How long does everyone else spend writing their articles?

[-joe-]

Usually I can get through generic articles with a couple of rewrites within half an hour but I've been in that same situation writing on things I don't know about and its taken hours to get decent content together. Its even more frustrating when you're working for a pitiful income but honestly even writing for content mills is a step up from my last job. I don't even know what to charge, everyone seems to be able to do more than me for a fraction of the cost.
As for why, I do get more satisfaction in writing than I would working a job outside and it wouldn't be nearly as flexible. I wish I could find some room to progress at the moment though. Even with writing articles I think I'd be happier writing for someone with quality control who had no qualms telling me when I fuck up. At least it gives me room to improve.

@ how much to charge, screw it, charge above the rest. If people don't want quality, fuck 'em, let them spend twice the price by buying rubbish articles. People do realise that it's a false economy buying cheap articles, but unfortunately not everyone. However, I get enough requests as an article writer to choose my price, as long as it's not too much over the average here. I generally charge about $8 per 500 words, although even that isn't brilliant.

P.S. I don't know how far into your writing sales you are, but one thing I thought of today that might be good, is to instead of offering review copies to the millions of serial reviewers, as a perk of the job, you can simply publish a review copy for all to see, and let people make their decision on that. Simple idea, I know, but I don't see anyone doing it, really.

Joe

 

[pixail]

I had considered that but I wouldn't post something I had written specifically for someone. I was tempted to do an open review and have someone select a topic but even then theres no real proof that I had written that. Am I over thinking things? I should probably just do it.

 

[BlueYonder]

About an hour for a 500-word article. I generally write articles only for myself and I don't like doing them. When article writing I'm fussy, perfectionist and do a lot of editing.

For the most part, I prefer writing well-executed sales pages that get into consumers' heads and nudge them towards completing an offer. Indians and other foreign speakers generally aren't good at writing those.

 

[jgrim]

Oh my god, yes, I totally feel you on the tab thing. And I feel you on the grammar/spelling issue, for example, I saw the other day one writer who'd just set up. He had a good pitch, but I spotted several grammar and spelling errors in it! However, he still managed to generate a whole load of business, from some really respected people on here... it's that kind of thing that annoys me.

As to changing my rates, the only way I'd do that was if it was up! it's low enough already Hopefully that day will come though...


It isn't lucrative, at all. Only reason I'm spending my time doing this is so I can earn the money I need to start in affiliate marketing. For example, I have one client, who wanted me to write 6 articles on a topic I know basically nothing about. Because the area is quite small, the 6 topics overlap quite a bit, so it's really difficult writing each article without repeating yourself. I'm still working on the articles, but I'm about three quarters of the way through, after staying up whole nights, working whole days, just to finish them to get my $8 per article... At least I've learnt from that, Like what topics to take up jobs on. It's backbreaking, but the time it'd take to apply for a job at mcdonalds wouldn't be worth it. It'd be weeks before I could start, and by then, I could have earned enough to start already through article writing.

I would never do this as my permanent job, at this wage. I earn below minimum wage.

As to the subscription site, I may be interested, but it'd really depend on the topics.


Yeah, I outsourced a school essay that I didn't have the time for once. It was so god-awfully written, I had to spend a quarter of an hour just correcting it, and it was only a page long...

As to DNS, yeah, I downloaded it, and with my first payment, I purchased a headset. It broke on the day I got it, so I'm currently waiting for the replacement. Hopefully though, that'll make this easier.

Joe

I kinda get the idea that most article writers are just in it for a little while. I've had a few friends that did it for side money and quit because it gets quite tiring.

As for the subscription site, I've had a few PMs from writers that said they'd be interested but they're specialist in specific topics and would prefer to simply write on that topic. So I could see where article writing would be fun as long as what you're writing about is an interest of yours.

So another question for writers: What topic do you enjoy writing most about? I'd like to have a list of writers that enjoy a specific topic. So when I get someone that subscribes for this service (which will be more than a content service, just don't feel like going into great detail) and their blog will be about finance that writers that enjoy the topic will be assigned these articles.

And another question for those that purchase articles: How much would you pay for a constant flow of unique articles posted to your blog on a daily or weekly basis? I know that the good writers cost a big more because of quality but price might be a big selling point for you.

I'd like to have a good list of writers to get my site started and the perfect price range to pay them to continue great quality yet make it affordable for site owners to keep their subscription more than the average 3 month range.

 

[nkobend]

about 0.25 seconds.

