Predominantly, you’re going to find that blog writing gigs don’t pay very well. From what I see of the market, if you want to have great chance of earning $10 per post or more, you’re going to have to have your own website where you offer your writing services, and a client base that is not made up of the average crowd of blog content buyers.

There are some real problems that face blog writing gigs, though, especially for new writers:

1. A large percentage of blog writing gigs require that you already have an established blog yourself. In other words, quite a few of these gigs require you to post content on your own blog.
2. Many times, you’ll have to do extra work for blogging jobs — meaning that you’ll not only have to write the blog post, but you’ll have to post it on your clients blog(s), if they don’t request that you post their work on your own blog.
3. In the majority of cases, by taking on a blogging job means that you must be familiar with SEO copywriting. However, as most website owners are exceptionally ignorant, and trust the false SEO advice that prevails online, they probably want you to write content using a pre-determined keyword a bunch of times, not true SEO Copywriting. While repeating a keyword phrase within content is not difficult in the least, you still must know how to do it without messing up the readability of the content.

It’s not likely that you’re going to find blog post writing jobs that require a conversational tone, and no additional work, though, they are out there.

So, even with all of this additional work that you’re likely going to need to preform, blog writing gigs generally do not pay well, especially for new-to-the-game freelance writers. Realistically, you’re probably going to earn between $3 per blog post to $6 per blog post, depending on the client and the length of the content that they need. However, as blog content is well-known for being shorter than for-the-web articles, you probably won’t have to write out 400 words — in fact, 250-350 words is generally the max word count that many of these blog owners are looking for.

In my opinion, the reason that these rates are so low are as follows:

1. There are so many freelance writers online undercutting each others’ prices, that the prices for writing services have dropped in certain markets.
2. Blog post writing is quite easy, and arguably easier than writing a 400-word article.

I’m going to stretch my hypothesis a bit further here by saying that the lower rates also have to do with the lowered word count, both directly (as mentioned above), and indirectly. See, when you have non-native English speaking writers, you can usually tell with a longer article — even at 350-500 words, it can become very apparent. However, with 200-word “blurbs”, not really articles, there is a chance that a mediocre, non-native English speaking writer may be able to adequately perform these low-word count jobs. And, because they might charge $0.50 – $1.00 for 200 words, this can really drive the prices down in the low-to-mid range markets. Another thought is that because the prices are so low, buyers are willing to spend the $0.50 – $1 and spend 30 seconds tweaking the content.

These are really opinions on my part, but I see the trends — blog post writing, in the biggest market for it, predominantly pays $3 – $6 per post. It’s not something that you can get rich on, but with the right gig, you can make a few bucks to tide you over until you find something that pays better.

If you want to earn more money writing, and want to learn how to find a ton of freelance writing jobs, check out the Daily Writing Jobs Membership. I offer a getting started guide for new writers, and updated writing job-finding guide, and a daily writing job desktop notification system (some features coming in June, 2009).

• Why do online freelancers earn so little?
• Getting Established as a Freelance Writer
• You’re stubborn, and that’s why you’re broke
• When clients try to take advantage of writers
• Importance of revising and proofing your writing projects (get more clients)

As a writer, you’ll encounter slow times, no doubt. But, I’m not talking to the established online freelance writers who have a large client base, and suffer from a slow time every year or two. I’m talking to the ‘print’ crossovers to the internet version of freelance writing — in a lot of cases, your background won’t give you the clout online that you think it should. If you’re a new-to-the-game writer on the web, and you’re looking for article writing gigs, web content writing gigs, eBook writing gigs, and so forth — where most of the writing jobs are these days — you’ll likely have to start out like the rest of us — near or at the bottom.

Now, there are exceptions to this rule, certainly. Though, unless you have some help, or you are pretty quick about learning how to navigate the online writing jobs field and the many markets within, you’re probably going to have a rough start. So, when a legitimate writing job crosses your path, and it’s a wage that you can deal with, especially when you have nothing else going for you — take the job or gig. While this is money in your pocket today, you really don’t know the end result of your one-time, lower-paying gig.

