Last Update October 5th, 2017
Without paid content writing I would have had to get a real job years ago. My couch based, pants-off office set up would be replaced with a suit and a cubicle. For-get-it!
Looking back I realize that content creation has been a part of my business almost from the beginning. Not always in the same format, mind you, but in one way or another.
Copy and content writing hasn’t made me rich or anything, but it has provided some pretty handy supplementary income over the years.
I thought it would be a useful thing to write about for people wanting to move away from a desk job and forge their own way. Throughout all of that typing and client relations I’ve learned a few things that I’m happy to pass on.
Oh, and I’ll explain why this is only the penultimate guide at the end.
So, let’s get started.
How do I find content writing jobs?
First of all, it’s important to make sure that you become a better writer every day. Not everyone is cut out to charge for their writing.
Once you’ve got that sorted out there are two broad approaches to getting content creation work.
You’ll find that you can have good results using one or the other but the best set up is when you combine the two in a comprehensive strategy. I’m going to talk about both approaches in detail and then give you some tips on bringing it all together.
1. Landing jobs from your own self-branded blog
The absolute best way to develop a career as a content writer is to start a blog that you then use a showcase for your copywriting abilities.
The idea is simple. You write a blog and people visit that blog. Some of those visitors might want to hire you for your writing services or, more likely, you will be able to use that blog as a sort of resume when you are negotiating with other clients.
For example, if there was a content writing job that I really wanted to bid on I could email them saying something like:
G’day [Hiring Dude].
I’m pretty keen to get on board with the content writing job for [company name]. Sounds like a really cool gig!
I’ve had a fair bit of success with this type of writing on my main site BlogTyrant.com. I’ve attached a few articles down below to give you an idea of my tone and style.
Please let me know if you’re interested and when I’d be able to start.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Ramsay
Rather than sending over your resume or CV you are providing a real life example of content creation and it’s power. This is especially useful if you have an active blog with lots of comments or social media love.
So how do you set your blog up to make the most out of this situation?
- Don’t skimp on the appearance/branding
As strange as it sounds, you’ll find that potential employers will make snap decisions about a writer based on how their resume (or blog) looks. If they’ve got 50 applications to go through you want to make sure yours appears professional at the outset. Make sure you have a nice clean theme with no distractions and the emphasis on your content. You’ll want a tight brand with your own self hosted blog so people know that your business is a serious one. - Have a clear call to action
Make sure you let people know what you do by having a neatly designed button that shows people where to find out more about your services. A tab in your menu is good but a branded advertisement is better. - Develop a separate landing page
It is important to devote an entire page to your copywriting services where you go over your experience, why you enjoy it and, most importantly, why people should hire you. Make sure you include some tangible benefits. - Include testimonials
This really is a very important point because people hate going first. Show your potential clients/employers that they are not the first people to hire you. - Overcome obstacles at friction points
A big part of selling a service is overcoming people’s objections and one of the best ways to do this is to understand where your blog’s friction points are. For example, people usually get somewhat doubtful when they go to fill out a contact form or purchase a package with Paypal. It’s here that you might want to provide a relevant testimonial or paragraph to help them overcome the fear associated with that transaction. - Get your face on it
Something I am going to write about very soon is the increase in opportunities that have come my way since I unmasked on ViperChill. For services like copywriting or content creation where you might have a long term relationship with one client you’ll want to make sure they feel like they can get to know you. Professional photo, blue shirt. - Develop bloody good content
The most important thing here is to realize that this blog is an advertisement for your services as well as a potential source of other future incomes. This means you need to treat with a lot of importance. Only put your best stuff on it. Guest post so that people find it. Demonstrate your expertise as a premium content writer by writing worthy words that would wow even William Wordsworth. That’s alliteration. - Be on Skype
As I mentioned in my post about Skype it is a great idea to have your Skype details as a primary point of contact. A lot of old-school employers love to talk on the phone and it can be advantageous for you if you’re available on the phone and your competitor isn’t.
As I mentioned, this can work on it’s own but it also forms a solid basis for you to go out and start applying at some of the many content writer hiring sites out there. And that leads us to the second approach.
