Where/how to find clients paying $50+ per article?

*shrugs shoulders* I guess then that HenryHH will have to find out the reality of it all on his own.

No matter what it is, that's the best way anyway, for one to see for himself.

If you are serious, HenryHH, start doing some research, and making those calls and sending e-mails to editors and webmasters, and whatnot.

And give it time!

Also, do keyword searches on the well-known columnists. You can learn a lot from such info., even though you may not want to be one.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the additional responses and advice.

jhmattern... you mentioned evaluating the quality of my work to help determine a fair, competitive price. Would you mind giving me your opinion of this introduction excerpted from a research proposal I wrote a while back?:

henryhh.wordpress.com/

That paper is approximately 1,000 words. Would you (or anyone else) consider it to be worth $100 (or $50 per every 500 words)? Would appreciate honest criticism...

 

I hesitate to say what any individual writer is "worth." I'm also not an expert in medical writing, so I can't really judge the format. Overall it looked pretty good to me though, and given that $50 per 500 words is still pretty low in a professional rate spectrum, I think it's very achievable as long as you target the right markets (as in medical equipment companies, pharma companies, maybe doing writing for individual doctors' offices, etc. rather than writing simple Web content).

 

Hi,

If you'll write Health Articles for Newspapers & magazines, I think you would earn $50 per article.

 

Hi Alexa,

I have been told to try out a niche, by writting ten different articles around one topic, and then to directly advertise a related affiliate product within them.

Since I am new to affiliate marketing, do you recommend this, or should I create a blog and further discuss a clickbank product here, linking to an affiliate pitch page? Thus directly linking is pointless?

Thanks alot,

Sam

 

I specialize in Programming/Coding. I should say that freelance sites and the Digital Point Buy/Sell/Trade section are all crap and not worth your time.

I'll suggest you look for good articles in your specialty, see who wrote them and check if you can write something similar.
For example, read TechCrunch.com, see if you can write a similar post, then suggest you want to write for them (okay, they have contracted workers, but I saw some guest posts).

 

Try constant content you get good clients

 

Very hard to find those kind of customers - maybe if you will need to write 8000 words

 

...

 

lol that is funny.

 

It's difficult to find client that will pay that amount, but that doesn't mean you can't find them, try some highly reputable freelance website.

 

Just a thought here...

Many writers won't be established enough to continually find work for $25 to $50 per article. Reputations and a good customer base will always take an age to develop and working for less money is sometimes one of those things we just have to do to survive. It's better to make 10% of $1,000 than it is to make 1,000% of absolutely nothing!

Always have a few high volume publishers amongst your clients. Even at $10 per article, most respectable writers should be able to produce at least 10 finished 500 word articles within a few hours and work will always be available. It's not exactly money to get rich on but it is enough to cover the cost of your rent, a few bills and some groceries. Always try to contribute a couple of articles each week so accounts and relationships remain open at all times!

I refuse to buy in to the snobbery that surrounds freelance writing, especially if you are still a relative newcomer. One of the key aspects to producing good work is regularly writing! It's not worth cutting off your nose to spite your face simply because the rate doesn't meet your minimum requirement.

 

You are wrong.

I don't charge less than $45 per article.

If you want to get high paying clients, it will take some time. Experience and a long track record will help you, as will a quality portfolio. Anyone who is only willing to spend 3 - 4 dollars on an article doesn't care much about quality. And anyone willing to write for that rate can't been that good writer or very reliable, or neither.

 

If a writer has even a tiny bit of talent and marketing ability it won't take long to find clients around the $50 per article range. That's not actually high pay in the freelance writing world (even if it sounds like it to many in the DP crowd). On my writing blog we actually made $50 per article the bare minimum we'll feature in our job listings and upcoming job board because we won't promote ridiculously low pay. Even that level was a tough choice because it's still so low.

Every gig a writer takes affects their overall reputation. If they'll sell their time for $10 per article to one client, every other client has a right to expect the same. If it becomes known, the writer risks setting their career back. It's not snobbery. It's basic image management (my specialty area, previously running a PR firm where I specifically worked with independent and creative professionals).

A minimum rate is a minimum for a reason, and all that matters is that the writer sets that minimum correctly (accounting for all real expenses, billable hours, etc. rather than just pulling a random number out of thin air). Once it's set, accepting lower defeats the entire purpose. Time is always better spent building your long-term career than "settling" in the short-term. Are their times when you just need money? Sure. But then you find gigs at your minimum rate; not lower. If you can't do that, then you're not targeting your market correctly or your writing simply isn't worth the minimum you need to charge to make a serious go of it (meaning a freelance writing career might not be the best choice for that writer until conditions change). Freelancing isn't hobby writing where you can take anything anyone offers and write just to write. It's a business, and those who treat it as one are those who succeed.