For instance, many clients, if they like your work and they’re not a super-bulk buyer paying pennies on the dollar for writing work, will be willing to consider a pay rate increase. Also, you can get referrals from this lower-paying client, either today, or even 10-months down the road. Plus, those referrals can lead to many more referrals — all from a one-time gig where you swallowed your pride so that you could put a few bucks in your back pocket.

If you want to make money in the online freelance writing field, and you’re just getting your start now — you’ve got to be willing to do what it takes. Yes, this means that sometimes you’ll have to suck it up and take on a $5 article writing gig, or a $8 article writing gig — but so what? You may spend hours, days, or weeks, finding that one big writing job, but you’re potentially passing up the launching a full-time writing career by skipping over the little jobs that you’re too big to do.

This may be a bit harsh, but hopefully it drives the point home. There’s plenty of money to be made in the freelance writing field, but if you really want to succeed, don’t be afraid of taking on the little jobs. Sometimes, the little jobs are the ones with the biggest long-term rewards.

• Importance of revising and proofing your writing projects (get more clients)
• How much do blogging gigs pay?
• When clients try to take advantage of writers
• Getting Established as a Freelance Writer
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem

There is nothing wrong, at all, with the DIY (do it yourself) approach.  In fact, certain personality types compulsively have to do everything themselves — whether it’s because they want to learn a skill, they need to quench their thirst for knowledge, or because they’re of the belief that — if you can do it yourself, there is no reason, whatsoever, to pay for it.  I understand the first two, but I can’t, being a logical-thinking person, understand the necessity to do something just so I don’t have to pay for it.

Now, there is the argument that sometimes you don’t have the money to pay for something — a service, a product to improve your efficiency, or information. And, I wholeheartedly agree that sometimes — you just can’t pay for something — it is physically impossible given your situation.

However, when the argument changes a bit — say, you have the money to pay for something that’ll help, and you’ve clearly demonstrated your inability to do the job effectively in the past, yet you continue on walking the same, unsuccessful path that you’ve been walking for some time now, and hoping for a different result.  That’s almost the verbatim socially-defined meaning of insanity: doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.

Yes, I am primarily talking about this report and how some writers,  who have a ton of experience under their belt, won’t spend $9, $30, or $100 to break them out of the never-ending path that they’ve been walking.  However, while they won’t spend this marginal sum, comparatively speaking, on a product or service to better themselves, they’ll spend days, or even weeks looking for a single writing gig. Those days and weeks could have been invested in actually doing work and getting paid instead of merely looking for work and going hungry.

If you want to learn the ropes of freelance writing on your own, that’s understandable.  If you want to learn how to find writing jobs on your own, I completely sympathize with that as well — I have the same, “I can do it all myself”, “I want to see how I can improve the system” mentality.  However, in your efforts of self-advancement, don’t be ignorant.  There are plenty of times in life where it’s completely justified to pay for something –  pay somebody to fix your vehicle, pay somebody to change your oil, pay somebody to prepare your complex taxes, purchase a list of updated  paid-survey opportunities, purchase a tutorial on how to improve your website’s SEO, or invest in a membership that’ll  show you how to find writing jobs and make more money as a freelance writer.

My point here is this — don’t spend more time on a necessity than it’s worth.  If you have no money, and no way to obtain it, spending days or weeks to find a writing gig may very well be worth the investment.  However, if you would rather spend time making money than figuring out how to find people willing to pay you for your skills, maybe it’s time to consider a service like Daily Writing Jobs offers — the opportunity to learn the freelance writing trade, and help with finding jobs that’ll pay you, without the steep learning curve.

• You’re stubborn, and that’s why you’re broke
• Getting Established as a Freelance Writer
• How much do blogging gigs pay?
• When clients try to take advantage of writers
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem

Reason #1 – qualifications

In a lot of cases, when you take on a writing job online — you don’t really need a writing background.  Sure, some jobs will require it, but in many (many) cases — you just need to know how to write and need to be able to demonstrate that.  Maybe you’re an 18-year old kid, fresh out of high school, or a 65-year old, never-finished-high-school retiree just looking for a few extra bucks… when you’re looking to freelance as a writer on the ‘net, it largely doesn’t matter.