2. Landing jobs by building profiles and bidding
The second approach is usually one you take when you can’t afford to set up your own blog or aren’t ready to show it off to your potential clients. What we are doing here is going around to various copywriting and content creation circles and websites and developing profiles and personas (legitimate ones) so that we can bid on interesting jobs.
I should say at the outset here that bidding for content work is not something that is “below” a quality blogger. This site has many high quality bloggers as readers and I imagine many of you are wondering why the heck we’d bid to work on some other site. The answer is twofold: connections and income.
Some of these jobs can land you with clients that give you ongoing work for years. This then allows you to hire other people while you focus on your own projects. There are also some really cool jobs like the one below where you ghost write a book.
So how do we go about making this method work for us?
- Make a list of good and bad content sites
Okay so the first thing you need to do is find out where the work is. There are sites out there that are amazing for getting high paying content work and there are sites out there that will land you with the crappiest jobs you’ve ever seen. You need to know the difference. I’ve made a list of good resources at the end of this post for you to check out. - Focus on one or two sites
If you spread yourself too thin on these sites you won’t end up getting enough feedback or positive “scores” to help you advance to the better work. It can take a little bit of time to develop the on-site trust that some employers need and as such you’ll want to focus your efforts. A lot of these sites don’t allow off-site communication and as such you’ll be restricted with what you can show in your “resume”. - Be comprehensive with your profile
Your site/forum profile is a bit like your website – it needs to be professional. The more details and information you can provide (nothing too personal or private!) the more likely you are to win bids because you look trustworthy. - Be attentive when bidding
I have posted jobs on sites like Vworker.com (now a different site) quite a few times now and it always surprises me how often people copy and paste their bidding responses. For example, I’d often get bid where people talk about completing your “website design” in a timely manner when, in fact, I was asking for content writers! Pay attention and try to address any obvious concerns that the employer has. For example, if someone has said that they live in Australia they might be indicating that they are worried about timezone differences and you, therefore, might want to assure them that you can be awake late if they need it. - Know the value of a profile history
If you’ve ever spent time on a site like eBay you’ll realize that one bad review can literally end your entire business. If it’s a perceived high risk transaction a bad review will scare everyone away. It is really important to take care of your own profile’s history as well as remember to study the histories of your potential employers. Try to always end transactions or disputes politely and carefully as you really don’t want them to down vote you. - Understand the house rules
A lot of these sites have quirky rules that are designed to protect the people posting the jobs. It is important that you have a solid understanding of how they work because one silly mistake can see you get banned – a real shame if it is an aged account. For example, saying something like “I’ll email you the details” might be against the rules if they don’t want off-site contact. - Study the successful bidders
As in any business environment it pays to study the competition. Sometimes these sites will show you the top workers which allows you to go and see how they are bidding and what they are doing differently. Do they have great reviews or are they a conglomerate of writers working under one name? Find out and see if you can learn from it.
Over time this bidding will become easier and easier and the people that you’ve worked for previously will contact you for future jobs. The need to bid will decrease and you will, hopefully, land some pretty consistent clients.
How much should I charge?
Over the years I’ve come to realize that quoting for work is a real art form in and of itself. Deciding what to charge clients can be really tricky and often depends on a lot of factors that you might never have thought relevant:
For example:
- Where did the client find you?
The source of the client will play a role in how much you can charge. For example, if the client comes to you because they like your style you will be able to charge more than if you are bidding on a job with 100 other people. - What is your experience?
Do you have experience writing these types of articles in this type of niche? Do you think you can cover the amount of words needed in the timeframe? Is your writing as good as they need? It is important to be honest with your levels of experience. The last thing you want is to do the work and then be asked for a refund because the quality wasn’t good enough. - What is your self-worth (hourly rate)?
Something it took me a long time to understand was that my own perceived hourly rate played a big role in how much clients wanted to pay me. When I started valuing my services a lot higher I found that clients were happy to meet the cost because they knew that I was going to come to the table with something on time and high quality. - What type of work is it?
If someone is hiring you to write short “filler” articles for strange SEO purposes they aren’t going to pay you anywhere near as much as a blog/website trying to develop quality content for their readers. Different jobs deserve different pay rates.
