Where can a writer offer his services for .02 and .03 per word and actually get it?

Yeah I would hire the $0.3 writer.
Point taken, well proven.

But not many people will.
Some don't even care about the quality, and reputation of the writers.
That really annoys me !!

 

Actually, yes, many people will. If you're not finding them, the fault is with your marketing plan and not with the lack of a market. As for those who don't care about quality, so what? If you're a higher-rate writer, those people are of absolutely no consequence to your career. If they're not in your own target market (and they're not), what they think or want doesn't matter.

 

to OP,
I've been trying to hire a good writer but with so many people claiming they can write it is very difficult for us buyers as well.
As your colleagues (writers) said you have to market yourself and show some good example of your work.
I've seen so many people say they are native english speakers and I can't understand their articles.
I've tried on GAF and on DP and I still struggle to find someone reliable and with knowledge of my niche.
Thus as I live in London I'm thinking of hiring someone to work part time (just a few hours a week) so it would be easy for me to manage the projects.
As there're so many writers here can someone advise on how to find a good writer, anyone can claim they wrote that and that.

 

praetserge - If you let us know the niche, we might be able to refer someone. Referrals are probably the best way to find a good writer. While some of us will know colleagues who can get the job done, and even better option is to talk to your own colleagues in your niche and ask them who they use. It's not unusual for people within an industry to refer a writer around, and if they've worked for others in your niche or industry successfully there's a much better chance they'll be qualified for your project.

 

Some interesting stuff in the thread already but I am actually a buyer, not a writer.

When I need good articles that I know are going to be worth the rates I go to textbroker.com. I got really lucky there and on my second submission for an article I got a writer who is just great. The site lets me do a direct order for that writer only. I've sent him 27 article jobs. I average paying $18-$20 an article, but they are really amazing articles.

 

through my experience, it's hard to find people who are willing to buy articles on a per-word basis because they know the writer can just add in a bunch of random words to make the article longer. what people are really looking for are prewritten articles that they can buy and don't have to worry about the price going over what they expected.

 

The people who are willing to pay what a writer's time is worth generally are not looking for pre-written content. That approach will net you plenty of ridiculously low-paying gigs though, so good luck with that.

And having a per-word rate has absolutely nothing to do with how you have to market to clients. If you have a rate of ten cents per word, you might advertise a flat per-article fee of $50 for a 500 word article (or even a range like 400-500 words). Writers with solid credentials and a good portfolio generally aren't going to nickel and dime their clients to death with word-stuffing. That's pretty much only a concern for cheapskate clients, and frankly if that's how they want to operate, then they deserve to take on the extra risk they have.

 

What all goes into "marketing yourself" as a writer? I know so far to create a professional website and post a variety of samples and also to list and to testimonials from previous clients. There must be more to it than this.

What are some of the details, like do I try to land jobs from my site by people finding it through the SERPs, or would I only use the site to refer people to it when bidding on (or asking for) a project?

Maybe some of my questions, both in this thread and others, are a bit dumb or obvious. I apologize for this. I am relatively new to the freelance writing field and am trying to pick-up any useful information I can. I have certainly picked-up a lot from this forum.

Thanks, all, for your advice and information.

 

Both.

No one can give you a thorough understanding of marketing freelance writing services in a forum thread. You need to step out and do some research independently. All of the information to succeed is already out there. Put in the effort and you'll find more than enough. Here are a few resources to get you started:

- I have a 30 day marketing bootcamp for freelance writers at http://QueryFreeFreelancer.com (there's also an article in the "build your platform" section with 30 things you can do to build your writing platform -- getting work to come to you). I also have marketing-related posts on my main freelance writing blog at http://allfreelancewriting.com/freelancewriting/freelancing/marketing-pr/

- Thursday Bram has a 31 day marketing series for freelance writers at http://www.thursdaybram.com/2009/08/07/wrap-up-—-market-your-freelance-writing-in-31-days

- Peter Bowerman gives some great tips on marketing commercial writing services in his Well-fed Writer book (and the tips could just as easily apply to any kind of freelance writer).

- If you're interested in using PR tactics, I highly recommend Michael Meanwell's The Wealthy Writer -- one of few books in the niche that really cover it (he does talk about much more).

- Just visit other freelance writing blogs and see what kind of marketing advice is out there. Sure, you have to be careful about who you listen to (I can think of at least a handful of freelance writers who give advice about marketing when they either suck at bringing in real work themselves or they're brand new and not even close to an authority yet). Stick to more established folks. Pay particular attention to what copywriters have to say (after all, a big part of their job is knowing how to tell for their clients, so knowing how to market effectively and get buyers is pretty much in the blood).

 

This is one of the most well thought out responses I have seen in awhile. I actually have a couple friends who want to get into this and have bugged me a bit about it. I am going to relay that to them. Thanks a lot.

 

You can surely get articles written at those rates. But first you should offer your service at a lower price, just to get some testimonials. With the trust in the quality of your articles people will be willing to pay you at that rate. Usually people will willingly pay more for a high quality article! You can try the Warrior Forum.

Zack

 

No. Just no. You do not need to offer lower rates to get testimonials. Yes, a lot of writers on DP do it. Then again, a lot of writers on DP will never earn more than a few measly cents per word, so why would anyone want to follow suit?

You charge what your time is worth based on your credentials and the kind of value you can offer the client (value does not mean a low price). As long as you can convey that value (and if you can't, you'd better get out of freelancing, b/c you'll probably never cut it), you can get your regular rates up front.

If you have no samples, throw a quick blog of your own up to show that you know what you're talking about in your specialty area. But those who start at extremely low rates are most likely going to stay there. Remember, testimonials from a penny per word client mean little to nothing to people willing to pay you significantly more.

 

Thank you so much for the links, jhmattern.

Those are excellent resources. I viewed your blog and I really like it. I also like that you gave some recommendations for physical books as well.

Thanks for all the great information you give in this forum.

 

They key is to write quality articles and get those all important samples in a portfolio along with some strong testimonials.

I've seen the quality of some of the penny per word guys work, and it's clearly not written by someone whose fully familar with the English language.

The cliché "You get what you pay for" is quite often, but not always, true when buying content.