Reason #2 – publishing location

If you look at the whole of the writing jobs available today, they are predominantly projects for  Joe AverageGuy and Jane AverageGal — not some city-wide, state-wide, or nation-wide publication.  Jane and Joe don’t have a lot of money, and because the freelance writing rates have been driven down over the years, they really don’t need a lot of money, even to hire a college-educated writer, unfortunately.  If you’re writing for a startup, especially if the startup is backed by a $5-per-month web hosting account and a couple of domain names — these people can’t pay a lot for writing services.

Reason #3 – huge competition

This kind of ties into the first point, and affects the second point, but competition is a huge factor in pricing for freelance writing services.   Quite literally, you have “writers” who should be paying you to take their work advertising their services alongside 20-year writing veterans, trying to compete for the same $5-per-article job.  If you’ve looked over the main website, you’ll stumble upon this little blurb (unless I change the sales page):

You do not have to be a great writer to get paid, you don’t even have to be a good writer – if you can write at an eighth grade level or better, you can make money online as a freelance writer

This is probably an understatement, too. You have people who have no business pretending to be a writer, who are soliciting writing gigs and clogging up the system because just about anybody can get paid to write content on the internet.  Now, I’m in no way speaking about writers who are  a bit rough around the edges (the ‘no business’ part), I’m talking about the writers who produce content that looks like it was written by picking random words out of an 18th-century dictionary.  And then mixed up a bit for good measure.

Yes, there is a huge gap between print writing rates and web-content writing rates, or at least there can be.  Web-content writers can make a lot of money, even those who have no writing background.  On the other hand, college-educated writers can earn $3-$5 per article just as easily.  Not all online writing gigs are low-pay, but they certainly are out there.

If you want to learn how to make more money as a freelance writer, I highly suggest that you check out the Daily Writing Jobs report.  Right now, the report is less than $9.  However, very (very) soon, I’m going to be adding some new content to it, adding a couple of videos, and a whole slew of stuff for those who want to make money online in the freelance writing field.  If you purchase today, you are guaranteed access to the upgrades, even after the price increases.

• How much do blogging gigs pay?
• When clients try to take advantage of writers
• You’re stubborn, and that’s why you’re broke
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem
• Last Call for Free Freelance Writer Support

For me, personally, I receive numerous compliments on my work that I submit to clients.  I’m not meaning to toot my own horn because, in reality, my ability to write has more to do with my genetic makeup and the talents bestowed upon me by the Higher Power than my education or training in the field.  However – one thing that I am very good about is my dedication to going over my work multiple times before I call it ‘finished’.  On short articles, I probably only go over these pieces three times, but when I get into longer content, such as documents containing in excess of 1,000 words – I revise these pieces a minimum of four times.

By the time I’m making my second pass, I do not find a lot of mistakes – but a missing comma here, an awkward phrase there, and a run-on sentence in the mix really adds up, and can hinder the opinions that your clients have of you and your work.

I’m not saying that my methods are best, but I receive a number of compliments for my work – and I attribute that to the extra time I spend going over my work before I send it on as completed.  At least in my field, clients do not like to have to touch anything after-the-fact; essentially it is my job to forward a perfect document, from the angle and focus to the quality of the writing and accuracy of information, each and every time.  Because I save my clients time by not having to deal with ‘tweaks’ and after-submission revisions, I get a lot of repeat business.  What’s more, though, is that I receive a great deal of referrals from previous clients, which, referral-based business is largely how I come across new clients.

Here is, in general, how I proof my work before shooting it off to a client:

1. I will take my rough draft, and read through it in my head.  At this point I am mainly looking for sentence structure and clarity of purpose.  If the work is for an international audience (non-US English speakers), I’ll eliminate any regional dialect, idioms, etc., that sneak into my work.

2. I will go over the work again, this time paying closer attention to punctuation, unnecessary contractions (depending on how formal the work is), and so forth.

3. I will go over the work again, though this time, I read it aloud.

4. Again, I read over the work one more time, out loud, so that I am not only reading it in my head, but listening to the content with my ears.

That’s about it.  Sure, revising your work multiple times will add time to your project, but the dividends that it pays by way of satisfied clients and word-of-mouth referrals, is well worth it, in my opinion.

Disclaimer: I do not proofread these blog posts in almost any capacity… sometimes I’ll read through it once, but that’s about it. I’m just saying – these blog posts are not indicative of my professional work.