The wp plugin I use generates shit like this:-

The Zone dieting plan works on the principle that 100,000 years back, we were beef eaters, and our metabolism is intended to handle the demands of a meat-based diet. Madonna, Demi Moore, and Jennifer Aniston lay great store by the results of the Zone diet program, which was made by Doctor Sears, PhD. The Zone diet plan contains 40 percent carbohydrate, thirty percent protein, and 30 percent fat and is commonly known as the 40-30-30 plan. As the food industry developed, more carbs have been introduced into our typical diet, therefore causing a disparity in our metabolism to burn the fat.

The theory behind this fantastic diet as discussed in the Zone diet plan book is that food must be consumed in the 40:30:30 proportion. As well as the proportion, care requirements be taken that low-starch fruit and veg should make up the carbs portion of the meal, lean proteins to make up the proteins, and heart-healthy monounsaturated fat to finish the balance. This ideal proportion burns up the body fat by tuning up our metabolism. This is going to help you be more educated in handling your diet to fit your condition. If you’ve a health condition , for example diabetes, raised blood pressure, hypertension, or any other heart-related illness, visit your physician first and get recommendation if you could have no health problems or complications on the Zone dieting system. Also, your physician might even lead you in maintaining the Zone diet program. Every one of them claim to push ideal weight reduction, while a few of them also promote good health. Designed for holistic health, Zone Diet meal delivery is among the most healthy and safest methods to shed weight swiftly.

Sadly many of these who take on this job are misguided, regularly taking nonessential or extreme steps to shed some weight which result in dissatisfaction or illness. Trend diets, weightloss pills, crash dieting and diet aids have become increasingly popular amongst those who need to get results fast. Sadly an overall majority of these strategies give no attention to your fitness and health. If you make a decision to utilise a delivery service, confirm you choose one that fits your wishes and pocketbook. Conclusion : For all intents the Zone dieting plan is a good way to lose some pounds, permitting a little bit of everything in balance. It isn’t a fast trend diet but more of a method of living and feeling at your best.

 

[Bombastic]

When I write my own content for a site I spend about 20 minutes per 3-400 word article. If I'm really familiar with the topic I can write that much in about 10 minutes.

If they're for spammy backlinks then I just autospin (usually combining 3 similar articles) and spend a minute writing the title and spun variations. Total like 3 minutes; brain power exerted: minimal.

 

[Unarmed Gunman]

And another question for those that purchase articles: How much would you pay for a constant flow of unique articles posted to your blog on a daily or weekly basis? I know that the good writers cost a big more because of quality but price might be a big selling point for you.

I'd like to have a good list of writers to get my site started and the perfect price range to pay them to continue great quality yet make it affordable for site owners to keep their subscription more than the average 3 month range.

I also pay residuals to my writers (50% of adsense revenue for life on their articles) and that tends to make it more worthwhile for the writer. Always looking for quality edu writers, but not sure if it makes more sense to pay a weekly rate in addition to the article rate because a straight salary might lead to lower quality. Expanding into Health and personal finance so I might give it a shot though - keep me posted.

 

[magnd]

How long it takes to write an article

I think the time it takes depends on the quantity and quality of the article. if you are writing an article of 1000 and above words, you probably need more time than usual to research and organize it in writing.

In some cases, the quality of your article depends on what you want to use the article for, which may lead to extra work on the choice of words, etc.

But you will never be perfect in anything if you don't try. No matter the number of words you need,quality or whatever, practice will surely make you a master. Then you will be able to put out a very good long article within the shortest time.

Or perhaps you consider outsourcing your writing works

thanks

 

[blank_czech]

1 every 10-20 minutes or so actual writing time. Also depends on the quality/length of the article and on how much I know before hand. I always use templates, so all I need to do is plug in the information and give it some flavor and a nice headline.

"...To The Girl Who Shit In My Car"

 

[jgrim]

I also pay residuals to my writers (50% of adsense revenue for life on their articles) and that tends to make it more worthwhile for the writer. Always looking for quality edu writers, but not sure if it makes more sense to pay a weekly rate in addition to the article rate because a straight salary might lead to lower quality. Expanding into Health and personal finance so I might give it a shot though - keep me posted.

Well here is my plan so far: I'm currently setting up a system were members could set up unlimited Wordpress blogs with preconfigured settings and plugins by simply inserting FTP/DB info and clicking upload.

This process will set up the blog, theme and plugins instantly. Then once the unique articles are written then post those. Also, the subscription would have tiers that would also give that user a certain number of automatically posted unique articles every so many days or everyday (if they so choose).

Example: 10 - 500 word articles for say $30. Then they could either put all 10 articles on one site or spread them out over however many blogs they set up with the system. But then I would charge a subscription to the service for, maybe, $20/month.

I'd have to run some numbers of course to see what would be worth it for me, the subscribers, and the writers.

So, if I wanted to maintain a lower price I could have a lower competitive price per article (and the ease of automatically posted articles for their sites) by supplementing the payout to article writers with a portion of the subscription fee.

