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Web writing is writing for money, so get the money

May 3rd, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

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This week I was chatting with a couple of fellow Web writers, and we were talking (surprise!) about money. There’s a lot of money around for Web writers at the moment, so we were comparing notes. We ended up talking about getting paid, because getting paid is the reason you write for the Web.

Unfortunately as writers, sometimes we can be less than businesslike.

Get clear in your own mind first. When you write for the Web professionally, you write for money. You give your clients contracts, and you get paid a retainer. Your contract states when the rest of your fee will be paid.

When the due date for payment passes, you take action. Please don’t wait, as some writers do, for a month or two to go by before you send a reminder. We’re all busy, and your payment may be low on a company’s priorities, but it needs to be high on yours. Schedule time each week to go over your invoices, and enter due dates for payments in your calendar.

Pursue outstanding payments immediately. It’s rare for clients to evade paying what they owe, but it does happen. In those cases, take the matter further - contact a collection agency if all else fails.

Web writers’ pay - $2 per article? You can do much, much better

March 22nd, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

A reader, who comes to the Web writing world from print, writes:

I find content writers offering their skills for $3, $2 or maybe $5 for a 500-word article! That’s horrendous! A very few advertise their skills for $20 for an article, but they are rare and I have no idea if anyone takes them up on their offer, considering clients of these low-priced writers praise their work to high heaven, so why would anyone want to pay the “ungodly” sum of $20 when they can get high quality for $5?

Is that what this has come to, Angela; 2 cents a word!?

Or could someone truly ask for $20, $30 or even $50 for a well-written, well researched article (and even $50 is low) and get any takers?

What the hell is the writing world coming to!??

Here’s my answer:

Re: “Is that what this has come to, Angela; 2 cents a word!?”

(Teehee…)

NO!

You’re you. You’re an EXPERIENCED writer, not a total newbie. Set up a Web site offering content, and set your own price.

See the Web content rates on my angelabooth.com site.

I charge $750 per pack of ten articles; this is very reasonable.
Others writers are charging $89 and more per article in a five or ten pack.
YES, this is LOWER than print, but it’s about 1/10 of the work.

I can turn out these ten articles in around 4 to 5 hours.

Writers do get upset about “$2 an article” crowd, but it’s a free world. I’ve
read some of these $2 articles, and I promise you, I wouldn’t pay 2
cents for them.

As for “considering clients of these low-priced writers praise their work to high heaven” - please don’t believe everything you read online. The $2-an-article crowd just need “content” to separate the AdSense ad blocks.

So, can you charge a “reasonable” rate for your articles - $50 and more?

Of course you can.

Here’s how:

* “Brand” yourself online - build your name and credibility; and

* Build your client base of clients who know and love your work and buy from you regularly.

It all comes down to UNDERSTANDING Web writing, and the old “4Ps” of marketing: Product, Price, Promotion and Place.

Good writing ALWAYS gets a good price, but you have to position yourself and your work appropriately.

Copyright © 2007 Fab Web Writer: Join The Instant Publishing Revolution

Credits: Angela Booth's Web writing manual, "Writing For The Web" | Fab Digital Photography Blog - Digital Photography Tips And Inspiration - If you write for the Web, you need to take photos for the Web too.