Freelancer.com has long been established as a place to connect freelancers with employers, and is a great venue for those looking for potential clients as writers. If you are familar with other companies that allow freelancers to bid on projects, (like elance.com or guru.com), than freelancer.com is at least familar to you in format. This year they have created a new website, freemarket.com, which allows content providers to post their finished products for potential buyers.
This looks like an exciting opportunity for writers who can't commit to writing for a deadline, but CAN provide useful content to those looking to buy. This appears to be a similar format to constant-content.com, but with more flexibility. One account works for both bidding on jobs (freelancer.com) and offering completed content, (freemarket.com). And like CC, it is free to join!
Of course there will be a commission, 10% for ordinary free members, and only 3% for Gold members, (who pay $24.95 per month). The amount of work you plan to do for this site should determine whether or not the gold membership is for you.
When you visit the site, check out the help tab on the top right and go to articles for tips on how to tailor your content to suit the usual buyers at the site. This could be a great way to build your confidence as a writer, allowing you to put some content up for sale, try out different topics to see what sells, and establish yourself as a writer. Sometimes just having a little experience under your belt can be the turning point in an online writing career. Remember, every one starts out the same way, one word at a time!
So stop by freemarket.com today and sign up, (or sign in if you are already a member of freelancer.com). Take a look around, and start contemplating some articles that you can post for sale.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
What to write about?
This is the perpetual question facing all writers. Some days it seems like you will never have time to write down all the ideas buzzing in your head. At other times, your brain simply refuses to come up with anything interesting to write about. So here are some ideas to help you brainstorm article topics.
- Where have you been on vacation? Write about your experiences, choices of what to eat and what to do, what made it worth it, (or not?) Even a trip to visit in-laws can count as a vacation. You can also write about your home town and offer suggestions to people who might plan to visit the area.
- Home maintenance is always a big topic. Write about the last time you had the A/C repaired, or had to change your lock after you lost your keys. There's also home decorating, home organization, making guests feel comfortable in a small apartment, landscaping your yard on a budget, and the list goes on. Just look around you, and share what works for you.
- Pets. Write about a dog, cat, fish breed you have or used to have. What was great about having a beagle, or a Betta fish, or that pet tarantula?
- Weddings. If you've been married, or been involved in someone else's wedding, what made things go smoothly? What should have been avoided to make things more fun? What are the coolest wedding favors you've seen?
- Writ about caring for children, caring for elderly relatives, or just caring for yourself during difficult times; draw on your experience.
- Your day job can provide excellent material. Write about what it feels like to introduce yourself to people as a "-------". Did you go to school for your current job? Tell the story of how you found a job right out of college. Or just explain why you chose this type of job, why you keep your job, or don't want to keep it anymore.
-A lot of people suggest that you write about your hobbies. I've never really done this, as I don't pursue a lot of hobby like projects. At least, I didn't think I did, but now that I'm thinking about it...maybe I do. Here are some hobby type ideas you might have overlooked.
- Where have you been on vacation? Write about your experiences, choices of what to eat and what to do, what made it worth it, (or not?) Even a trip to visit in-laws can count as a vacation. You can also write about your home town and offer suggestions to people who might plan to visit the area.
- Home maintenance is always a big topic. Write about the last time you had the A/C repaired, or had to change your lock after you lost your keys. There's also home decorating, home organization, making guests feel comfortable in a small apartment, landscaping your yard on a budget, and the list goes on. Just look around you, and share what works for you.
- Pets. Write about a dog, cat, fish breed you have or used to have. What was great about having a beagle, or a Betta fish, or that pet tarantula?
- Weddings. If you've been married, or been involved in someone else's wedding, what made things go smoothly? What should have been avoided to make things more fun? What are the coolest wedding favors you've seen?
- Writ about caring for children, caring for elderly relatives, or just caring for yourself during difficult times; draw on your experience.
- Your day job can provide excellent material. Write about what it feels like to introduce yourself to people as a "-------". Did you go to school for your current job? Tell the story of how you found a job right out of college. Or just explain why you chose this type of job, why you keep your job, or don't want to keep it anymore.
-A lot of people suggest that you write about your hobbies. I've never really done this, as I don't pursue a lot of hobby like projects. At least, I didn't think I did, but now that I'm thinking about it...maybe I do. Here are some hobby type ideas you might have overlooked.
- play a musical instrument? Write about how to find fellow musicians using the web. OR how to grease your slide, rosin your bow, tune your strings, etc. Or, where to find free music online.