There is a wonderful saying that I heard once that really changed the way I go about client-type work. It goes something like this:
[pinit] or Tweet this quote.
Charging per word vs charging per article
Once you get into the nether regions of the content creation world you will realize that, broadly speaking, there are two ways of charging for work – on a per word basis and on a per article basis.
Each has it’s own advantages and disadvantages:
Per word basis
This allows you to often earn a little bit more as it is rare you can finish an article in exactly 500 words, for example. You’ll often need to go to 530 or 540 to finish it off nicely. The downside is you’ll need to be able to hit those word count quotas if that is what you’ve quoted for.
Per article basis
Gives you more free-reign in terms of how much you need to write (some topics only have so much information!) but can be a catch 22 if you are continually going over the quoted word limit.
The best starting point is to figure out how many words you can comfortably type in an hour while remembering that you will often need to research things as you go. Then you just work backwards to see what you’ll need to earn per word to make it worth your while.
For example:
Let’s say you can mange 1000 words per hour and you want to make $50 an hour. That means you’ll need to make $0.05 per word.
The task then is finding the type of client/job that is willing to work within your needs.
Planning your time and knowing your production limits
One of the first obstacles that you’ll inevitably face as a content writer is the time management demon. This guy will constantly be looking over your shoulder, breathing down your neck and sapping you of much needed sleep.
So what can you do about it?
Well, the first thing is that you really need to know your limits. As budding enterprenuers we tend to just go hard and fast – late nights, lots of coffee, feeding off the stress – until we just burn out and fade away. It’s a really good idea to know your limits early on.
One way to do this is to go by the motto of “under promise, over deliver”. This is both a method of pleasing your client with high quality work and managing your time effectively. The idea is to take on an amount of work that you can handle, smash it before the deadline and then ask them for more work. The result is that you’re never running late.
The art of research
Something that a lot of content writers don’t factor into their quoting is the fact that you usually need to spend a bit of time researching your topics.
It’s quite important to figure out your own ways of researching and creating articles without copying or plagiarising anything. Find out how long you’ll need per topic and make sure your consider that when you are negotiating your rate of pay.
It’s also really important to set limits on what you’ll write about for both ethical and mind-numbingly-boring reasons. For example, I would never write about gambling or anything illegal because I don’t think it’s ethical and I would never write about electronics because it just bored me to death.
Turning down that $150,000 job
At the start of the post I mentioned that I had to turn down a content job worth over $150,000 for a few months worth of writing. The problem really was about my production limits.
I was quite good at quoting for and winning the business but then outsourcing the writing, editing it and delivering it all on time proved to be too much for the team and me. We weren’t hitting the deadlines and after a few days we had to pull out.
This was a wonderful lesson in team and time management, however, and a really inspiring example of how much work is out there if you are ready for it.
Getting better gigs
One of the really important things to learn early on about copywriting and content production is that you really have to decide whether you are about quality writing or quantity writing. Distinguishing between these two things will help you narrow-in on the better gigs.
Here’s why. If you write less skilled articles at a cheaper price you will need to get a large amount to make a decent income. But if you are mixing that writing with the production of quality premium articles you will find that you don’t have the resources or time to make either work properly.
If you are going to go down the “mass production” route I would suggest putting together a team of writers and some content editors in order to meet the demands of the bigger jobs. If you only have a small profit margin you need to learn how to scale it so that you get more and more work.
If this is something readers are interested in learning about I’d be happy to go deeper in another article or a podcast or something. I have a close friend in Australia who has made consistently high incomes by managing a medium sized content writing team and I’m sure he’d be happy to share his insights.
Using “fear” to solidify relationships
If you have been a student of marketing for any length of time you’ll know that fear is a really big motivator. I kind of hate talking about it though because it always seems really unethical. Lately, however, I’ve decided that it doesn’t have to be. Let me explain.
Using fear in marketing is unethical if you really aren’t helping. If your product or service is creating a perceived need instead of filling an actual need then you are on the borders of sleaziness. For example, if an insurance company drummed up fear about some new virus in order to sell a bunch of health insurance policies you’d automatically feel cheated.
