Trying to start a content creation business - where to start!

Hi guys, I'm pretty new to the forums and have spent the last couple weeks browsing through and looking through a lot of articles and information that is stored here. My aim is to create a content creation business, that can earn me a decent income. I have gathered that this site is perhaps not the place to gain all my clients, as it appears that I would be undercut on here quite a bit.

Do you guys have much experience with gaining clients outside of Forums? I was thinking of having a website deigned and targeting certain keywords to secure myself a good ranking on Google - would this bring in enough customers do you think? For instance, if I was ranking third for "content writing" , would this bring in a strong amount of clients?

I am open to ideas, and am just asking for some advice from people with a lot more experience than me.

Many thanks for your time,

Alexander Smith

 

Exposure through seo is a major factor, of course. But then there's exposure through doing work for others and getting recommendations, fairly soon you can charge more than just a couple of bucks for an article.

Doing work through Odesk, Elancers, etc. You may have to start out in the 'little league" but can soon move up to a more lucrative position.

 

So do you think a dedicated content website would be worthwhile if I could get it ranking well? It just seems that so many of these forums and places like Odesk, Elancers etc have so many people working for nothing which makes it hard to make real money.

Alex

 

You have to start somewhere, when you have a proven body of work then you can start asking for better pay than what some of the Odesk contractors will take. SEO takes time, this puts money into your pocket AND moves you closer to where you want to be.

 

Ya, Getting Your writing recognized has never been easy but not tough as well so as Curtisswn said, you should start wher you have proven body of work or at least have some recognition through out.

 

You can start with a good portfolio and a solid team to back you up.

 

Personally, I would connect with website owners/businesses directly, either by contacting them with a well written professional email or via face to face networking events. I've actually managed to find clients when I wasn't even trying through attending social events. Plus, the people you connect with under these circumstances tend to pay you what you are worth.

 

You can always start building up clients using Fiverr. Offer a small service that is worth $5 to you (example: 250 words of content for $5) and then add the following line at the end of any articles you write:

"Thank you for purchasing my gig on Fiverr. I would love to build a unique partnership with you and provide any more articles you would need in the future. You can get in touch with me via my website at _______________. I really look forward to hearing back from you."

or something like that. Remember to only include that inside the actual document you send to the Fiverr customer as it's against their TOS to send any outside contact information in private messages, etc.

 

If you are serious about writing content for a living, check out some of the guides by some of the most successful writers. My very favorite? Tiffany Dow's Ghostwriter Cash- she has an updated version out now. She will walk you through everything.

Also, Elance can be a fantastic way to build up a portfolio AND get private clients. I have been very successful with that site. I started by taking two lower paying assignments and with the high ratings was able to bid on the assignments that paid what I was worth. You build a reputation and then it is much easier to find regular work.

Good luck!