just don't want to.
I totally agree with @Ruth_writer do not waste your time in writing sample articles. Just give them you ezine article link.
I never write free samples. I have a list of links that show published articles under my byline, and I provide those. If they want a sample, I offered a paid one. I will often do this at a discount, so that they get an idea of how I write without paying my full rate, and I can see they are serious.
Apart from my portfolio on Ezine, I also have a couple of blogs and am planning to expand that to around 50, each one for a specific niche. My simple logic is to initially post one article to each blog every alternate day and later on increase the frequency to make it one article per blog per day. Over the past few years I have spent whatever spare time I have had on my hands to write compelling articles on those 50 niches and have a collection that should see me through 2 months (yes, that makes it approximately 2500 articles, give or take a few). Those who are familiar with internet marketing will understand what I am aiming at. These are the initial steps of building up an online money making machine. I would advise budding writers to take their work seriously. You can mint money off the net without writing for someone else... just seek and implement strategies that have proved their worth over the ages. Alternatively, increase your rates so that you can earn the same amount I am dreaming about... just by writing articles for someone else.
The portfolio samples suggested in this thread are, in my experience, the best way to go. (I loved Levp's comment: "Fresh sample? Sure. How about a sample of some cash?" Rock on, Brother!) Selecting clients carefully is key. Check their ratings. Check their history. I've turned down "plum" jobs because the client had a history of posting a dozen jobs, but then never actually hired anyone. Hmmmm.