If, on the other hand, your landing page talks about how you care about your clients and how it’s not worth the risk of finding dirt-cheap content writers who might steal, copy or scrape your content from other sites, I think that is okay. It is a genuine concern that you are pointing out and as long as you follow through on your promise of quality work you haven’t hurt anyone.
The internet is generally perceived as a very unsafe place. For that reason you should try and think about people’s fears when you pitch a service or are talking to clients. If you base some of your marketing around the fact that you understand their fears and actively try to avoid those “shady” elements in your business you will find that your relationships grow quite naturally.
Copywriting vs content writing
You might be wondering why I made this post about content writing instead of copywriting. Well, it’s both simple and complex at the same time. Let me try and explain.
I was hesitant to say that this stuff will help you become a copywriter because a copywriter needs a very specific set of skills – like Liam Neeson with less guns – whereas a content writer is more of a general title given to someone who writes articles.
You see, if you are pitching yourself as a copywriter you’d better make sure you’re pretty confident at your ability to craft adverts, landing pages and website copy that converts to an outcome or a sale. A content writer, on the other hand, might only be needed to write articles for keyword purposes or perhaps website content that is more informative that conversion based.
Of course, you can always let your future employer decide whether you are good enough to be a copywriter or a content writer but, personally, I thought this post would be safer titled around the latter even though it should all apply to both.
Some content writing resources
I wanted to put together a small list of resources for the budding content writers out there.
- Freelancer
Probably my favorite place to find writers to work on small projects. A good place to start. - Elance
One of the biggest freelancer sites in the world. Lots of work to be found. - ProBlogger Job Boards
Some fantastic people looking to hire quality bloggers and writers. Can make some decent part time income here. - Digital Point Forums
Some dodgy stuff happens here but a lot of bigger firms also offer work here kind of on the sly. You won’t get good prices but if you’re struggling you might get a few cheaper gigs. - Copyscape
Check to see whether the articles you’ve bought (if you’re managing a team) are copied from anywhere else on the web. - Copyblogger
The older stuff here is just such a wonderful resource for people who want to be better writers. I owe a lot to Brian’s writing. - Chris Ducker
The main man when it comes to building a team of workers. Some amazing tips on his blog for how to get started if you want to build a team of writers.
Why is this only the penultimate guide?
Something I’ve been noticing a lot lately is that a big portion of us (myself included) love to read things but struggle to pull the trigger on a new project or idea. And every time I read an “Ultimate Guide to…” post I always get excited for about a week and then kind of fall back into my old ways.
So, what I really want to say is that the Ultimate Guide version of this post is you going out and trying it for yourself. This stuff has worked (or not worked) for me and my friends but it might be totally different for you. You won’t know until you go out and do it.
Would you ever consider doing any content writing work? Have you perhaps done some already? Leave a comment and let me know.
Top photo: © Bowie15
I currently freelance for Cracked.com and the beauty is that the workshop is open to absolutely anybody. The downside is that they are ridiculously strict with what gets accepted, but another upside is that some very good editors give you feedback every step of the way.
Oh and each article regularly gets between 500k and 2 million views and pays $200!
That’s awesome to know Jamie. I’ve never heard of that.
I forgot to mention that you get your name attached to each article with your author bio of choice and links back to your blog. So it works like a guest post, but a very well paid one. (and pagerank of 7)
Oh are we talking Cracked as in BuzzFeed Cracked? Nice!
Superb stuff! I’m sure i’m not alone in having thought ‘I could be writing on the side for a bit of extra spondoolahs right now instead of sitting here fretting over how my social sharing buttons are arranged’ but just never known how to ‘get into’ it.
Also, that quote is marvelous – definitely something to keep in the back of your head.
You mentioned the need for a specific landing page outlining your copywriting experience etc. Can we peek at yours? 😉
Don’t have one anymore as I’ve kind of put everything else on the back burner to focus on some things I’m building here at Blog Tyrant. The current copywriting I’m doing are just for clients I’ve had for years.
Super helpful. Thanks!
Glad you liked it Kat!
