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

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

So – to compliment the report we have decided to launch a free email series that offers writing tips and insights for new online content writers. Whether you’ve written a few articles for pay or you haven’t figured out how to make money online as a freelance writer, our free writing tips newsletter will help give you the footing you need to make more money as a content writer.

There’s no catch, no commitment and no requisites other than you sign up via our form. We’re not going to bombard you with advertisements nor are we going to insistently beg that you purchase the Daily Writing Jobs Report.

To sign up for the Daily Writing Jobs Writing Tips newsletter, just visit the blogs home page and fill out the form at the top of the page there.

Thanks for visiting our website and good luck with your writing career!

• Last Call for Free Freelance Writer Support
• Getting Established as a Freelance Writer
• Can I Write Full-Time Online?
• Finding Writing Jobs using Search Engines
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem

Web Content Writing Semantics

Really, web content writing is the all-encompassing phrase that represents a variety of freelance writing services:

• Blog post writing
• Article writing
• Website copywriting
• News story writing

You could get all technical, but the majority of freelance writing projects that you’ll find online for website owners revolve around writing articles for online business owners.  Writing articles is where the money is at for new online freelance writers – there is an abundance of article writing jobs available today and if you’re looking to make your first dollar online as a freelance writer – writing articles is a great place to start.

If you’re looking to get paid to write articles online, we highly suggest that you check out the Daily Writing Jobs report – not only does it show you, in great detail, on where to find article writing jobs – it includes a “quick start” guide for new writers so that they can start earning cash for writing articles right away.

• How much do blogging gigs pay?
• Get Paid with No Writing Experience
• Can I Write Full-Time Online?
• Importance of revising and proofing your writing projects (get more clients)
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem

How to find freelance writing opportunities

There are a number of ways that established writers and even aspiring writers can find new writing opportunities. We’ve put together a short video tutorial on how you can use search engines to find writing jobs and we list over 20 resources that even brand new writers can use to locate paid writing opportunities within the Daily Writing Jobs report. We can’t spill all of our secrets here and now, but we’re more than confident that our report will give you the resources and the know-how necessary to help you make money online as a freelance writer.

• Finding Writing Jobs using Search Engines
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem
• If you can write, you can get paid
• Are you saving money, or wasting time and losing money?
• What do online freelancers get paid?

Today’s content publishers, especially of the online variety (website owners, online business owners) don’t have the tools, the time or the resources to find a “qualified” content writer. Now, this may not be true for large online companies or corporations that hire writers – but it’s overwhelmingly true in situations with average Joe or Jane, sole proprietor type businesses.  In the majority of cases – they don’t care how much training you have; they don’t care where you went to school, they don’t care if you’re a stay-at-home parent or a full-time professional – they just want the content that will help them for their purposes.

This tidbit of information really is good news for the budding writers amongst us, especially if that’s you.  Now, it’s unrealistic to think that a no-experience writer will get $20 per article straight out the gate, even with offline writing experience or training – but it’s certainly not unheard of.  Really, how much money you make as a writer starting out depends more on where you find your writing jobs than your qualifications.  Even if you’re a mediocre writer, you can make that ever-coveted $20 per 400 word article if you market your services to the right people.

Bottom line – you don’t need a lot of experience as a writer to get paid to write online content.  If you head on over and pickup your own copy of the Daily Writing Jobs report, you’ll find a ton of resources that will help you to find writing jobs in no time flat, regardless of your current experience level.

• If you can write, you can get paid
• Open for Business
• Get paid to write articles
• Getting Established as a Freelance Writer
• Can I Write Full-Time Online?

See – one of the most important issues for online content and media publishers is one thing: a demonstrable ability to write. When you’re writing for an online audience, you can all but forget about the need for a writing degree, a long list of references and even professional writing experience. To sum it up nicely, online content publishers care more about what you can do for them than what a piece of paper states you’ve accomplished in the past.

Now, this may be news to some would-be writers, but it’s really something that should be common knowledge. This, in part, is the reason that I wrote the Daily Writing Jobs report – to let inexperienced writers know that they can, in fact, get paid to write.

There are a number of places that inexperienced writers can find paid writing gigs or writing jobs – some that pay on demand and quite a few that pay weekly. However, it would be counterproductive for me to list such resources here as they are available within the report… and I’m not giving that away for free.

But – the point of this post is simple: if you can write in a halfway decent manner or better, you can get paid for your skills.  Period.

• Get Paid with No Writing Experience
• Open for Business
• Can I Write Full-Time Online?
• Yes, you can get paid to write online – but here’s your problem
• Are you saving money, or wasting time and losing money?

Really, a writers’ wages can be affected by a lot of different variables, such as:

• How much experience a writer has.
• How well the writer can write.
• How well a writer has branded their name and maintained their reputation.

However – In my personal opinion a writer’s wages are affected primarily by who they are catering to. I’ve seen pay scales for online writers from the USA from .01 per word (that’s $5 for a 500 word article) to .60 per word ($300 per 500 word article). Sure, in most cases the quality for a $300 article is better than the quality of a $5 article, as it should be, but I’ve seen $300 content writing that was outperformed by work from a $40 article writer.

As far as averages go, though – for new writers in industrialized countries (USA, Canada, UK, Australia, etc) the pay scale seems pretty steady around $8-$12 per 400ish word article. Some new writers can get around $15 per article, though.

For established writers the averages go up a bit – starting at around $20 per 400ish word article up to $35 per article.

Now, something should be stated here – an established writer is not necessarily a ‘qualified’ writer when it comes to online content writing. There are a number of freelance writers who don’t hold a writing degree or an extensive background that can, time and time again, demand $20+ per article and people will pay for it without hesitation. But, I think this goes back to who a writer is targeting.

Freelancing online as a writer is an easy gig – you can get paid regardless of your experience and it wouldn’t be all that difficult to make $15/hour or more even with limited typing/writing skills.

If you are currently a freelance writer or a future freelancer, I suggest you check out my report on how to find writing jobs online, it’ll give you all the information you need to make a full time living as an online freelance writer.

• Get Paid with No Writing Experience
• You’re stubborn, and that’s why you’re broke
• Can I Write Full-Time Online?
• How much do blogging gigs pay?
• Why do online freelancers earn so little?