Should I go into Content Writing?

The topic is far too vague. In fact, the term writer is vague.

The fact is, if you want to join the minor leagues of writing content, you probably can. The quality expectations are very low. What are the minor leagues? Basically all the writing being bought and sold in places such as DP.

Please note, I am not using the term "minor leagues" in a derogatory sense or to imply that I myself am high and mighty. If you have ever produced print quality work, you will understand the night and day difference.

I do believe that people writing in the minor leagues can make a decent living provided that they can write a fair amount of product daily and maintain a healthy client list.

As far as making a living writing, it's more than possible. I do it every year. There are various types of writing, so lumping "writers" all in the same pot is not a fair assessment.

What's the difference? Well, in the minor leagues a writer might receive $10 for a 300 word article. In the regular writing world, that same article might command $300 or more. The difference is not only natural ability, but education and experience as well. It's extremely rare to find a writer earning a good rate who has not been educated to some degree.

This post is too long and perhaps going off topic. The main point is low level writing has very minimal standard expectations. I would give it a shot if you like and let your customers tell you if writing at that level is right or not.

Good luck!

 

I sorta fell into content writing though networking and word of mouth. Most webmasters hate writing content. Many think they can get decent articles for $5.00. A good content writer charges $100 or more and it's worth every cent.

 

You can make a living as a content writer, if you create a website with a popular topic and write news & reviews daily eventually it will take off.

I firmly beleive there is a way to make a living with any website concept out there as long as it is executed properly with marketing and publishing.

 

Thanks, guys. I'm getting a lot of great info and things to mull over.

 

First of all, if you don't know if you can hack it, then you can't ... simple as that. It's not easy being a freelance writer of any kind, especially an online content writer when any amateur will offer to do any piece for a few dollars. It's an issue of supply and demand, and unless you have a strong niche, great background, experience and/or education to make you especially qualified to write on a subject, I wouldn't count on getting paid anything close to what you're worth.

Build your expertise, and perfect your craft. Only then will you find clients who make it worth while. You shouldn't have to work 40+ hours a week doing anything at all just for a part-time income, or lousy full-time income. Aside from sites I manage myself (like my company's webzine and sites on the AIA network) and a few niche sites I work for occasionally because I like the people involved, most of my clients pay me close to $500 / hour for the articles I write ... and that's sometimes only for the non-exclusive online rights to my work.

If you ever want to get to that level, you better have a specialty that's in demand, and you need to work very heavily on networking. It's my strong network that help spread the word of potential clients to me, and help spread the word about me to potential clients. Not much is more effective than those two points and being able to actually write for the Web.

Best of luck.

Jenn

 

Well said Jenn

 

Thanks Ajeet.

 

very informative thread

 

Writing is my main source of income because I don't write for people who think that paying $10 an article is "too expensive" . If that's works for you then fine but that's not my clientele.

I am sure it's easy to make a few bucks as a content writer..so many people want cheap content but then again there are so many people willing to provide it.

You have to decide on what you want. If you spend 2 hours writing an article and you only make $10 then you might as well go work at McDonalds. However, if you take the time to target high paying clients then that's a different story.

 

Well, that's why there is a difference between being a "content writer" (anyone can do it) and being a "professional writer" (where clients often come to you, not the other way around). As I just said to someone to PM'd me, the only way you can make that jump is to be educated and experienced in a niche, be an excellent writer, NETWORK, and stop taking on every little writing gig that comes along. If you're not discriminating in who you'll work for, and for how much money, it's extremely unlikely that you'll build enough of a reputation in your field to ever have the high paying clients find you or trust you enough to hire you. They pay for the fact that readers will trust what you say more than anything else.

Jenn

 

I will respectfully (sort of) disagree with you. I have had work done by the top-rated writer on Rentacoder, (she has done hundreds of contracts) .. I can see all those knees jerking . She also has a website offering contact writing outside the "coding" websites.

Her work is excellent .. good keyword usage and density .. no word count bloating .. and pithy articles. Her articles are well researched, structured and presented. She normally gets $0.05/word.

Two other excellent writers have provided me with good content for about 60% of that price.

So I will say that $5 articles, "No way." Worth every cent of $100 .. most articles are not, IMO, and the web market tends to support my statement.