Jeez Kat! Wow! What a great site! Having worked with the late BauHaus Architect Herbert Bayer before I got into film production, gotta say “What a great surprise” to discover your Jewel of a website!
Great post, Ramsay. I love how you don’t just give the “what,” but the “how” as well, and in detail. I, too, owe a lot to Copyblogger’s vast collection of copywriting gems. I met Brian last year and have been hooked on Copyblogger ever since.
I’m a copywriter who loves to write content. Here’s the most recent article I wrote for Wealthy Web Writer http://www.wealthywebwriter.com/2013/04/become-more-persuasive/ It led to a much larger project that comes out next month. If that looks like the kind of style you want in a content writer, let me know what you need sometime.
Cheers,
Chase
What was it like meeting the big Dawg?
Great! Really cool cat. Entertaining as well as knowledgeable. Hope to see him again this year.
Very interesting article Ramsay. You’re email was actually like a Godsend into my inbox as I have been suggesting article writing to my brother who is in college and so is pretty broke but has plenty of time on his hands. I was thinking more of content writing (quantity) but will now suggest copy writing aswell. Thanks for the (timely) information.
Thanks Bruno. Let me know how your brother goes with it all.
Hey Tyrant… As always, another great Post that confirms why you are in my Short List of the few Blogs I subscribe to. Thanks!
Thanks David. Appreciate that.
I’ll say it Ramsay, your Ultimate beats other Ultimate guides. You go the extra paragraph, the extra mile, the…you pull the curtains back for all to see you working.
That’s a great lesson to take forward for your readers. Count me with David Halver. Subscribing to blog tyrant was one of my best moves.
Thanks,
David
Thanks so much David. It’s nice to get some good feedback after writing these long things.
I’m so glad you used “penultimate” correctly – so many writers don’t 🙂 Great stuff here – thank you!
I’m starting to second-guess my use of the word as some people have emailed me saying it makes them think it’s the second to worst guide.
Hi Ramsay, I just come around to say thank you for your very useful contents. Looking forward for your next post.
Thanks for stopping by Paul.
sup Ramsay,
Well said and well written blog post, while a blog can be used outrightly to bid for higher paying gigs. it could also land you a dream job.
Although it really takes time to posses some of the required set of skills needed. but ultimately it could be achieved OVER time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so it will be advisable to master this art seriously with time and not hastily. it’s highly rewarding at the long run.
Hi Olatuni. I totally agree. It’s important to take our time and see how far we can take it, especially if we really enjoy it.
Excellent Post Ramsay,
Your post was very timely since I needed a re-inspiration for my writing. Your post just did that 🙂
Thanks Naveen. You made my day.
I never heard of content writing but you provided a comprehensive review on this topic.
Thanks Tok.
I’ve done some content writing using your first method. A site called “hackaday.com” featured one of my “creations” and after a bit of networking was able to land a long-term gig writing for them.
Through this, I was able to land another gig writing for a well-known magazine on a freelance basis. It was really cool to see my article in print, and I’ve gotten several gigs for them after the first one.
So I’d say you give out some good advice. Like many jobs, networking and connections get you a long way!
That’s exactly what I’m talking about! It has a real snowball effect when you base it around your own stuff I think.
Thanks for sharing Jeremy.
I’m actually looking for a few more writers for my company’s blog, and it’s a heck of a challenge finding interesting, *interested* people who get what we’re doing and have the knowledge and talent required. Maybe I’ll just link to this post in my ads and on our guest posting page!
Why, that would be fab!
🙂
I considered freelance content writing but ditched it because of the nibble rates. Most clients only give a few cents per 500-word-article, and we’re required to make 5 articles/day.
I was actually surprised that a 3-digit gig exists. I guess I just have to look deeper. Thanks Ramsay! Awesome post as always!
Hey Carlo.
Yeah, it can be pretty lowly a lot of the time.
The best bet is to find individual companies who need help creating original content or get in touch with more traditional magazine type set up who also have online versions.
BT – I thought you used “penultimate” as a pun, with the pen being a writing instrument and all! Clever chap.