- have an exercise routine? How did you find out what works for you? What helps you stay motivated to work out everyday?
- favorite types of recipes and where to find them. How to pick an old-fashioned apple pie recipe. How to make Indian food using easy to find ingredients. Stuff like that.
- activities your children like to do. Because you've bought them stuff or taken them places because you know they will love riding the train, playing dress-up, seeing the sharks, etc.
- love to read? Do an imaginary interview with a popular character, based on their works that you have read, or an interview with a long dead author and their perspective on current writing or events. Or just write about the merits of your favorite genre. Why grown-ups should read fantasy novels too, or something like that.
- If you are in the mood for writing something a little more meaty, consider writing about a news event that has attracted your attention, or a cultural trend that seems disturbing to you. You could tackle a common difficulty for people you know; if someone you care about is struggling with depression, unemployment, cancer, insomnia, etc, look for solutions to their problems and write about them.
The hardest part of course is finding a topic that other people will want to read. So once you have brainstormed a few article ideas, head over to the Google keyword tool (free) and do a search for a few related keywords and see what has the most searches, (and ideally, low competition for that keyword.) You can also do a quick search on some of the top article sites and see what people are reading on that topic. This might intimidate you into not writing because the topic has already been covered, but don't let it happen! If people are interested in a topic, they like to read more than one article about it.
Your personal perspective is what makes the article interesting, so write your own thoughts and submit it. Look for a unique spin on some if the popular titles. Someone may be looking for the information you already have in your head, so start writing.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
How to write an article that people will read.
I really like to read, and yet with the abundance of information in print form online, I find it difficult not to skim. In fact, spending time reading online has made me more of a skimmer than I used to be. I just don't stop and read straight through much anymore.
The impulse to skim is usually bad for those of us writing the articles. We want our articles to be linked to, bookmarked, tweeted and repeated, because this brings more traffic, and increases the possibility of visitors becoming customers, whether it's for our own website or the site of someone paying us.
To write an article that readers will sit down and read through, remember and bookmark requires more work than writing something that will get a quick skim. But how do you go about writing those articles?
Think about your own reading habits. I find that I usually just skip through an article, UNLESS, I really want to know about the subject I'm reading about. For example, I'm planning to home school our kiddos when they reach school age. I've been reading a LOT about the different methods that are popular in the homeschooling world. Since many methods go hand in hand with a product or curriculum that's for sale, it can be hard to wade through all the information, sales pitches, reviews and cranks out there. Sometimes I wonder if the internet has made things easier or harder:)
But I recently came across a blog in which a homeschooling mother had a long list of posts about a particular educational method that she used with her own children. I was impressed by her writing and her in depth approach to the topic, and I read with attention, until my two year old woke up and put a stop to any focused concentration taking place.
And this leads me to THREE ways to keep a reader glued to your article.
ONE, give your reader lots of informative details. You don't necessarily need to have any new or exciting information on your topic, so long as you can give a straight forward treatment of it, and maybe a little insight on how you reached your conclusions. Content that solves people's problems will probably get read, more than once. So provide answers.
TWO, give your reader more information than they can read in one sitting. Multiple posts on a compelling topic will not only position you as someone who knows something about the topic, it will also give your reader more incentive to read thoroughly. They do not need to click away to another site to find more info - the information is there, so they will make themselves comfortable to do some reading.
If you are writing for a site other than your own, (like for Helium.com, a blog guest post, or article directory), consider submitting a few articles on the same topic or providing a link to more articles on your own blog. Make sure they know right away that there is more than they see at first.
And THREE, when a person truly wants more information, he or she will often have already read some superficial articles on the subject, or perhaps already know the basics anyway. But if you can dig deep into a topic, you may be giving them just what they are looking for - specifics, details, information they can go out and apply. This is the best way I know of to get a reader's attention.
So if you want to add value to your articles, provide lots of information, plenty of details, and give people a place to really learn about the topic you've chosen.
The impulse to skim is usually bad for those of us writing the articles. We want our articles to be linked to, bookmarked, tweeted and repeated, because this brings more traffic, and increases the possibility of visitors becoming customers, whether it's for our own website or the site of someone paying us.
To write an article that readers will sit down and read through, remember and bookmark requires more work than writing something that will get a quick skim. But how do you go about writing those articles?
