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

There's plenty of competition. There are writers I'd never refer a gig to. So you have to truly be good at what you do -- when we refer you for a gig, it's our reputation on the line, especially if we have a previous relationship with the client. Then again, that's why clients often ask their existing writer base -- they know they can trust them.

I wouldn't necessarily suggest writing forums. There are too many writers there. I've found the copywriting section here more effective than writing forums (there are also more clients poking around here than writing forums if you want to write for the Web). More importantly, start visiting freelance writing blogs and make yourself a regular fixture in the comments. Look for blogs that speak to writers at your level and not the ones focusing on beginners -- where you'll get lots of garbage leads and advice that doesn't necessarily apply to you.

Angela Booth is a no-nonsense blogger who talks about moving up (she has more blogs than the one I linked to, so do a search for her name). I have a few great bloggers on my team at All Freelance Writing who are worth reading about anything from marketing to finance issues, and we only post gigs at $50 per article or more. Lori Widmer's blog is another good one. So is Linda Formichelli's Renegade Writer blog. The Irreverent Freelancer, Carol Tice's Make a Living Writing blog, and Peter Bowerman's Well-Fed Writer blog are also excellent options. I'm extremely fussy about the blogs I read because frankly time is short when you're busy making money and running a business. But these are must-reads in my book. Hopefully you'll find something you like.

btw, Linda and Peter also have books out by the same name of their blogs. They're both excellent books, and great folks to talk to about writing issues, so I strongly suggest checking out anything they offer. Peter also offers e-books, and I know Linda has some courses available.

 

Thanks again for being so generous in providing such excellent input - At this early stage of my career, the experience and guidance of established writers is incredibly welcome and there are some great ideas for further research in there. I try to commit time to gathering information together several times each week and will definitely review the resources you've highlighted.

I'll endeavour to report back to this thread on my findings as I'm certain other new writers will be looking at the quality suggestions you've made from a distance. The contribution you've made in developing my outlets for solid information is, as ever, totally appreciated.

 

The best way to try following search terms using Google.com

"$50 per article"
"$50/article"
"$100 per article"
"writer guidelines"
"10 cent per word"

Brainstorm and you will find more ways to find out the best places that meet your demand.

 

good post.

 

While I saw Constant Content mentioned several times throughout this thread, I never noticed anyone mention the best way Henry could start making money on Constant Content. Instead of just submitting articles you hope "someone" might eventually buy, you could sign up to be notified each time clients request articles and then submit articles written specifically for those requests that offer equitable compensation.

Clients receive notice when authors have submitted articles for their requests and select the articles that best suit their needs. Those that aren't chosen are then made available for purchase on the site and also serve to help build up the author's portfolio in the meanwhile.

While I do the majority of articles for my site and its associated blog myself, my niche is content intensive, so I supplement my own work with articles purchased from CC. I found the two main authors I use through making a request for articles and then winnowed my selection down to those whose work best suited my site's needs.

Quality, accuracy, and an engaging style are key factors I consider, since articles I purchase are intended to be used on my site rather than as fodder for free article distribution sites, and so I routinely pay between $50 - $100 per article (of approx. 650 - 750 words each) and spend about $400 a month (and sometimes more).

So, in my opinion, if you write well and you meet the needs of the client who is looking for articles you will get the volume of work you want at the rate of pay you seek.

 

should be a book to be written with that price tag.

 

I noticed that people that pay per assignement on Constant Content, often under price freelancer. They generally pay something between $20 and $5. So it's not really a solution. Also there are few buyers and a though competition, which makes it more harder to get a job their.

 

Hi Alexa,

Thanks so much for the tips.

 

Like some of them have pointed out, make your self visible to the world. You can't achieve anything on this forum. If you want more exposure aim for freelancing sites. If you are on start out try other forums like warrior forum, namespro or BHW. The market places in those areas will give you the needed exposure. Also, if you are specializing in a niche it would be better you make a good site and promote it. Creating threads in forum will not earn you 50$ per article. (a truth to be absorbed by the writers).