This was a great article. It gave me a lot to think about. I pinned your wonderful quote! I love seeing custom artwork illustrating your post. Well done! tj
Thanks TJ. It was a little bit of a play on words. Unfortunately some people didn’t like it and emailed me saying “why should I read it if it’s not the ultimate”.
Hi Ramsey
Very cool of you to mention me here – thank you. Sincerely.
You rock! And this article rocked, too.
Keep… er, rockin’.
C
Thanks, er, Chris.
A few years ago I used to do a lot of content writing and I kind of used it as a bridge between leaving my full-time job and waiting for my own sites to start making enough money to support me and my family. It worked out really well as I worked on my own sites part time and worked writing for clients part time. There are tons of opportunities out there and one of the surprising things that I found is that it was one of the best things I’ve ever done for networking. I got to know some very influential blog owners and editors in a way that I wouldn’t have without writing for them. Then when my own sites were making enough money I stopped writing for clients but I had a strong network that continued to benefit me.
That is awesome Marc. Exactly what I was hoping to help people achieve with this post.
[…] The Penultimate Guide to Making Money with Paid Content Writing. […]
As a paid content writer myself, here are a few things to consider…
1.) Writing contracts are likely to include quality requirements such as “Will conform to standard writing standards as defined by…”
2.) Writing contracts can have information such as “Photos required for article / illustration will be at 300dpi for print and 72dpi for web with minimum dimensions of XYZ. Photos will be provided by writer and will be property of owner.”
3.) It’s important to note your rights to the content…usually you can’t reuse your article but they can. This is only fair, when you think about it.
Good points. Thanks Chris. Do you do content writing outside of your main niche?
No.
As always a great and helpful article Ramsay.
I’m a freelance writer to, mainly Dutch, but it’s sometimes hard to find new and good clients. I instantly added the Skype button, good idea thanks!
Final question, what do you like more? Writing and building your own blogs or freelancing as a writer for others? And what do you think pays better long term?
Hey Christian – without a doubt working on my own blogs. No question.
Thanks Ramsay, I agree. But what are the best ways to make money from those blogs? Through banners, branded content or something else? And does that income come near that for freelancing?
Anyways, keep up the good work!
You can sell services like content writing or you can promote affiliates, your own products, etc. The options are endless.
Thanks Ramsay! Just have to go and test what works :).
I’m going to comment on the post not the content of the post. Apologies.
I LOVE that you’ve got a pinnable image here! Pinned!
And I really like the look of your sharing buttons at the end of the post. Is that a plug-in?
Ha ha. No problems.
Thought I’d experiment with the pin button.
Yeah, those social icons are a plugin called Simple Share Buttons. I like that they are all uniform – normally they look all messy.
Speaking of making money…I need to ask a question I can’t find a logical answer to but figured you may have a guess on:
I have a guide with aff links in it that I often update, nuerotically, too much. Usually when I rollout a huge update, in minutes after, a commission rolls thru. This is after a usual dry streak (hence the update).
What is going on here?
Sure it’s not just new people seeing the guide?
Amazing post Ramsay! I need few writers for my blog.
Thank you.
Thanks mate.
Hi Ramsay. Yo may not know me but you really inspired me. Nearly six months ago, I read your article about how you sold one of your blogs, 6 months after you started it for $28K. I started studying blogging and from last three months, I have been working on my own technology based blog. I couldn’t help but commented on this post because I myself am in need of my guest writers and guest posts on other blog. You’re blog is really helping me out. And honestly speaking, you are my mentor. Do you mind, If I post my questions regarding blogging on your website comments. Or if you would be kind enough to mail me your email ID. Thank you 🙂
Thanks mate!
Feel free to comment or email. Address is in the contact page.
🙂
Ramsay, thanks so much for this. When I started writing a few months ago, I didn’t really have a goal, except wanting to get back into the routine of “doing something” and exercising my brain, since I have been out of the workforce for the last few years doing the mom thing. And also, loosely, in the meantime, build a writing portfolio in the event I want to start writing for someone else. This is an awesome guide. I’m building my portfolio, and that’s good. But and after reading your last post, I know I need to switch to being self-hosted so I have more control over my email list. And now with this one, I need to look more professional…. Better start working on it. Love your posts, thanks again!
