I Feel the Need for Leads…(writing leads)

Ok, so just because nobody gave me a break when I got started and I had to do all the legwork myself doesn’t mean that I’m going to withold my findings from you. –”My name is Robin Hale, and I approve this whining session.”

After all, I know you’re not snooping around my freelance writing blog just because I’m so terribly charming and interesting, although I am feeling particularly sassy this morning in my bright green shirt with my black and pink sleep pants. It’s the new fall fashion for writers. It’s from the ‘I just don’t give a damn’ collection.

Alright, I’ll stop stalling. Here’s the rundown of who I’m writing for and what they pay, along with a few good forum choices. I’ve done it in a timeline fashion so you can get an idea of my progression. It should be somewhat encouraging because although I’ve been involved in marketing for several years, I’ve only started writing web content and online articles withing the last five weeks.

Textbroker.com: This site was my first attempt at breaking into online writing. They had me write a test article about the town I live in, which happens to be Cape Coral, Florida “forclosure capital of the world,” so that was amusing in itself. Pros: They do pay into your paypal account. Cons: They only pay once per month. The average pay per article is $4-$6, which is pretty crappy. The article topics they have available are generally strange, obscure things that I have no desire to write about such as, ‘write 400 words on Peruvian wedding tips’  or ‘700 words on garden hose replacement nozzles.’ Needless to say, I wrote one article for them and found another place.

WAHM.com: (Stands for Work At Home Mom’s….Go directly to the WAHM’s who write section) A helpful and friendly forum where there are lots of other desperate women such as myself, trying to make a serious living at freelance writing. They offer advice, honest answers, and are pretty free about giving out leads. I have found that most of them willingly work for peanuts so I’m sort of shopping for a new writing forum to participate in. Remember, surround yourself with people who have already arrived at where you want to go. Enough said. I did meet a very cool friend on there who I lovingly call “donkey balls” when I talk about her to my husband. But that’s another story.

DailyArticle.com: This one is just a site to upload your articles that you want to sell. Once you start writing for other places, save your articles, do quick rewrites of them and put them up for sale on here. If it’s a good topic you can get about $20-40 per article. Most of the more expensive articles don’t go very quickly. Once a person buys your article, this site will pay you 80% into your paypal account within 72 hours.
Qualitygal.com: I like working for these people. They pay quickly into your paypal once you submit an invoice to them. You’ll get about $10 per 500 word article. At first it would take me half a day to get an article done, but once you get used to what a certain broker wants, you can easily write an article in less than an hour. The way to start with this one is to email her and say you want to join the writing team. You’ll get an email back with 3 test articles. You will be paid for the test articles even if she doesn’t end up using you as a writer. They come across as super anal at first but that is just because NO ONE follows directions. When she sends you the instructions on how to submit your articles, make sure you read them. The first time I sent mine in wrong….oops.

Need-An-Article.com: These guys don’t pay a ton but they do pay directly into your paypal account every Friday at midnight. The pay is $5 for a 500 word article. I don’t do generally do those. 850 words get $12 so I stick to that. On Thursday and Friday I usually write like an mf-er to turn in all I can before Friday’s payout. I usually make a little over $100 per week on this site.
BrightHub.com: This one I am approved to write for but haven’t started yet because they pay once per month. I can’t get used to that yet. You write articles on specific topics here. I am approved to write for the ‘alternative healing and holistic medicine’ channel, as well as teh ‘health and nutrition’ channel. This is a fairly new and fast growing site.  Pay is $10 per article and residual money after 60 days depending on how popular your article is.

WritersWeekly.com: Check here weekly (wow, go figure) for new ligitimate places that are hiring. There are some good ones. You can write greeting cards for Blue Mountain and get $500 dollars. I don’t do greeting cards though, I’m a bit too sarcastic for that sappy stuff. There are lots of other places mentioned on here and the owner of the site always seems to dig up new leads. If it is mentioned on this site or on wahm’s it IS LEGITIMATE and you will get paid. Some of the other sites are scams so be careful.

You will enjoy these sites if you like to write. It’s easy money. Just don’t get discouraged. If you are new to freelance writing it will take you longer to write even one article. Before long you’ll be busting two or three out while you’re laying in bed watching tv. Of course I’m way too professional for that. I sit here at my freakishly cluttered desk, drinking cold coffee, eating pop-tarts and wondering how many days it’s been since I’ve actually ventured outdoors to check the mailbox.
Oh, and by the way…these are only SOME of my leads. You’ll have to add me to your RSS feed or check back for the Holy Grail of writing leads. I can’t give you EVERYTHING in one shot… Come on now!

~ by robinana on 6 November, 2008.