Think about your own reading habits. I find that I usually just skip through an article, UNLESS, I really want to know about the subject I'm reading about. For example, I'm planning to home school our kiddos when they reach school age. I've been reading a LOT about the different methods that are popular in the homeschooling world. Since many methods go hand in hand with a product or curriculum that's for sale, it can be hard to wade through all the information, sales pitches, reviews and cranks out there. Sometimes I wonder if the internet has made things easier or harder:)
But I recently came across a blog in which a homeschooling mother had a long list of posts about a particular educational method that she used with her own children. I was impressed by her writing and her in depth approach to the topic, and I read with attention, until my two year old woke up and put a stop to any focused concentration taking place.
And this leads me to THREE ways to keep a reader glued to your article.
ONE, give your reader lots of informative details. You don't necessarily need to have any new or exciting information on your topic, so long as you can give a straight forward treatment of it, and maybe a little insight on how you reached your conclusions. Content that solves people's problems will probably get read, more than once. So provide answers.
TWO, give your reader more information than they can read in one sitting. Multiple posts on a compelling topic will not only position you as someone who knows something about the topic, it will also give your reader more incentive to read thoroughly. They do not need to click away to another site to find more info - the information is there, so they will make themselves comfortable to do some reading.
If you are writing for a site other than your own, (like for Helium.com, a blog guest post, or article directory), consider submitting a few articles on the same topic or providing a link to more articles on your own blog. Make sure they know right away that there is more than they see at first.
And THREE, when a person truly wants more information, he or she will often have already read some superficial articles on the subject, or perhaps already know the basics anyway. But if you can dig deep into a topic, you may be giving them just what they are looking for - specifics, details, information they can go out and apply. This is the best way I know of to get a reader's attention.
So if you want to add value to your articles, provide lots of information, plenty of details, and give people a place to really learn about the topic you've chosen.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
A fresh start
It's confession time.
I am a compulsive list maker. Goals, dreams, plans, bills I was supposed to pay....
But once the list is written, I never look at it again.
Like so many other plans, this blog fell by the wayside, and I actually expected that to happen. If I had set myself the task of following up week after week with blog posts, I never would have put my little article guide out into the blogosphere. So I let it go.
(I was also busy with a new baby, three different moves, and some other random stuff.)
But I really enjoyed being able to help out people with the little knowledge I've gained from writing. I'd like to do more.
All this is to say that I am looking forward to adding more ideas to help all of us generate new article ideas, and new places where we can put them to good use.
Happy writing!
I am a compulsive list maker. Goals, dreams, plans, bills I was supposed to pay....
But once the list is written, I never look at it again.
Like so many other plans, this blog fell by the wayside, and I actually expected that to happen. If I had set myself the task of following up week after week with blog posts, I never would have put my little article guide out into the blogosphere. So I let it go.
(I was also busy with a new baby, three different moves, and some other random stuff.)
But I really enjoyed being able to help out people with the little knowledge I've gained from writing. I'd like to do more.
All this is to say that I am looking forward to adding more ideas to help all of us generate new article ideas, and new places where we can put them to good use.
Happy writing!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Pros and Cons of Web Content Sites
I read an article today at www.freelancewritinggigs.com that tackles some of the advantages and disadvantages for writing for content sites like Associate Content, Helium, and others like them. There are some good ideas here if you are trying to decide if writing for web content sites is a good way for you to use your writing ability, and some helpful perspective from a writer whose been using web content sites for a a few years now. Take a look:
Web Content Sites: Do you have job security?
Web Content Sites: Do you have job security?
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Where to submit articles for promotion
Lots of article sites have popped up that allow you to submit articles for free. Why would anyone do this, you ask? Because if you have a website or blog that you want to rank higher in the search engines, you want there to be lots of other sites linking to yours. And an article with your byline and a link back to your site does exactly that.
It is ideal to submit your articles to sites that rank high in the search engines, so it's useful, just as a rough guide, to find article submission sites that have a high Google page rank. Last I checked, http://www.associatedcontent.com/join.html?refer=20542 had a pagerank of 7, so if you can get a good relevant article posted there with a link to your website, (in the link box at the end), you will be taking a good step. You can submit nonexclusive content there if you have a great article that's been submitted somewhere else.