 

So, HenryHH, how ya doin' out there? Are ya seein' things for yourself?

Whatever you are doing, just don't give up.

 

Excellent observations and your points have been absorbed. Thank you for adding a different perspective to my own thoughts.

Nothing brings in highly paid work better than a great reputation but establishing your credentials in one of the most competitive workplaces in the world isn't as easy as it seems. I've only been writing professionally for 7 months and have come to realise that securing lucrative positions isn't particularly straightforward. Although I don't want to be writing $10 articles forever, I'm finally at the stage where I can make as much money writing articles as I can from painting cars (my previous occupation).

I have been fortunate enough to earn $50+ on sites like Constant Content but these pieces are few and far between for me at the moment. One of the biggest problems I've encountered is that there's almost too much advice and information out there. It takes away the clarity of making informed choices and it's easy to find yourself taking the wrong route for several months at a time before you realise things aren't really working.

For my money, I'd recommend writers spend time on building their presence by having a website and online portfolio as an absolute minimum requirement. This gives a writer a solid point of reference and as long as these facilities are kept up to date, they can be absolutely priceless.

I'm still trying to get my head around the best ways to find more lucrative work. Advertised gigs seem to be incredibly competitive and those with higher rates of pay are even more difficult to secure. One thing's for sure - You have to keep pitching and you have to keep trying. The number of times I've felt like quitting have been completely outweighed by those happy moments where I've taken a step forward. I know I've still got some way to go in terms of becoming a truly accomplished writer but I'm a great believer in starts. The $10 article isn't ideal, but it puts a meal on the table for the family at a time when some writers are having to give in to significantly lower rates in order to survive.

Once again, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the subject.

 

For those of you who say you have earned xx on Constant Content, did you make that much before or after they take their cut?

 

Before for me - I tried to set my sale prices with 35% added on but found I wasn't selling as many articles. I personally think it pays to maybe add 15% to 20% on an article instead of the full amount. Anything more seems to frighten off potential buyers.

Saying that, I'm waiting for a piece to be reviewed which I'm putting up for $150. It's something of an epic and I'm very proud of it. I'll try to keep you informed (amongst all the other stuff I promise myself to remember!) on how it gets on!

 

I think it really comes down to what a writer considers "lucrative." Some for example will only take on work for print publications. Others only want by-lined work. Personally I don't care. I just write for clients I can respect, who respect me and my work in return, and they pay me handsomely for it (I also charge more when I'm not by-lined, which makes it pretty easy to get over). There is plenty of well-paid work out there. A part of the issue is that writers assume they can just go out and look for it. But most high paying writing jobs aren't advertised. You have to build your network. You have to build your visibility. When I moved to full-time writing it took me only three months before my schedule was so packed that I could rarely take on a new client. I have colleagues who did it in less time. So it can be done, and it doesn't have to take forever. (Just as a sidenote, when I worked full-time as a PR consultant, I billed my time out at $125 per hour. I actually earn more as a freelance writer, even though consultants are generally thought of as the better-paid group. Once you get to that point of saturation in your market, I find the work as a writer is actually much more consistent and much less stressful to maintain.)

You just have to target your niche well and have to stay fresh in the minds of your colleagues and existing / past clients. That's how you get referrals. Just as an example, I referred four colleagues of mine to one of my clients who was looking for new writers for different topics that I don't have any interest in covering. I know two of them are now working with that client (one making $90 per blog post). She's also a DP member. The other two I referred for a $40 per post gig that involves less writing, and they're both in the process of pitching their ideas to the client. I send well-paid gigs to my colleagues constantly (at least a half dozen outgoing referrals every week from past clients or prospective clients that I don't have time to work with personally). The writers who get those referrals are the ones who regularly network with me. They're fresh in my mind at the time, or they flat out ask for the referrals. When something in their specialty area (or something I know they're simply capable of doing) comes along, I refer the work to them and more often than not the client hires one of the people I refer. That's how the game is played. If you're not getting those offers yourself yet, you need to be networking with people who are so when they have a full schedule they'll think of you if a gig opportunity comes along.

 

Really great point - Possibly worth the effort of waking up this morning just to read that.

Strangely enough, somebody suggested I should become involved in a suitable forum for almost exactly the same reasons. Hearing you saying the same thing makes me realise how isolated I am in my new working arena!

I've never really given much consideration to building networks with other writers until recently. I guess part of me just assumed that every other freelance writer was to be seen opposition rather than comrades but having seen so much variety and ability in the writers I've encountered so far, I'm sure there's more than enough space for everybody.

Thanks once more for the input.