A landing page that earns $xxxx/year may well be worth $100 or significantly more, but most content earns far less and is therefore worth much less.

 

Well, that's because you get what you pay for. If you want a niche piece written by someone who's respected in a field, and whose name means something, you're not going to get it done for $5 ... or even for as little as $100 for that matter. Getting a basic content writer who focuses on keyword pieces isn't the same as hiring a professional writer who lends extra credibility to any work they provide. With the exception of very few clients that I've worked with on small niche sites (either because they were early repeat clients, or because I have a particular interest in their site or topic), it costs at least $.35 / word just to get non-exclusive Web-only rights on most pieces I write. Copyrights aren't even discussed unless a client is so incredibly well-known that I really want them in my portfolio, or without at least a 4-digit fee. Considering most pieces I write require little to no research, because they're based on my direct experience, I usually bring in $400-500 / hr.

If some of these "content writers" really do have the niche focus, education, experience working in the field, and truly quality pieces, then they're simply undervaluing themselves. There's no excuse for a qualified professional to accept rates like that ... ever. If they're just starting out in writing, or a hobbyist, that's one thing. Otherwise, they should be spending more time looking for good clients and marketing themselves instead of taking on more small projects.

As someone who's covered consulting and freelance issues (and who's worked with some of the top consultants in the country), let me give you a very quick lesson that applies to all freelancers or independent consultants in any field:

Let's assume you spend 40 hours per week on your freelance writing business, take $5 article assignments, and can turn out 3 articles per hour. That's $15 per hour, and might not sound so bad to someone just starting out. You might automatically say $15 / hour multiplied by 40 hours / week = $600 / week or $31,200 / year. Probably doesn't sound too bad.

However, your calculations would be dead wrong. Independent professionals of any kind can only bill an average of 22-23 hours per week (let's assume 23 here), because the rest of the 40 hours is spent on marketing and administrative tasks (like accounting, writing up contracts, etc. - if you're doing things professionally and legally at least). So now you're down to $345 / week or $17,940 / year. Not so great for putting in a 40 hour week every single week, now is it? Then you need to remove any time you take off (assume at least 2 weeks if you take a vacation and a bit of sick time). That means you lose $690. Now you're at $17,250 / year. Now remove your basic income tax. And then remove any business expenses (office supplies at bare minimum for a writer). Then health and dental insurance for yourself if you're not covered by your spouse's. Then any education costs or other costs for your children if you're supporting any. Then factor in self-employment tax (normally you pay half of those taxes such as Medicare, and your employer pays the other half. When self-employed, you pay both halves, because you're your own employer.). You'd be working a 40 hour week, and probably not pulling in enough to get by in the slightest.

The problem is that most freelancers don't take the time to figure out what they're really making, and adjust their rates to account for it. I think people asking for $5 and below articles should be ashamed of themselves for expecting what basically amounts to slave labor, especially when they also demand copyright (a writer's most valuable posession). Does the market allow for it right now? Yes ... because too many writers don't know any better and don't truly respect their work. They simply want to say they've been published. But I can assure you that the market (even the online-only market) DOES support professional writers and professional rates. There are certainly clients who will pay you what your time and expertise are actually worth. It just takes a lot of networking and a little time to find those kinds of clients. But that's time you certainly won't regret spending ... I can assure you.

Jenn

 

What I always find amazing when the topic of cost for online content comes up is the response from many of the web programmers and designers.

They expect to be paid anywhere from $40 to $100 per hour for their services. They then expect the people who supply the content (which, I think all can agree drives the traffic and overall success of a website) to work for an amount that the programmer/developer wouldn't turn their computer on for.

 

I make a living writing for online ventures. Some of it is relatively high-paying copywriting. Some of it is "straight content." Rates vary based on the product, volume, turnaround time, and a host of other factors. As anyone reading this thread can see, there are a lot of different opinions about how the industry works.

What works for one may not work for another.

That being said, here's what I would tell anyone who was seriously considering a career behind the keyboard...

Understand your customers and the nature of their businesses. Is 5 cents per word slave labor? Is $100 per page reasonable? That all depends on what the customer wants and how they can leverage the end result. Remember, the folks hiring writers aren't descendants of the Medici family just looking to support the craft. They are in business seeking a return on their investment.