Thanks Robin. Sing out if you need any help.
Ramsay,
Well I kinda put the whole concept of mass content production into practice. Figured you need the basic content first, even for any top class piece of copywriting. Set up my site last week. Product is designed in the form of writing packages that can be taken by SEO companies / copywriting companies depending on the quantity they require. We’ve a sort of collaborative writing in process here. Quality original content, mass produced. Should make that a slogan or something. Anyway, thanks for the article Ramsay. Seriously, if anyone wants mass content, you know whom to call. Another thing, could you link me up with the Australian content writing team?
Thanks again mate,
Kris Wen
Sounds like you are smashing it Kris.
Great article – thanks for sharing!!
Thanks Zoe.
Great article and another great motivator for me when it seems like it might be impossible to make this type of business work.
I joined Sean Ogle’s location rebel – and seo content writing is one of the primary blueprints he outlines to get started. I’ve been doing SEO writing for a few months now, I have one steady client and while it’s nice side income, it’s not living income. My goal is to work up to having a few clients that provide me with a full time income worth of work.
My primary method for finding clients has simply been to send email queries to SEO companies asking if they need writers. I’ve had a decent response rate, but not a lot of results. I’m also looking into fields I’m interested in, searching for people/businesses that have sites in those fields and are maintaining a “dead” blog – I then email them offering to provide them weekly, fresh content for their blog.
One question I had is, how would you go about deciding what to write about on your “showcase” blog that you are presenting to prospects? What topics would you write about?
Hey Brian.
Firstly, have you thought about switching to approaching companies directly? So instead of emailing the SEOs email some local businesses (large or medium) and sell them on the benefits?
With that in mind, if you use your blog to talk about how content can help the direct industries that you’re approaching you can develop this sort of funnel effect where you pike interest with your email and then sell with the relevant blog post.
Does that help?
Great idea Ramsay, that’s a good trigger for some industries. I also think that you should specialize in any kind of area so you stand out.
Agreed.
Great tips and guide dude! 😀
Thanks Cris. Glad you liked it.
Really interesting stuff! There’s always been a part of me that has wanted to get paid for writing but I had no idea how to go about it. Thanks for this, Ramsay.
Glad it helped Mike.
Really awesome tips. I have got a proper idea hoe to go ahead with paid writings. Now I am clear about this. I can go with this now. Thanks a lot for this.
Wow this blog is all about my expectations. this is it. hay i will wait for further updates thank you so much for these tips
Love your blog and awesome suggestions. I really relate to the comment about cementing your relationships. I feel that if you always remember you’re about serving your client’s best interest, being of service basically, that you’re fine. I always give my clients much more than they pay for in terms of time on skype calls and post-call assignments/suggestions to help them and I have found it easy to build rapport with clients and get referrals.
Thanks again for the awesome blog! I’m bookmarking it now! 🙂
Blessings to you,
Mary Jane Allen
Glad you enjoyed it Mary Jane.
Ramsey,
Thanks always for your useful tips. I have been a lurky-loo for a while now, and just getting my feet wet in the writing business. Wow, I feel like I spend a lot of time building my website, only to realize it is not quite right. What would you say is the number one, hands-down, most important element (visually) to a website?
Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction. I will surely check out some of these websites.
Hi Kelly.
I’m not sure there is just one element – I think it is a combination of several things that make it look really simple.
White space is important though.
I have been reading on your blog for the last couple of hours and I just wanted to say Thank you for not only the great information but for making me smile ♥ Ramsay you Rock! Hope you had a great 4th.
Oh you little stinker! That was the best ever after comment page, EVER.. And yes I am now on your mailing list and I even used my email addy for only really important stuff. Huggggggs.
now an gravatar??
Glad you liked the after comment page Kat.
Thank you.
Your quite welcome
There is also good money to be made in proof-reading/editing for organisations that don’t hire native English speakers, and yet would like to produce content in English. Good money!
Nice to know Rob. Thanks!
Wow this is my first post on this site. I like it. You are officially added to my feedly account. I can not wait to read more. At the moment I can not even manage to keep up with the content on my own sites. However, the idea of writing for others is exciting.
-Renee’