• You’re stubborn, and that’s why you’re broke
• When clients try to take advantage of writers
• How much do blogging gigs pay?
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem
• Find Freelance Writing Opportunities Here

We’ve lowered the price on our report, and added an optional 30 day email support package for new writers who want some one-on-one help to get started in the online writing field.

All customers who purchased the Daily Writing Jobs Report at the higher pricing (that included support) will receive the Writing Jobs desktop notification system on October 15th if they signed up for the notification list.

You can access the new website and the new options on Daily Writing Jobs

• Last Call for Free Freelance Writer Support
• How much do blogging gigs pay?
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem
• Why do online freelancers earn so little?
• Free writing tips mailing list

I’m sure that there are some writers who get paid who write at a sixth grade level, but when you start going down that low, you’re really getting into iffy territory.  Sure, I’ve seen some writing samples from foreign writers who look to write at a fourth grade level – but they don’t really get to take on too many paid writing jobs. And when they do, they aren’t making much money by USA, UK, Canada, Australia, etc. standards.

In any case – there is a common theme with these emails that I am getting, and it’s really troubling.  While one thing that bothers me is that all of these writers want my help, but they’re not even going to consider purchasing my report – they want me to essentially give them all the answers for free.  Now, this is somewhat bothersome, but not really the most troubling aspect:

The majority of these writers expect customers to find them, or magically “choose” them for their writing projects. I’ll lay this as straight as possible so that there is no misunderstanding and no ambiguity:

When you are starting out in the online writing field – you must go to potential customers.  Find out where they congregate, place your ad and your writing samples in front of them, be available if they choose to contact you and do it all over again tomorrow.

I’ll admit – for a self-taught writer, I’m very, very capable and produce excellent work.  Now, these pieces on this blog are far from perfect – they’re 5 minute pieces that I throw together for varying reasons. However, even though my clients describe my work as “excellent”, “perfect”, and some describe me as “the best”, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t start out doing the legwork trying to find clients.

Back when I started a couple of years back – I was busting my chops responding to ads, placing ads and trying to look for work.  People didn’t come looking for me back then – I had to go to them.  I started out at around $7 per article and in a few short weeks rose up in ranks to about $15 per article because apparently I had the natural ability to write.  Maybe you’re not a natural writer, and maybe you’re an excellent writer who could easily command $100 per 400 word article if you only had clients.

The problem is, though, that you do not have clients.  You do not have a reputation and you have not branded yourself to the point that your name is synonymous with the phrase “excellent writer” or “affordable writer” or “mediocre writer”.

Here is a quick and dirty “get-started” guide for new writers (new to the online world of writing, regardless of offline experience):

1. Get writing samples.  If you’re new – you want every job you can get, chances are.  Do not show off less than your best work.  Once you establish yourself and have a reputation, personally I think that this rule is much less important.  If you do not have paid clients, write something up in the field where you will be looking for work.  If you want to write articles for money, write up articles.  If you want to write press releases, write press releases.  If you want to write technical pieces for the security industry – write up samples in that area.

2. Get your stuff together.  Figure out how much you want to be paid, figure out how you will collect payment, figure out if you want a down payment (you should not expect to get 100% prepayment in all cases as a new writer), and if so – how the payment arrangements will work. Basically, you want it to look like you know what you’re doing regardless of the truth of the situation.

3. Find out where your potential clients are. Now, I will admit that this point is probably more difficult for those inexperienced in this field, but this is exactly why I put together the  Daily Writing Jobs report – to show writers where potential clients are congregating.  If you’re new, clients will not come to you – you have to go to them.

4. Get your offer in front of your potential writing clients. This means you must respond to ads and place ads yourself.  If you’re a decent writer, getting established may take a few projects – if you’re an “ok” writer, but not really all that great, it’ll take a bit longer to establish yourself – but there are crappy writers bringing in $50 – $200 every single day by putting in a full day’s work. If crappy writers are making a full-time living in the online writing field, you have to wonder why you can’t even land a single writing gig.  This tip will set you free if you have the dedication to follow through with it.