If you have the capability people will come to you with demands and needs. Also, as some of the guys here have told read other guys posts. What they have to say and their insights.

It's a tough road ahead as the competition here is fierce.

 

I would suggest you to build your own site on which you will sell your writing services and get traffic from Google for good keywords.

 

You can actually earn a lot more on DP than most freelancing sites. There are a lot of big budget buyers here. You just won't find them in the traditional way of using BST. Your own site is better than both of those options though.

 

how can we make 50$ per article

 

Go away.

...

 

I second that. I found 3 high paying buyers ($40/hours) here on DP. The problem is the time you need to filter the bad posts from the good ones.

I come up to a conclusion that the number of good jobs here is as low as 50 or 60 job per month, which will make it almost impossible to get one. As you said, build a portfolio, fix your rates and wait for a client.

 

The best gigs here are ones you'll never spend any time looking for. I recommend staying out of the BST area completely. Just post in sections where your target clients are, showing that you know what you're doing. Link to a portfolio in your signature, and make your rates readily available on your site -- stops the low-paying clients from wasting your time and lets the more serious buyers know that you're at a different level than the penny per word crowd they want to avoid (which is why those clients rarely advertise -- they'll be bombarded by the entry-level or unqualified folks).

 

Jenn, you bring a lot of good points as usual. Just as I had begun doubting things like demanding better rates and people really noticing a good forum post, it is slowly proving to be true. The reason that many writers *settle* for low rates is because we can't afford to wait out the slow process of building a name and brand.

My website is just under a month old, and I am already bringing in search engine search terms of people looking for answers to their questions. It can happen quicker than you think. Just today, I had a reply on one of my threads where the guy said my post made him check out my site.

Jenn's points are spot on. I had already been thinking about how no one in their right mind would post a high-paying gig on DP because they'd be overrun with writers. Weeding through all of that would be a waste of everyone's time. While I have yet to pick up any underground gigs, I have no doubt that I will eventually.

My advice is score yourself a gig that will pay in the interim, even if it's not the rates you want...something to finance your life and online endeavors while you build a site and post your rates. (I work part-time and write for Demand Studios.) Post regularly to your own blog. Submit to search engines. Use ping services. Advertise locally to small businesses either through cold calling or email campaigns. You MUST do a little offline marketing, so you might as well face it. Make business cards and hand them out. Use Facebook and Twitter actively, but use it personally...don't use auto adders and bots.

Don't rush anything. This will NOT happen overnight no matter how much you need it to. Be willing to put in the effort. It takes A LOT of work and you'll never succeed without it.

 

wow, 50$ per article .. My clients pay me only 5$ per article ..

 

One of the reasons people often can't wait out the process is that they jumped into freelancing before they were actually ready for it. I've met writers who quit their full-time job expecting to be making the big bucks freelancing immediately. Dumb move, and they had only themselves to blame when they were then stuck with little to no income coming in. Freelancing is a business as much as it's a lifestyle, and every new freelancer has the responsibility to thoroughly research and plan things out before they take the leap. Those who do generally fare much better than those who don't.

You also have to keep in mind that there are a lot of people freelancing these days who really have no business being freelancers. It's not for everyone. Those people will probably fail. That's just the way it works. Not everyone can do this kind of work successfully. And there's nothing wrong with that! For some though, not getting very far could very well be a sign that it's time to hang it up and start looking for a normal job again. If they're not quite ready to do that, they could take on a part-time job to bring in some steady income while they work harder on their networking and marketing work up front until those higher paying gigs start coming in, at which point they might want to go back to freelancing full-time.

 

This isn't always the case. I was laid off from my full-time professional writing job because it was in a training department. When the economy turns South, training departments are often the first to suffer in large companies. I moved back to North Carolina from Vegas to find 10+% unemployment rates. I applied some of everywhere including McDonald's. I have to admit that I'm not sorry I didn't land a job at Mickey D's, but finding any job right now is tough. There are hordes of people turning to the Internet as a result of situations exactly like mine.