Some approach this by submitting hundreds of articles (sometimes the same articles) all over the web, using article submission software to accomplish this insanely time consuming task. However, in the Associatprograms.com forum discussion on article submissions, some folks said that unique articles in quality submission sites are the best way to go. Anyway, for a list of sites where you can submit your articles, and their corresponding Google PageRank, go here:
http://www.vretoolbar.com/articles/directories.php
Here's another couple of lists, (not ranked at all) in the associateprograms.com forum
http://www.associateprograms.com/discus/ftopic12517.html
http://www.associateprograms.com/discus/ftopic9801.html
Also, http://www.constant-content.com/?aref=10331 accepts free articles as well, so others can pick them up and post them on their site. Make sure the content is useful!
Hope this helps you promote your affiliate product, e-book, website, or just yourself as a writer!
It is ideal to submit your articles to sites that rank high in the search engines, so it's useful, just as a rough guide, to find article submission sites that have a high Google page rank. Last I checked, http://www.associatedcontent.com/join.html?refer=20542 had a pagerank of 7, so if you can get a good relevant article posted there with a link to your website, (in the link box at the end), you will be taking a good step. You can submit nonexclusive content there if you have a great article that's been submitted somewhere else.
Some approach this by submitting hundreds of articles (sometimes the same articles) all over the web, using article submission software to accomplish this insanely time consuming task. However, in the Associatprograms.com forum discussion on article submissions, some folks said that unique articles in quality submission sites are the best way to go. Anyway, for a list of sites where you can submit your articles, and their corresponding Google PageRank, go here:
http://www.vretoolbar.com/articles/directories.php
Here's another couple of lists, (not ranked at all) in the associateprograms.com forum
http://www.associateprograms.com/discus/ftopic12517.html
http://www.associateprograms.com/discus/ftopic9801.html
Also, http://www.constant-content.com/?aref=10331 accepts free articles as well, so others can pick them up and post them on their site. Make sure the content is useful!
Hope this helps you promote your affiliate product, e-book, website, or just yourself as a writer!
Where can you get paid for articles?
Before I get started, it might be useful to you to bookmark this post, since it has a ton of links in it that will be useful to you if you want to earn money selling your articles.
I have yet to come across a list of sites where a writer can submit articles for payment, so I began doing Google searches and poking around forums to find out where people were getting paid for submitting their writing. I have, unfortunately, not had the time to go through and make sure everyone of these sites is an ideal place to send your writing. Some are, no doubt, better than others. Make sure you read carefully about what kind of terms a website is offering you. It is up to you to decide if you like what a site has to offer - so use this list at your own risk.
To get you started, I'd like to recommend a couple of sites that I think are top of the line.
One, http://www.associatedcontent.com/join.html?refer=20542, has accepted several of my articles, one for as little as $6, and some for as much as $10. This is probably the best site out there for submitting articles for payment. And since your article will be reviewed by a real person, and priced, or rejected, accordingly, you will have the chance to find out if your articles are really any good before someone else's eyes. Once you sign up, you will receive suggestions on good topics to write about, but you can really write about anything you want, even local stuff.
Two, http://www.constant-content.com/?aref=10331/. I haven't used this site personally yet, but I've come across writers who make good money here. One writer, Allison Whitehead, who has written about her experience at Helium.com, says that she made $550 over the course of a few months. Another writer, Keesa, explains in the Constant-Content forums that she makes a living just by writing three articles per day for this site. However, you need to be able to produce quality, error free articles to even get your work accepted on this site, and your name will not be included with your article.
It will also be to your advantage if you can write on computer-internet related topics, or on popular topics like business or health. Once you sign up, you will be able to see requests for particular kinds of content, and see what articles have been selling recently.
Now, for a few more possibilities you might like to check out.
The following provide some sort of monetary compensation for articles on various topics:
http://www.lifetips.com/
http://www.howtodothings.com/
http://www.writerwrangler.com/
http://www.newsforge.com/write.tmpl
http://www.paidpostingtools.com/writers.asp
http://www.suite101.com/writer_faq
Performance based payment
These sites typically involve posting your article with Google Adsense ads, and split the profit from the ads with you. Check out a site carefully before you submit.