5. Continually better yourself. I’ll be honest – I still do not know what an ‘adverb’ or a ‘reflexive pronoun’ is – but I still make, on average, $30+ per hour working part time.  The only thing going for me is that I have the natural ability to write in a decent manner, but I’ve absolutely picked up on a few things over the last couple of years that have helped me to better myself in this field.  Plus, the content that I write for SEO purposes does really well in search engines – so that adds a lot of credibility to my service as well.  This article isn’t about me, though – so continually work to improve where you are lacking.

Hopefully this post will help new writers out.  If you’re serious about moving into the online writing field and you want some real help – I suggest that you pickup my report.  In the next day or so, the price will go down to under $10 for the report itself, and for an extra fee I’ll even give you one-on-one support.

If you’re completely lost and you want some mentoring in this field, feel free to contact me and we can discuss this possibility.  Mentoring will not be cheap and I do not guarantee that you will be a good candidate right off the bat (If you’re a poor writer, I’ll have you polish up your skills before I’ll consider this) – but it’s an option for those of you who are interested.

That’s it for today – I suggest you take my little list here to heart, and really work on the things that I’ve mentioned.  There are so many writing jobs available today and there are so many terrible writers getting paid while decent writers struggle to find any writing jobs… you can get paid to write online – but you can’t expect others to come looking for you when you’re first starting out – you have to go to them.

• When clients try to take advantage of writers
• Can I Write Full-Time Online?
• You’re stubborn, and that’s why you’re broke
• Importance of revising and proofing your writing projects (get more clients)
• If you can write, you can get paid

Overall, the pricing for the report itself will go down significantly, but the fees and benefits of the one-on-one support option will change drastically.

New freelance writer support and consultation features:

• Free placement evaluation – based on your skills and interests, we will suggest the recommended course of action for you. A new writer’s freelance writing plan to success, if you will. This is optional and available upon request.
• 60 day email support – You will have a direct line to us for any questions you may have about getting started in the writing field, how to establish yourself, etc.
• Free access to a freelance writing job finding feed that we will make available in early October.  We will be selling this resource, but any writer who purchases our report and opts to receive our support services will receive this time-saving tool free of charge.

The costs of the report will shoot down to $8.95 and right now we’re thinking that the optional support and bonuses will run between $47-$67.  Quite honestly, we’ve really expanded the reach of our support services, and I personally think that by lowering the costs of the report and offering support services as an optional charge, we’re enabling newer writers to get a very useful resource in their hands without a lot of out-of-pocket expense.

Now, our report on this website’s home page is $35, and the info contained within it is worth exorbitantly more than this amount.  However, due to sluggish sales (which, may be in part due to the horrendous formatting and layout of the home page), we’ve decided to mix things up a bit with our offer on DailyWritingJobs.com.

If you have any questions regarding these changes, feel free to let us know.

If you have already purchased the report, we will send you the freelance writing jobs feed free of charge, upon request, once it’s ready – but we cannot offer these expanded support services for the current purchase price of the report.

• Find Freelance Writing Opportunities Here
• Getting Established as a Freelance Writer
• Free writing tips mailing list
• Why do online freelancers earn so little?
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem

Here’s my little story of one demanding client

This has actually happened to me twice in the last month.  I’ll give you a summarized version of one of these situations:

Client A has been ordering writing services from me since 2006 (nearly two years!).  He apparently loved my work and because we had been working together for such a long time, this person occasionally received very nice discounts on my writing services.  I use a fluid pricing schedule as opposed to a flat-rate schedule as this has worked out well for me.

In any case – this person wanted somewhere between 50-70 articles, probably more, but I could only verify about 70.  I was giving him a heck of a deal at only $10 per article for a couple of reasons:

1. The topic was very familiar.

2. We have an extensive work history and this guy had paid me thousands upon thousands of dollars over the years.

After I delivered about 20 articles, the guy wanted to change things around – he wanted me to lengthen my articles (agreement stated a minimum of 350 words); 17 of the articles were over 400 words, and several were actually over 550 words.

The end result – I dropped him.  Now, to be fair – I had a problem with him about a year ago as well, basically he started treating me like a $5 article writer.  If you do not know what that means, it basically means that the buyer changes the terms of the deal and expects the freelance writer to bend over backwards to save the contract because they are hard up for work.  However, at that time I told him that the way he was treating me was unacceptable and gave him an ultimatum – he changed his tone.