Finding income streams in such situations is a desperate and time-sensitive endeavor. This last year has been the hardest time in my life. Eeking out something because I don't have the option to do nothing. I can't sit around and wait for these people to find me. I can't wait for Google. I can't wait for some casual webmaster to decide he/she likes my writing. I have to actively work while I'm building my name and brand....and also while doing the planning that you're talking about. Not everyone approaches freelancing from the same background, so every situation is different. There isn't just ONE way to succeed. Some ways are far easier than others, but everyone has to do this their own way because really no one's wrote the book for this one yet. It's a trial and error endeavor for many of us out here.

I agree there are some freelancers who shouldn't be freelancers, but that's not for me to say. We can sit here and blabber back and forth all day about what people should and should not do, but it's not constructive or productive. Those are two things that I HAVE to be right now where I am in my career and my life. So...I'm gonna share with people what I'm doing and what's working and not working so hopefully someone down the road will have an easier row to hoe.

 

You're right in that a lot of people are jumping into freelancing because they've lost other jobs. But there's still a responsible and irresponsible way of going about it. Most people who come to me begging for tips and referrals are people who were irresponsible. They had absolutely no idea what they were getting into. They assumed freelancing would equal easy money, and they didn't realize that there was a whole different side -- not just writing, but running a real business. That includes legal liabilities, tax liabilities, and a kind of work ethic very few other jobs require. Doing it just to earn a few bucks isn't constructive or productive in my opinion... not for the ones who expect to earn real money. By all means, if they just need a few bucks, go write for some content mill. But most aren't thinking like that. They want to build a real career, which means every little thing they do and every little decision they make (such as what types of clients to associate their name with) goes to the kind of professional reputation they will ultimately build.

I was in the same boat. I jumped very quickly from a job into freelancing. Money was beyond tight at the time. But it didn't take a long time to change that. Why? Because even though my timing was a sudden decision, I'd spent a good amount of time thinking about it, planning it, and researching it while I stayed in a temp job I hated. Sometimes that's what you have to do. And because I was responsible about it, it only took 3 months before my schedule was so consistently full with high paying work that I've never had to "look" for work again. It is hard to be responsible about jumping into a business. If it were incredibly easy everyone would do it, and everyone would succeed. So I while I feel the pain of people who lost their job and rushed into it (I know what it's like wondering where the next rent payment will come from), I also know that people can use those temporary problems as an excuse to settle for whatever comes along or they can use those problems as motivation to haul ass on building their visibility and network. Those who do get out of the rut fairly quickly. Those who don't might have regular revenue coming in, but they're usually the ones who just dig themselves into another kind of rut -- the low paying variety where they spend so much time cranking out low pay articles that there's no time left to market, network, and really grow in their careers.

I've spent years helping people succeed in freelancing and watching many fail. I often hear "there are a lot of ways to succeed." In the end though, there's really only one -- hard work. Every person I know who's built a solid freelance career has done so by working their asses off. They're also all either fairly well known in their specialty area or if not publicly known they're easily found via search (and for the record, you can rank for your specialty area in a matter of days and set up a blog to do it in just a few hours, so there's never an issue of waiting on Google if you just get it up and optimize it). By all means, do what you have to do now. But anyone who wants to build a serious long-term career also can't afford to forget about the future and that involves planning and knowing exactly what you're in for. Freelancing is sink or swim. I try my best to give people the information they need to be able to tread water, and then they take it from there. Sometimes they don't like to hear that information, and that's ok. They're usually the ones who figure it out for themselves and try to help the newer writers with the same issues down the road. Some people need to do it that way. And that's ok too. But I think it's not only constructive, but also incredibly important, that freelancers realize early on that it's not for everyone and there's no shame in quitting and finding another way to put their time to better use. The only thing worse is investing more time in something when deep down they already know it'll never pan out -- that's time that could have gone into a deeper job search, furthering their education, or pursuing a new career path more suited to them.