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Make great money when you write for the Web in 2008

December 28th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

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Here we are, in that magical space “between” the years. 2007 is almost over, and 2008 is coming up fast. I hope you have a wonderful 2008, writing for the Web.

To ensure that you do, here’s my very best tip on how to make great money writing for the Web: set your own rates.

My writing students know that I’m always telling them to SET YOUR OWN RATES, because it’s vital that you remember to do that. There’s a lot of low-pay writing gigs on the Web.

Some of the low-paying jobs are fine, if you’re just starting out, but if you have even a modicum of experience, I urge you not to sell your writing skills too cheaply. Great writing jobs are out there.

Here’s how to get great writing jobs in three easy steps:

1. Know your own worth when you set your fees.

You must know what an article is worth for example, and you can figure that out by looking at the Web site. A large company can afford to pay (good) print magazine rates, and this is what you set your rates at for this kind of company.

So know what a site can reasonably pay, and charge well. If you’re not sure how to set your rates, contact me for a coaching session, and I’ll be happy to help you.

2. If you don’t have a Web site, get one.

You need a site, it’s the only way you can operate in the world of Web writing if you want to make an excellent income.

3. Advertise your services.

You can use Pay Per Click advertising, or advertise on Web sites. If money’s a problem, use Craigslist until you can afford to pay for advertising.

So there you go - I hope 2008 is your best Web writing year ever. I wish you and your loved ones a happy and profitable New Year.

If you’re new to Web writing, read my Writing for the Web ebook.

How to beat your Web writing competition - your portfolio

August 1st, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

This past week, I’ve received several emails, all on the question of low-paid Web writing and “$2″ writers. Nowadays it seems, anyone and everyone’s calling themselves a “writer” and is drag-netting the bottom of the writing pool, scooping up low-paid work.

That’s fine. If you have writing credits, you don’t want low-paid work - you’re NOT competing with low-paid writers, unless you want to.

I covered getting freelance writing gigs on the out-sourcing sites in a recent issue of Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, and made this point:

The Two Ways You Can Get Freelance Gigs Online - Branding, And Applying (AKA getting the customer to come to you, versus going to the customer)

The first way, branding, means that you get your name out there online. It’s the easiest way to get people to come to you and offer you work. This is why I hammer the promotions/ blogging/ get famous theme in ezine issues, and on my blogs and sites. It’s because it’s easy, and the effect is cumulative - it starts with a trickle and before you know it, you turn away much more work than you accept. You cherry-pick the best offers people make, because you can. You’re well paid for writing.

Branding is a MUST if you want to be paid well. The more people who know you as a Web writer, the more writing work you will get, and the more you can charge.

You must have a Web site to display your Web writing portfolio

BRANDING includes displaying your writing expertise to potential clients. YOU MUST HAVE A WEB SITE AND PORTFOLIO OF WRITING. I don’t know how to say it more plainly than that. If you want lucrative Web writing gigs, you must show clients samples of your work: how else do you establish credibility and trust?

Each and every one of the writers who complained about low-paid writing work and $2 writers etc was making no effort at all to differentiate themselves by showing what they’d accomplished. Not one had a Web site or blog. Not one had compiled a portfolio. To their clients, they seemed exactly the same as the $2 writers.

Perception is everything: USE your past writing to get new gigs

Take a moment or two to think about how you appear to your clients. Do you appear professional? Do you seem as if you know what you’re doing?

It’s show and tell when it comes to getting hired: show what you can do. Create a Web site and blog.

Yes, there’s low paid Web writing out there, but so what? Who cares? The level at which you choose to get writing gigs is up to you.

Display your portfolio, and charge appropriate rates for your level of expertise.

Web writing: to be paid what you’re worth, act like you’re worth it

May 16th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

When it comes to Web writing, both new writers and experienced writers seem to struggle with setting their rates.

Setting your rates is not difficult. If you’ve been published offline, then you’re looking for similar pay for online work. If you’re unpublished, set a reasonable rate to start with, depending on whatever qualifications you have, and create samples of the kinds of Web writing you want to do.

There are millions of Web sites. Out of all those millions, several thousand sites will be happy to hire you at the rates you wish to be paid.

Excellent point from “How to Get High Paying Freelance Writing Jobs”:

“Web writing” is not a market. It’s a collection of markets. There are low-income sites that simply can’t afford to pay higher rates. There are higher-income sites whose owners don’t know how to effectively use higher quality content for their own purposes, so they won’t pay more to have things expertly written. And there are high-income sites that are not only willing to pay higher rates to writers, but they need to pay for the highest quality content from niche expert writers to maintain their authority, repeat visitors, and deals with high-paying advertisers.

To be paid what you’re worth, you have to act like you’re worth it. This means that you’ll need to market yourself effectively, and you have to assess what people need, and send out proposals. See my ezine article “Get Famous”.

A final point: when you’ve decided on your rates - STICK TO THEM. Yes, you’re going to get “clients” who tell you they can’t pay your rates, and this is sad. For them. It has nothing to do with you - YOU decide what you can afford to work for, and what you can’t.

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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.