It's still in the planning stages but that's my plan so far. Right now I've just been mainly working on the functionality.

In short, I'll keep you updated Unarmed Gunman...

 

[-joe-]

I had considered that but I wouldn't post something I had written specifically for someone. I was tempted to do an open review and have someone select a topic but even then theres no real proof that I had written that. Am I over thinking things? I should probably just do it.

I think it'd be fine, even if you did one based on what someone else had said, you could still just copy an article somewhere. Customers could easily check in copyscape whether your article was unique.

I kinda get the idea that most article writers are just in it for a little while. I've had a few friends that did it for side money and quit because it gets quite tiring.

As for the subscription site, I've had a few PMs from writers that said they'd be interested but they're specialist in specific topics and would prefer to simply write on that topic. So I could see where article writing would be fun as long as what you're writing about is an interest of yours.

So another question for writers: What topic do you enjoy writing most about? I'd like to have a list of writers that enjoy a specific topic. So when I get someone that subscribes for this service (which will be more than a content service, just don't feel like going into great detail) and their blog will be about finance that writers that enjoy the topic will be assigned these articles.

And another question for those that purchase articles: How much would you pay for a constant flow of unique articles posted to your blog on a daily or weekly basis? I know that the good writers cost a big more because of quality but price might be a big selling point for you.

I'd like to have a good list of writers to get my site started and the perfect price range to pay them to continue great quality yet make it affordable for site owners to keep their subscription more than the average 3 month range.

I think my best subject isn't so much a subject, and I don't really know what to call it, but writing informally for teens. I'm very good at that. I haven't really given it much thought though, I'm sure there's other subjects I'm particularly good at.

about 0.25 seconds.

The wp plugin I use generates shit like this:-

The Zone dieting plan works on the principle that 100,000 years back, we were beef eaters, and our metabolism is intended to handle the demands of a meat-based diet. Madonna, Demi Moore, and Jennifer Aniston lay great store by the results of the Zone diet program, which was made by Doctor Sears, PhD. The Zone diet plan contains 40 percent carbohydrate, thirty percent protein, and 30 percent fat and is commonly known as the 40-30-30 plan. As the food industry developed, more carbs have been introduced into our typical diet, therefore causing a disparity in our metabolism to burn the fat.

The theory behind this fantastic diet as discussed in the Zone diet plan book is that food must be consumed in the 40:30:30 proportion. As well as the proportion, care requirements be taken that low-starch fruit and veg should make up the carbs portion of the meal, lean proteins to make up the proteins, and heart-healthy monounsaturated fat to finish the balance. This ideal proportion burns up the body fat by tuning up our metabolism. This is going to help you be more educated in handling your diet to fit your condition. If you’ve a health condition , for example diabetes, raised blood pressure, hypertension, or any other heart-related illness, visit your physician first and get recommendation if you could have no health problems or complications on the Zone dieting system. Also, your physician might even lead you in maintaining the Zone diet program. Every one of them claim to push ideal weight reduction, while a few of them also promote good health. Designed for holistic health, Zone Diet meal delivery is among the most healthy and safest methods to shed weight swiftly.

Sadly many of these who take on this job are misguided, regularly taking nonessential or extreme steps to shed some weight which result in dissatisfaction or illness. Trend diets, weightloss pills, crash dieting and diet aids have become increasingly popular amongst those who need to get results fast. Sadly an overall majority of these strategies give no attention to your fitness and health. If you make a decision to utilise a delivery service, confirm you choose one that fits your wishes and pocketbook. Conclusion : For all intents the Zone dieting plan is a good way to lose some pounds, permitting a little bit of everything in balance. It isn’t a fast trend diet but more of a method of living and feeling at your best.

To be honest, that screams spun content, or dp writer at me. For example, the first sentence:

The Zone dieting plan works on the principle that 100,000 years back, we were beef eaters, and our metabolism is intended to handle the demands of a meat-based diet.

100,000 years back, we were beef eaters,

we were beef eaters,

beef eaters,

 

[nkobend]

well of course its been spun ya fucking shitbrain.

that's why it's unique.

doh.

 

[ChinaSearchAds]

well of course its been spun ya fucking shitbrain.

that's why it's unique.

doh.

Do you sell anything with it or is it just for uplinking?

 

[ChinaSearchAds]

To be honest, that screams spun content, or dp writer at me. For example, the first sentence:

The frightening thing is that it is as good as a bad Indian writer. I wonder what the source content is, another article or one that's taken from the web and how long it took to make the content spin worthy.

It's really just another example of why content writers have to move upstream. Although I'm sure that Google will be heavily penalising this sort of stuff soon (along with a lot of non-native stuff) as they get fed up of content mills dominating results, its going to be an arms race.