Understand your strengths. If you can buzz at 120 wpm after conducting sufficient and accurate research in the blink of an eye, you can make a good living writing straight content at a relatively low per-word rate. If your background, education and skills allow you to write great copy, you can prosper as a copywriter.

Understand your weaknesses. Return business and word of mouth are the lifeblood of a successful career. When you overstretch and produce subpar work, it can be a killer. If you can't do it right, don't do it. Resist the temptation to fill your calendar with things you won't be able to handle.

Be a pro. Constantly work to improve your writing. Make a commitment to staying on top of industry trends and changes. Take customer service seriously. Meet deadlines. Exceed expectations. Learn to market. Learn to prospect.

If you just want to score occasional beer money, you can pick up small writing jobs from people who need some raw content. That's not going to be tough. If you want to turn writing into a six-figure+ deal, be prepared to work hard and smart ever day.

Carson

 

my 2 cents... it's good enough to make some pocket money...

however, doing it for a decent living, you've got to be really really good...

 

Not only really really good at writing ... but really really good at business.

Jenn

 

I fail to see the value in virtually all of the "content" that is being produced nowadays. Link popularity is now at least as important as keyword density, etc. Whereas the TF.IDF (which highly values specific keyword repetition within documents) algorithm used to be the search engine standard, PageRank + TF.IDF + [each engine's secret sauce] is now how pages are ranked. People spending $100+ for a page of content, without buying incoming links from related sites are not getting their money's worth IMHO.

 

Yes they absolutely are. Those sites are actually interested in the content because it's the focus of their site. They care about providing quality trusted content to their readers, not about building rankings in search engines. They're honest online publications, rather than cookie cutter content sites that buy anything and everything just hoping to make a few bucks from Adsense and such. There's also a reason why those kinds of sites are able to make enormously more money (and be able to pay for expert content, at the rates they're actually worth) - people trust them and come back time and time again for that content, rather than having to be manipulated into it through search engines. The problem is that you're thinking as a webmaster, not as a successful businessperson. If you're content with a basic site, keep paying low rates and keep hiring writers for generic content that won't build that level of trust with readers. If you're interested in making enormously more, and treating your sites as a serious business, then there are serious costs involved to do things right.

Jenn

 

Jenn,

There is a time for everything. A time to go cheap and a time to go expensive.

Some of us need help know what time it is. Convince me that my site would profit from expensive content, and I'll go the expensive route. Show me how my BusinessLetters.com can become a Clickz.com and i'll pay the big bucks.

 

I never said that your particular site could afford to hire professional writers based on it's stats. My point is that there are larger sites out there who pay professionals what they're worth, and that's where the professional writers go. They have a reputation built around the writing on their site, and they know the value of hiring someone readers can trust. Obviously most smaller sites don't have that reputation to uphold. My point to the original poster is that if they intend to become a professional Web writer, and not just a general amateur content writer like just about everyone and their brother these days, they need to build their own reputation and respect their work enough to accept only what they're worth. For smaller sites like yours there are always hobbyists, new writers, and people who will always undervalue their work. Writing is an art. And it's often built upon another professional background that takes years to achieve with degrees and experience; often far more than Web designers put in (not that some don't go that route). And as someone else said, it's disgusting that writers are valued so lowly by so many of these designers and webmasters who don't have anywhere near their professional background, yet would never consider working for such a low rate. It's certainly possible to make a 6-figure income writing, even only on the Web ... but not if they don't build their reputation first and value their work at what it's worth.

In your case personally, obviously expensive content isn't enough. You can't grow to the level of something like Clickz.com without setting up the site with quality content first (and I don't mean just optimized for search engines, but rather content that's detailed, well-written by professionals, and has a tone that people can related to and want to come back for). But then you need to be willing to launch a strong marketing campaign behind it. It's the combination of BOTH that separates the huge income-generating content-oriented sites from those that just about anyone these days sets up to throw Adsense on. It's about having the right business model, and professional reputation to back up the work is an important part of that.

Of course comparing your site to Clickz.com is like comparing apples to oranges though. There's nothing wrong with your site. But it has the appearance of being more of a sales flyer than a content-based site (of course I only glanced at it briefly). To grow into something like that, would take more content, marketing, and probably a different design / layout. Just my $.02.

Jenn