How To Break Out Of The $5 (or less!) An Article Insult!
I write for a living, mostly articles, but also SEO web content, press releases, ebooks, blog posts and whatever else I’m presented with. There was a time, not too long ago, when I had to scramble for peanuts and take $5 for a 500 word article. That was just too insulting. It was near impossible to make a living on that kind of pay, but worse than that, I felt undervalued, not appreciated and not respected.
I decided to do something about it…
Someone, coincidentally about this time, let me in to a HUGE secret that I will share with you: go where the money is. I know, that seems too easy and it doesn’t explain enough. OK, let me expand… When reporter, Mitch Ohnstad, asked serial bank robber, William Sutton, on his capture why he robbed banks, Sutton reportedly replied, “because that’s where the money is!”
Most article writers go to elance, guru, rentacoder and others to seek work. There they usually find webmasters needing articles for their web sites. So far so good. However, the average webmaster needs articles for his site because he hopes to make a lot of money from them some day.
The important words to note here are, “some day.” The average webmaster is not rich. He or she hopes to be, but until they are, they can’t afford to pay $25, $35, $50 an article. They are looking for reasonable quality articles costing no more than about $5 a piece. They find plenty of people willing to write them for that, because everyone thinks that’s the going rate. It is not.
Thinking along the lines of bank robber William Sutton who went where the money was, and who stole some $2 million in his time, who has the money, and who doesn’t mind spending it? That’s the question you should be asking yourself. And the answer is…
Well, there’s no single place, but how about the SEO companies for a start? They get clients with deep pockets who want their sites ranked at the top for their keywords. Most SEO companies will employ a number of strategies to achieve this, one of which may be web content, or SEO articles. Most SEO companies who seek out web content writers are looking for people who are a notch or three above the $5 an article mentality, and they will be willing to pay them higher rates too.
Of course, you have to position yourself as a quality writer. You have to get rid of the $5 an article mentality, and believe that you are worth $25 or more an article. The money is there, believe me, but are YOU there? Put up a web site advertising your service. Have plenty of good quality samples in it along with a rates and services page. Testimonials from previous satisfied clients is great too, but don’t make them up!
The bottom line is this: if you spend a week or two marketing yourself effectively, and if you believe in your abilites, then you will find good paying work. You will find clients who recognize you as an expert and who respect your abilities. Writing will become fun again. This is exactly what I did just a few months ago. It works, plain and simple. Good luck!