 

[-joe-]

well of course its been spun ya fucking shitbrain.

that's why it's unique.

doh.

But it goes a bit against the point of content, don't you think? It's so obvious to your readers that it's been spun, that they won't trust your content, and the majority will be immediately clicking the back button.

The frightening thing is that it is as good as a bad Indian writer. I wonder what the source content is, another article or one that's taken from the web and how long it took to make the content spin worthy.

It's really just another example of why content writers have to move upstream. Although I'm sure that Google will be heavily penalising this sort of stuff soon (along with a lot of non-native stuff) as they get fed up of content mills dominating results, its going to be an arms race.

I know, but at least that's the advantage we have over the Indians.

Hopefully they'll penalise it soon, 30% unique isn't unique. Maybe that made sense years ago, but with things like wp-o-matic, it just doesn't cut it anymore..

 

[ChinaSearchAds]

But it goes a bit against the point of content, don't you think? It's so obvious to your readers that it's been spun, that they won't trust your content, and the majority will be immediately clicking the back button.

If he's only using it for uplinks, then not really.

I know, but at least that's the advantage we have over the Indians.

Hopefully they'll penalise it soon, 30% unique isn't unique. Maybe that made sense years ago, but with things like wp-o-matic, it just doesn't cut it anymore..

I gave up hoping for ban hammers years ago. The best way is to specialise, slowly build up a client base and then charge more. I'm four times more expensive than Indian DPers, but I am still very cheap for an investment writer (on the top end for personal finance writers, but still seem to be getting the odd enquiry coming through).

 

[scottspfd82]

To all of you content writers complaining about how you can barely charge $1 per 100 words or whatever scraps you guys are fighting over, here's something to think about...

Go out and find people who...

A) Have money. (Most people on marketing forums are broke).

B) Need VALUABLE content. Content that sells shit, or gets emails opened, or linkbait for high profile blogs...

If you can write well, cheap Indians aren't your competition. They shouldn't effect your business AT ALL.

I have never had one of my clients say "Well Scott, we'd like to go with you, but we're spending $40,000 on this test mailing so we're going to have to cut costs and give this non-native English speaker a try instead"...

Don't charge by the word. Get the hell off of forums and contact potential GOOD clients who pay well (I charge $3-5k+ a sales letter), market yourself, specialize and quit settling for slave wages.

I'd rather be a greeter at Walmart than churn out content for .03 per word. Uck. (And I've been there before, the .03 per word, not Walmart).

You can find "some" good business on forums, but if you want a REAL business, you need to treat it like one, learn how to charge what you're worth and find clients willing to pay it.

/Rant

As for OP's question. Tough to say. I wrote this post in about 2 minutes.

-Scott

 

[ChinaSearchAds]

To all of you content writers complaining about how you can barely charge $1 per 100 words or whatever scraps you guys are fighting over, here's something to think about...

Go out and find people who...

A) Have money. (Most people on marketing forums are broke).

B) Need VALUABLE content. Content that sells shit, or gets emails opened, or linkbait for high profile blogs...

If you can write cheap Indians aren't your competition. They shouldn't effect your business AT ALL.

I have never had one of my clients say "Well Scott, we'd like to go with you, but we're spending $40,000 on this test mailing so we're going to have to cut costs and give this non-native speaker a try instead"...

Don't charge by the word. Get the hell off of forums and contact potential GOOD clients who pay well (I charge $3-5k+ a sales letter), market yourself, specialize and quit settling for slave wages.

I'd rather be a greeter at Walmart than churn out content for .03 per word. Uck. (And I've been there before, the .03 per word, not Walmart).

You can find "some" good business on forums, but if you want a REAL business, you need to treat it like one, learn how to charge what you're worth and find clients willing to pay it.

/Rant

As for OP's question. Tough to say. I wrote this post in about 2 minutes.

-Scott

That's absolutely true. The forums can be a good place to get started, but they're not where you want to finish.

 

[nkobend]

Do you sell anything with it or is it just for uplinking?

i tend to use em as pr funnels.

frankly, the quality is easily as good as you'd get for a couple bucks - why in hell anyone would want to *pay* dollars for content now I have no idea.

you pay some schmuck a couple bucks, he writes you some content (writes... ha) you upload it, 2 days later, 20,000 scraper sites have 'repurposed' it. You're paying to provide other people with free content.

The shitbrain, btw, is so smart he doesn't even know the difference between 'beefeater' and 'beef eater'.

 

[nkobend]

But it goes a bit against the point of content, don't you think? It's so obvious to your readers that it's been spun, that they won't trust your content, and the majority will be immediately clicking the back button.

hahahahahahaha

boy, are YOU gonna make a lotta money at this game!