My suggestion here is, write about a niche topic - something that people are searching for, but that there isn't necessarily a lot of competition for. Instead of writing about how to make money, write about how to make money teaching spanish - or whatever. Don't just write about the Grand Canyon, but about Hiking trails in the Grand Canyon. And definitely use your keywords. Look for a keyword that is being searched for at least a 1,000 times per day. (Go back to the article guide section "Google Me" in day 4 on article writing if your lost right now.)
http://www.articleaxis.com/
http://www.writingup.com/
http://www.en.articlesgratuits.com/
http://www.nicheblast.com/
http://www.triond.com/
http://www.helium.com/
http://www.xomba.com/
http://www.wiseorb.com/
http://www.mylot.com/
http://www.orble.com/earn-money/
The following pay for specific types of articles, topics, reviews, etc.
http://www.reviewstream.com/
http://www.allbooks.com/
http://www.methodshop.com/about/writers.shtml
http://www.manuscriptservices.co.uk/new-writers.shtml
http://www.essaywriters.net/
http://www.myessays.com
https://www.eswo.net/
http://www.articleinsider.com/
http://beaguide.about.com/index.htm
http://payperpost.com/ (writing on your blog)
http://www.reviewme.com/bloggers.php (reviews on your blog)
http://commonties.com/blog/submit-a-story/?gclid=COzP8Nb4zYsCFQL2ggodfGdBHg
(pays well for well-written personal stories)
http://www.blogitive.com/
If you find that any of these links are no good, or you would like to add asite to this list, just send me an email.
Happy Writing!
I have yet to come across a list of sites where a writer can submit articles for payment, so I began doing Google searches and poking around forums to find out where people were getting paid for submitting their writing. I have, unfortunately, not had the time to go through and make sure everyone of these sites is an ideal place to send your writing. Some are, no doubt, better than others. Make sure you read carefully about what kind of terms a website is offering you. It is up to you to decide if you like what a site has to offer - so use this list at your own risk.
To get you started, I'd like to recommend a couple of sites that I think are top of the line.
One, http://www.associatedcontent.com/join.html?refer=20542, has accepted several of my articles, one for as little as $6, and some for as much as $10. This is probably the best site out there for submitting articles for payment. And since your article will be reviewed by a real person, and priced, or rejected, accordingly, you will have the chance to find out if your articles are really any good before someone else's eyes. Once you sign up, you will receive suggestions on good topics to write about, but you can really write about anything you want, even local stuff.
Two, http://www.constant-content.com/?aref=10331/. I haven't used this site personally yet, but I've come across writers who make good money here. One writer, Allison Whitehead, who has written about her experience at Helium.com, says that she made $550 over the course of a few months. Another writer, Keesa, explains in the Constant-Content forums that she makes a living just by writing three articles per day for this site. However, you need to be able to produce quality, error free articles to even get your work accepted on this site, and your name will not be included with your article.
It will also be to your advantage if you can write on computer-internet related topics, or on popular topics like business or health. Once you sign up, you will be able to see requests for particular kinds of content, and see what articles have been selling recently.
Now, for a few more possibilities you might like to check out.
The following provide some sort of monetary compensation for articles on various topics:
http://www.lifetips.com/
http://www.howtodothings.com/
http://www.writerwrangler.com/
http://www.newsforge.com/write.tmpl
http://www.paidpostingtools.com/writers.asp
http://www.suite101.com/writer_faq
Performance based payment
These sites typically involve posting your article with Google Adsense ads, and split the profit from the ads with you. Check out a site carefully before you submit.
My suggestion here is, write about a niche topic - something that people are searching for, but that there isn't necessarily a lot of competition for. Instead of writing about how to make money, write about how to make money teaching spanish - or whatever. Don't just write about the Grand Canyon, but about Hiking trails in the Grand Canyon. And definitely use your keywords. Look for a keyword that is being searched for at least a 1,000 times per day. (Go back to the article guide section "Google Me" in day 4 on article writing if your lost right now.)
http://www.articleaxis.com/
http://www.writingup.com/
http://www.en.articlesgratuits.com/
http://www.nicheblast.com/
http://www.triond.com/
http://www.helium.com/
http://www.xomba.com/
http://www.wiseorb.com/
http://www.mylot.com/
http://www.orble.com/earn-money/
The following pay for specific types of articles, topics, reviews, etc.
http://www.reviewstream.com/
http://www.allbooks.com/
http://www.methodshop.com/about/writers.shtml
http://www.manuscriptservices.co.uk/new-writers.shtml
http://www.essaywriters.net/
http://www.myessays.com
https://www.eswo.net/
http://www.articleinsider.com/
http://beaguide.about.com/index.htm
http://payperpost.com/ (writing on your blog)
http://www.reviewme.com/bloggers.php (reviews on your blog)
http://commonties.com/blog/submit-a-story/?gclid=COzP8Nb4zYsCFQL2ggodfGdBHg
(pays well for well-written personal stories)
http://www.blogitive.com/
If you find that any of these links are no good, or you would like to add asite to this list, just send me an email.
Happy Writing!
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