Why “cheapskate” buyers are bad for your business as a writer

So-called “cheapskate” buyers will suck you dry; once you give in to them, they will walk all over you.  They will expect the world from you and give you next to nothing in return.  There are good clients just as their are bad clients, and sometimes, such as the case here – there’s a fine line between the two.  Sometimes you’ll run into clients who will go along with your terms for a while, and then they’ll try to throw in a couple of additions here and there.  As a writer, you have to judge where your line is and weigh out the potential losses and gains by taking a certain action.

Quite honestly, by me dropping this client, I literally gave up thousands of dollars.  I’m ok with that.  I mostly cater to SEO companies, web development firms and professionals – I can make up those losses with a few writing projects.  If I were a new writer, or my clientbase was made up of “freebie seekers” where my clients had a hard time imagining paying $20 for an article, I probably would have sucked it up to get the $500 – $1,000 and then I probably would have called it quits.

I’m not in any way suggesting that you should drop your clients every time they want a little bit extra from you – that’s absurd.  With the right clients, there should be a little bit of give and take – plus, you can always make up for any current losses by increasing your bid a little bit on a future project if you are a decent writer who enjoys repeat business.

My advice for new online writers:

Beware.  There are people who will eat up the majority of your time, your energy and your resources and give you next to nothing in return.  If you show them that you are desperate or unsure of yourself, they will take note of that and use that point to their advantage.  While this isn’t the norm – there are plenty of good clients – this is something that is a part of the online writing field.

Bottom line: writing opportunities abound – if you have a client that is impossible to please, cut them loose.  There are plenty of people willing to pay you for your services – let the freebie-seeking cheapskates go and look for clients that appreciate the services that you provide for them.

• How much do blogging gigs pay?
• You’re stubborn, and that’s why you’re broke
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem
• Last Call for Free Freelance Writer Support
• Getting Established as a Freelance Writer

Why writing full-time is more of a personal choice based on effort than happenstance based on skill

To be perfectly frank: there are great writers who make a measly few bucks a week (or month!) while dime-a-dozen writers are making a decent-or-better living in the freelance writing field. These facts have little-to-nothing to do with the writer’s talents; the determining factor here is the effort put forth by the writer. Great writers with no visibility don’t get paid their worth – in fact, many writers who could be making above-average writing wages are stuck in the muck trying to compete with writers who can afford to write for $3 per article. It kind of reminds me of a Metallica song – “Sad but True”… I don’t really know the lyrics or the context of that song – but it is a sad, sad truth for decent writers who aren’t getting paid what they’re worth.

How to make a full-time living in the freelance writing field, regardless of your experience level

It’s about one thing: getting established. You can’t expect to make a full-time living in the writing field after writing five articles any more than a brick and mortar store owner can expect to pay all of his bills indefinitely because he had five paying customers this week. It takes dedication and continued diligence to get to the point where your business is self-sufficient and doesn’t need a continual push to keep the momentum going.

The short and easy answer is that, yes, it is more than possible to write full-time and make a decent or better living as a freelance writer for the web. However, in order to get to that point – you have to be willing to work at it. It takes time, effort, dedication, self-motivation and sacrifice initially. Maybe you’ll have to do a few articles for free in exchange to get some prominent writing samples, maybe you’ll have to start out offering $5-$8 articles in order to get you name established. Shoot, if you’re a competent writer – maybe $8-$10 articles will be your mainstay and allow you to make your living as a freelance writer. If you can put together 1.5 articles per hour on average at $10 per article, that’s still $15 per hour and about twice what minimum wage is. Plus, you get to work from the comfort of your home when you want to work, without punching a clock.

If you’re wondering whether you can make a full-time living as a freelance writer, I’ll go out on a limb and say “yes”, it’s more than possible. However, like any business – it takes a little bit of effort and a proven game plan. If you’re ready to take the leap and work towards your dream of writing full-time and making a full-time living from it – I highly recommend that you pick up the Daily Writing Jobs report; it’ll give you the guidance you need to help you find the writing jobs that pay you for your skills and the insight you need to stay on track.

• Getting Established as a Freelance Writer
• Are you saving money, or wasting time and losing money?
• What do online freelancers get paid?
• You’re stubborn, and that’s why you’re broke
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem