Some commenters argued that revshare sites were a credible “first step” for new freelancers. A few maintained that it was possible to generate a sizeable passive revenue stream via revshare contributions. I’m still convinced that my position is correct in most cases and I may eventually get around to answering some elements of those objections in future posts.

This post, however, will address another set of comments. More than one reader remarked that it would be nice to hear about some alternatives to revshare operations. I thought that was a more than valid request. While a pure critique may have value, it’s almost always better to combine one’s attack on one option with a workable alternative.

So, if you think I might just be right about the limited utility of revenue sharing sites, here are a few things you might want to do instead. Consider these options the next time you’re about to tap out another article in hopes of capturing a percentage of someone else’s ad revenue.

Build and Improve Your Own Writing Property

If you don’t have your own website, you should. If you’re serious about establishing yourself as a credible freelancer, you should have some presence on the web. Obviously, the quality and scope of that presence will be even more important if you plan to focus on ‘Net-based markets. Your site is a means by which people can find you, learn more about you, discover your skills and contact you. It’s important.

Consider spending some of the time you’d otherwise dedicate to revshare contributions to building or improving your existing website and related elements of your online presence. Admittedly, these efforts don’t directly generate revenue. However, they do create the foundation you need to secure better gigs. In the longer term, it’s a much better investment than revshare work.

Build and Improve Your Own Other Properties

Instead of funneling your awesome articles to a non-appreciative revenue sharing site, keep ‘em for yourself. Build a site or blog dedicated to whatever non-writing topic that happens to trip your trigger or in which you have expertise. If you’d love to be a subject matter writing specialist, hone in on that subject area.

You can buy a domain for under ten bucks. You can get hosting for under five bucks per month. It’s free to install and use WordPress if you’d like. It’s a teeny tiny investment that can really pay off. Even if you’re not interested in aggressively promoting and monetizing the site, you can still point potential clients to your work, making it a showcase for your writing skills and knowledge base. If you do put forth a little effort, you can probably start earning just as much from your posts to your own site as you can with your revshare submissions.

Spend the Time Marketing Yourself or Pursuing Paying Gigs

Tom Chandler, the head honcho at The Copywriter Underground, recently commented on a post at my site. The rant in question objected to the way people automatically tend to make assumptions about one’s position on all freelance writing issues based on one’s position with respect to a single topic. I illustrated my complaint by referencing some of the comments left at my anti-revshare post. In his comment, Tom made a point about the world of lower-paying gigs that certainly applies to writing for revenue sharing outlets:

I firmly believe that investing the same time spent writing $10 articles in new biz development (cold calls, client searches, etc) offers better ROI down the road.

He’s right, too. In most cases, the return on smart self-marketing has the potential swamp the value of revshare contributions other lower paying gigs. If you’re ready to give up on collecting fractions of Adsense clicks, you might want to spend your time working to secure more substantial opportunities.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I think lower-paying options are a mistake for all people under all circumstances.  That will probably become clear as I keep moving through my list, but I just wanted to point that out.

Take a Crappy Writing Job or Two

The alternatives presented thus far don’t directly put cash in the coffers and I know that’s an issue for many people. If you’re ready to give up on the revshare game but aren’t ready to wait to bring in at least some cash, reach out and take a few gigs that don’t pay particularly well.

If you do, you’ll make some money. Not much, but it will be as much as you’d make with revenue sharing contributions in the short run (actually, it will actually be a little more). Plus, it will give you something you don’t get by writing for the revshare sites–a real human contact on the other end of the transaction.

If you’re completely new to the game, the process of working with an individual will help you get experience with client communication, invoicing and all of the other processes that will become a part of your freelance writing business. That low payer may be willing to spend more money with you when he or she sees how damn awesome you are. He or she may spread the word to others who could use a writer. He or she can certainly write a positive review or testimonial you can use in your own marketing efforts. The nickel and dime material you write will show up somewhere, and you’ll be able to point future prospective clients in its direction. And trust me–those articles will carry as much, if not more cache, with future potential clients than something tossed up at AC or Infobarrel.

A few el cheapo gigs can put a foot in the door while dropping a little change in your pocket. The gigs at the shallow end of the rate pool may not be what you want in the long run, but if you need a few quick bucks and something that passes for experience, they’re probably better than an article at Bukisa.

Those low-pay gigs aren’t hard to find. If anything, they might be too easy to find. The Internet marketing forums are crawling with potential clients and Craigslist is overflowing with “I need ten articles about _____”-style clients.

Work for a Slightly Better Mill

Instead of writing revshare articles, you could always write for a content mill that pays you a little more than the potential of future money. It will only take you about thirty seconds to find a year’s supply of articles and blog posts decrying sites like Demand Studios and other pay-per-piece content mills. I’m not interested in answering the complaints. I’m not interested in defending this option, either.

This option and snagging a few lower-paying gigs may not be great ideas for everyone. Some folks may benefit more from some of the other ideas. I’m just saying that it makes more sense than writing for most of the revenue sharing sites.

Volunteer Your Talents

If your goal is experience and an opportunity to create materials you can use to prove your competency to others, consider volunteering your writing talents to make the world a better place. Offer someone engaged in a charitable pursuit a little pro bono copy.

No, it doesn’t pay. Then again, revshare doesn’t usually pay much. You’ll be trading a little hunk of dough for a much heftier hunk of feeling good, I guess. Oh, and pointing others toward this material will undoubtedly work better than showing them your ListMyFive posts.

I was going to put “Try Your Hand at Affiliate Marketing” on the list, but decided it wasn’t a great fit. Even stripped down versions of so-called “bum” article marketing strategies require a great deal of non-writing work. It’s a credible option for those who want to learn how to make it work, but it just didn’t feel like it was part of the same world, so to speak. That applies to a few other online moneymaking plans that involve content production, as well.

Well, there you have ‘em–a few alternatives to writing for revshare sites for new writers. I think they’re all credible alternatives to using your professional skills to supply user-generated content to sites willing to pay you only a fraction of the ad revenue they generate and that have so many other shortcomings.

I mentioned my overall disdain for involvement with most revenue sharing sites in the front-end of my post and thought I’d go into a little more detail about why I feel the way I do.  I’d hate to think that my story of an exception to the rule would encourage anyone to dive headfirst into the revshare waters.

Here are four reasons freelancers shouldn’t be contributing to revenue sharing sites–and why there are occasional exceptions to the anti-revshare rule.

Note:  Just to be clear, I’m talking about sites that will accept your article submissions and will subsequently pay you based on a percentage of ad revenue the article generates, the number of page views it attracts or some other secret formula.  That includes a massive number of sites including Associated Content, Bukisa, Infobarrel and others.  While sites like Squidoo and Hubpages may have additional utility to some Internet marketers, many writers utilize them as “pure” revshare outlets, as well.  Though some revshare sites (like Associated Content) may offer a nominal up-front payment, the criticisms still tend to stick.

PAYMENT UNCERTAINTY

If you’re writing for a hobby and aren’t actually worried about using the income you generate to pay the bills, revenue sharing sites may occasionally provide you with a little pocket money.  If you feel an overwhelming urge to express yourself on a pet topic and think you might expand your audience via use of a revshare site, you might also make a little dough while standing on principle.  Who knows?

Nobody knows.  And that’s a problem.

Those of us who actually rely upon our earnings to pay the bills should be acutely aware of what we’re making and how much time/effort/etc. it requires.  When you fire off an article to a revenue sharing site, you have absolutely no idea what you’ll make.

Sure, you can make predictions based on past experience.  Overall, you may be able to project your like per article earnings over any given time.  However, making safe assumptions requires a sufficiently large sample size and an adequate period to assess results.  So, you’re going to be sinking a fair amount of time into a revshare experiment before you can even do that.  And once you have done it, you’ll realize that those averages are just that–averages.

Some articles may perform admirably.  Others will turn out to be nearly useless.  In time, you’ll begin to think you’re developing a strong feel for what works and what doesn’t.  You’ll improve your keyword analysis and selection skills.  You’ll learn to write the “right” way for the sites.  Then, you’ll discover that the highs and lows are still far removed from the average.

My lucky article may very well earn over a grand before it dies.  Others in the same niche with superior keyword optimization (produced at the same time as the lucky one) have earned next to nothing by comparison.

Why do some kick ass while others lurk unseen in the back of the Internet’s junk drawer?  It could be just about anything.  Maybe someone more serious than your revshare mill of choice decided to go after the same keyword.  Maybe your article caught a lucky backlinking break.  Perhaps Google just hiccupped and the algo failed (or succeeded, I suppose) to your benefit.  The list could go on and on for pages, but all of the potential explanations share one thing in common–they’re out of your control.

So, unless you’re planning on doing a lot of tracking, refining, and writing for the revshare sites, youR likely earnings for any individual piece of work is virtually impossible to predict.

Again, that’s fine if you don’t care about money.  If you do, it’s an ugly state of affairs.

SITE CHANGE RISK

When you sell your work in a revenue sharing environment, you’re almost telling the buyer to pay you whatever they’d like, whenever they’d like.  You’re also agreeing to trust them to present their site, themselves and your article in an effective manner.  That’s a whopper of an agreement.

What happens when your favorite revshare site decides they need to keep more of the cash their content is earning and they opt to change their payout system?  You’re at their mercy.  Check the terms to which you agreed when making a submission.  In a best case scenario, you may have the right to yank the material off the site.  Whoopee.  Where are you going to sell it now that it’s been out there for months or years and has been scraped by a million lousy sites operated by those who really don’t have a grasp on intellectual property right?  Are you just going to try to dump it on another revshare site?  Check their terms with respect to material being previously unpublished.  Oh, and remember these five reasons why the whole strategy tends to stink in the first place, too.

What happens if the revshare site decides to make changes in their structure, promotion or design and Google isn’t happy with them?  Tough luck, Bub.  What if those changes result in inferior ad placement and fewer click?  Sorry.  What if the whole site shuts down or changes direction?  You’re back to square one.

When you start performing those incredibly imperfect revenue projections, they don’t account for these “risk of ruin” situations.  Once again, unpredictability is a huge problem.

CRAPPY PAYMENT

Revshare sites don’t pay much.  If they paid a lot, they couldn’t make money for the people running them.  That’s not an insult to site operators.  It’s a fact.  You’re getting a percentage of your contribution to a business that’s based on volume–and unless you’re a two-handed army, you probably aren’t a volume producer.

I know the idea of creating a passive income stream is enticing.  The thought that you could eventually just sit back and watch the residuals pour into your bank account is the stuff of dreams.  However, it just doesn’t happen absent insane volume.

Every day, I see people talking about how to maximize their revshare earnings.  They provide tips for others who’d like to give it a shot.  You could write a five-volume dissertation on revenue sharing strategy.

Do you know what I don’t see very often?  Credible evidence that anyone is really making a living from revshare article money.  That’s not because the big winners are keeping their success on the down low.  It’s because the success stories are so few and far between.

Look at your flawed per article earnings projections.  Now, do the math.  How many of those revshare articles will you need to write to be in a position to develop a truly meaningful (and, we should remember, always at-risk) revenue stream?  Big number, right?

Now, ask yourself how much you could make per article if you wrote them for a reasonable payment.  Multiply that number by the total you’d need for your dream passive income stream?  One last question:  Would you rather have that amount of dough in your coffers months or years earlier or would you prefer to roll the dice on the value of your high volume output?

That shouldn’t be a hard question to answer.

EXTRA WORK

The revshare hint-givers will tell you that you need to promote your articles in order to encourage the page views necessary to generate a reasonable income.  When you’re playing the revshare game, you’re not just a writer.  You’re an Internet marketer.  Unfortunately, you’re marketing someone else’s product for a potential share of advertising revenue.

I don’t know about all of you, but my workload is heavy enough without becoming a backlink builder for a third party in hopes that it might make my little article slightly more valuable.

When I look at some of the strategies I see people using to promote their revenue sharing articles, I scratch my head in utter amazement.  If those individuals built a simple landing page for a product with an affiliate program and promoted it with equal vigor, they’d make much more than they do helping the revshare mills.

Even if you put that alternative aside, anyone playing with revshare must account for the time and energy expended in the promotion of their content when determining whether process is anything other than silly.  That means taking opportunity cost into consideration.  What could you do instead of promoting your content and would it be more or less valuable than what you’re doing?  Just about anything is going to be a better deal, by the way.  That includes walking your neighbors dog for the change he found under his couch cushion.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE

Sometimes there are moments where a revshare article may make sense.  However, most of them don’t apply to folks who consider themselves to be writers exclusively.

In some cases, they can be used as a means of backlink development.  They serve as a paying version of article directories like EzineArticles.com.  Of course, that is limited only to those sites that don’t over-restrict your ability to successfully link out to the site(s) of your choice.  One should also do that only if they can find a series of revshare sites that don’t insist on completely original content–those links, after all, aren’t that valuable considering the sites upon which they appear and the likely Google mojo of your article’s page.  This exception would also include those who are experimenting with variations of “bum marketing” and other article-driven marketing strategies.

In other cases, one can use a series of revshare articles as a means of adding to an overall presence on the web.  It’s not that valuable for a freelance writer, but some businesses may find it worthwhile to improve the number of search results featuring company names or non-competitive business-specific keywords.  That would also apply to those who might use the revshare outposts as a means of pushing back other search results as part of an overall reputation management plan.

There are rare cases where one may have surplus content due to a client’s order cancellation or some other bit of weirdness where dumping the stuff on a revshare site or two would be a better option than letting it rot.  However, there are usually better options available–even for those who aren’t interested in using the content to create their own sites.

There may be situations where the revshare component of providing an article to a website is secondary to the exposure it may provide.  If a top-notch site that attracts the specific audience you’d like to reach is willing to toss a little coin at you, that wouldn’t be the end of the world.  However, if it’s not the kind of place for which you’d write GRATIS anyway (i.e. a wonderful guest-posting opportunity at an authority site in your niche), the revshare probably won’t be enough to tip the scales.

IF YOU INSIST ON DOING REVSHARE WORK

If, for some unfathomable reason, you just can’t bring yourself to give up on the idea of writing articles for revenue sharing sites, at least try to participate in the most sensible way possible.  That would mean:

• Spending very little time writing each article
• Streamlining your keyword analysis process
• Targeting the best revshare sites
• Looking for opportunities to use the content in multiple revshare settings
• Automating the bulk of your article promotion efforts

Even then, in the immortal words of WOPR, “The only way to win is not to play.”  At least that’s the way I see it.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Writing for revenue sharing sites is not the road to riches.  It’s not the road to a middle class existence.  It’s not even the road off food stamps for most people.  There are better ways to make more money.

This is coming from someone who has experimented with the option and who often finds himself on the opposite side of the “fair rate” debate with those who argue against the so-called exploitation of writers.  In other words, if I’m telling you it’s a bad idea…  Well, I really think it’s a bad idea.

I can’t wait to hear from those who do the revenue sharing thing to tell me how I’m wrong.  I would love to find out if they’ve “cracked the code” and make a solid living from a revshare passive revenue stream.  Really.  All I can tell you is there are plenty of folks talking about how they’re working toward that goal and not too many who have reached it.

To me, it’s all a matter of making the smartest possible choices with the most important finite commodity you have–your time.  On an hour-per-hour basis, it looks like there are much more lucrative things one could be doing.

So, am I wrong on this?  Let me know.  I can’t imagine that I’m too far off-base, but I’m more than willing to entertain arguments to the contrary.

FYI: Per commenter request, I’ve put together a list of alternatives to revenue sharing sites.

You’re not alone.  I know that because I get emails asking, “How in the hell can I get decent clients?” on a regular basis.  I know that because I see folks quizzing discussion board participants with variations of the same question.

I decided I’d take a stab at answering the question.  Here’s my seven-step recommendation for those who want to find their own clients in the not-always thrilling but sometimes cool world of writing web content for dough.  I suppose you should consider this more of an outline than a definitive, detailed guide.  On the other hand, this really isn’t rocket science.  If you can write and you really want to write web content, you can secure a good client base.

If you follow these seven steps, you’ll soon find yourself sleeping on a mattress stuffed with C-notes.  At the very least, you’ll have more than enough work to keep you busy.*

Step One:  Buy a domain name. That’s right, my first step requires you to spend a few dollars on a .COM domain to call your very own.  If you have some super-clever business name, feel free to use it.  If you can get your own name or some variation thereof, that’s not a bad idea, either.

If you’re not willing to spend less than ten bucks to secure a domain name, I think it’s safe to say that you’re either too risk-aversive for the whole entrepreneurial scene or that you’re so dead broke that you should probably be more concerned with finding a way to generate some immediate cash instead of focusing on building a career.

Plunk down the money.  Yeah, you can make Blogger.com blogs look pretty these days, but it just isn’t the same.  You need a credible home base.

Step Two:  Spring for hosting. Yep, another expense.  Don’t worry, you can find cheap hosts.  A few bucks a month.  Stop griping and pry open your wallet.  It’s time to put that domain to use.

Step Three:  Put something decent together. Now, get a website up and running.  It doesn’t need to be the most awesome website of all time.  It does need to be credible and readable.  It should be something that doesn’t embarrass you.

I personally recommend building on a WordPress backbone.  Don’t think of WordPress as a mere blogging platform.  It’s actually a relatively strong content management system and it makes building attractive, structurally sound websites incredibly easy.  There are 384,429,083 good-looking free themes available and about 238,488,992 of those are customizable if you’re interested in doing a little extra work.

Your site needs to have a few things.  It needs to have enough information about you to convince people that you might be worth trusting.  It needs to have readily accessible contact information.  A contact form (easily created with one of many simple WordPress plugins) is a good idea.  You can take it from there.

If you want to build a massive site complete with a regularly-update blog, go for the gusto.  If you want to create a front page, an about page and a contact page and call it a day, that’s okay, too.  The critical thing is building a credible outpost for yourself.

Step Four:  Be easy to find. I’m not talking about dominating the search engines for “freelance writer” queries.  I’m not talking about paying for pay-per-click advertising, either.  Those are potentially smart moves, but they warrant several other long discussions.

I’m talking about getting yourself in front of people and spreading your good name around the ‘Net enough that when people try to find out more about you they can get some idea of who in the heck you are.

There are a billion ways to do that.  They include:

• Guest posting on other blogs
• Commenting on other blogs
• Utilizing Twitter
• Joining the ever-growing ranks of LinkedIn users
• Writing and submitting articles to directories for distribution/syndication
• Creating and publishing press releases
• Blah, blah, blah

At this point, you need to worry a little more about giving your name and presence some breadth.  You can concentrate more on depth as you refine your approach.

Oh, and don’t forget that you should be utilizing these opportunities in a way that allows you to share as much contact information as you can.  Your URL.  Your email address.  Your phone number.  Your address.  Your photo.  Your _______.

Did I say phone number?  Damn straight.  Many newer writers seem reluctant to hand out their numbers.  I can understand that.  However, I can also tell you that seeing a phone number tells people that there’s a real human being on the other end of things and they like that.  It’s a credibility builder, as well as a contact outlet.  It makes people feel better when they know they can pick up the phone and talk to you.  If you don’t want to give out your real number, use Google Voice to snag a free one and have it forward to your cell.  Or invest $30 a month in a cheap Cricket cell phone.  Get a cheap VOIP line.  Whatever.  Just get a number, okay?

Step Five:  Perfect your pitch. This article isn’t about how to run your business in general terms.  It’s about landing regular web content clients.  Eventually, you should be in a position to have clients find you.  When you start, you’ll be finding them.  That means scouring leads like the ones here at Freelance Writing Jobs and elsewhere and following upon the ones that look like a fit.

When you contact those people, you need to have a nice little pitch ready to go.

I’ve hired writers on several occasions.  Most of the come-ons fall into two categories:  Crappy ones and really crappy ones.  Very few are good.  The good ones exude confidence.  They’re short and to the point.  They’re specific to the ad to which the writer is responding.  They prove the writer knows his or her way around the keyboard without forcing the hiring party to wade through too much material.  They include handy links back to the writer’s website (see how it’s all coming together?) that provide necessary biographical information and or sample materials.

When you build your little ad response pitches, keep one thing in mind.  Most of the folks who are hiring content writers aren’t the Executive Vice Presidents of Fortune 500 companies.  They’re not shining the buttons on their Brooks Brothers suits from behind glossy black desks in high-floor corner offices overlooking the city.  They’re more likely to be geeky people in T-shirts who value good ideas, talent and quick thinking over formality and standard-issue resume filler.

Make use of your website in these pitches.  Put the link in the email.  Put it under your name at the bottom of the email (along with your phone number).

Step Six:  Pitch, Pitch, Pitch, Pitch and Pitch. A significant percentage of those you approach will never answer you.  Some will answer you, revealing that they really want someone to do a helluva load of work for very little coin.  Some will be cool with you but will opt to go with someone else.  In other words, you won’t be thick with private clients if you’re answering one call for writers per week. Go for the gusto.  Answer every ad that looks potentially appealing.  If you end up not liking what the advertiser is cooking, you can also politely decline.

Step Seven:  Kick rump. Do a good job.  Meet specifications and exceed expectations.  If you do good work, they’ll come back for more.  And they’ll tell their friends.  They’ll vouch for you when someone else needs a reference before hiring you.  Before you know it, you’ll have business coming to you and you won’t be spending as much time digging through the ads for writers.

There you have it.  You, too, can stay busy writing web content for individual clients.

*The success of this process is wholly dependent upon your ability to actually do the job.  If you’re a miserable writer, you’re doomed.  If you can’t bring yourself to sell your skills, you’re doomed.  If you don’t have the ability or knowledge base necessary to implement these steps, you need to figure things out and/or find someone who knows what they’re doing to help you.  Otherwise, you’re doomed.  The good news is that it’s all relatively easy.  At least it’s easier than many initially intimidated people think it will be.

Brett Giddens has a slightly less dramatic secret life.  Then again, he’s a real person.  He’s an Oklahoma high school basketball coach by day who spends his nights singing in small casinos as an Elvis impersonator.

I have a secret day/night life, too.  Mine doesn’t rival the Angel story and it isn’t as fun as Giddens’ tale.

Sometimes, in the evening, I write things that pay next to nothing.  And I do it just for fun.

Tonight, I noticed a content writer on a forum who mentioned that she was struggling with a deadline and had some overflow work to do.  I couldn’t resist.  Within an hour I was composing a series of six SEO articles on an incredibly uninteresting topic.  I just finished them moments ago.

Last night, I signed up for a little-known content writing site that supplies material to webmasters who believe the road to awesome SEO is paved with short keyword-heavy articles.  I actually wrote one of the entry-level articles for a rate that would make even the staunchest content mill supporter blush.

When I’m done with this post, I might take a minute to write a “Top Five” list at ListMyFive.com, which may or may not produce more than a dollar in annual ad share revenue.

Brett swivels his hips for Oklahoma grannies willing to take a break from the slot machines.  Angel scoured the sad streets of late night LA for tricks while avoiding murderers.  I check forums and search out low-rent content sites.

I don’t spend much time on these endeavors–just an hour or or so here and there.  Sometimes, I’ll do a little something as a break in the action between my everyday work.

Why?

Why would an honor student become a hooker?  Why would a seemingly normal guy want to paste fake sideburns to his face and singe “In the Ghetto”?  Who knows?

Okay, Angel had to do it to make ends meet.  North Oaks was an expensive school.  And lots of people dig Elvis.  I suppose I do need more of an explanation than they do.

Here’s why I maintain my secret life:

• I’m buying my neighbor’s 150cc Tank scooter and I don’t want my wife to find out.  Thus, I need secret cash.  That’s not really why I do these things, but it will be fun to buy it without anyone knowing how or where I got the dough.
• It’s a nice change of pace from the rest of what I do.  I guess it’s sort of like those perfectly normal people who have an inexplicable love of a stupid sitcom or who spend hours reading the worst romance novels you can find at a granny’s garage sale.  It’s a mental break.  I turn the brain off and play with words for awhile.
• It’s a zero pressure situation.  I don’t need to sweat every word.  I don’t need to play with multiple title variations or fix that inadvertent use of the passive voice in the third paragraph.  It’s a liberating kind of writing because, quite frankly, almost anything goes.
• I meet cool people.  Many of the folks I’ve met doing things like this turn out to be good buddies and great people.  Some are new writers who are just getting started.  Some are experienced content writers who grind out articles on the side.  Some have no idea of what in the hell they are doing–but they’re still cool.
• Occasionally, real opportunities emerge.  Occasionally, you’ll accidentally kick open a door that leads somewhere more interesting and more lucrative.  It doesn’t happen most of the time, but it does happen.  In other cases, I’ve been able to do something for someone and then convince them to do more/better/different/etc.  That’s always fun!

How about you?  Do you have a secret life?  Do you do things that would make Angel blush?  Maybe you impersonate Elvis Costello instead of Elvis Presley?  Are you churning out Associated Content articles under a pen name?  Watching sitcoms?  Are you racing me to find these stray gigs at odd hours?

The Big Question

Why do people pay you to write?

Is it because…

• You’re so damn talented?
• They can’t do it themselves?
• You can make the content creation process more efficient?
• Clients love your website and/or pitches?
• You have a special skill or area of expertise?

No.

Those may be reasons why clients choose you over other writers, but people come to the marketplace in the first place for another reason.  They think they can use what you produce to turn a profit.  They want to make money.

Sometimes I wonder if too many online writers spend way too much effort thinking about how to get work now and how to compete for gigs while spending far too little effort thinking about that bigger, core question.  I wonder if many web-based freelancers may be setting themselves up for future struggles because of it, too.

A Change is Gonna Come

That’s not because I foresee a sudden drop in the demand for online content.  On the contrary, I think that a variety of new and even lucrative opportunities is on the horizon.  However, I do question the longer-term viability of many markets upon which writers are building businesses.  I wonder how many writers will survive and/or react as the Internet and the way we use it changes.

In order to protect yourself and your business, it’s important to delve into the reason why demand for writing exists–the profit potential of the output.  That means having both a solid understanding of the strategies clients are employing in pursuit of revenue and the greater trends that will undoubtedly force changes to those strategies and to the marketplace as a whole.

For instance, any writer who isn’t thinking about inevitable changes in the nature of search engines is making a mistake.  The search engines don’t stand still.  Google and its smaller competitors are constantly refining their approaches and there are a number of reasons to believe that they’ll be forced to make some major adjustments in the relatively near future.

Those changes could have a major impact on what are “bread and butter” for many writers.  Traditional article marketing and the mass production “content mill” approach will have a difficult time thriving in an improved search environment.

Last week I posted an interview with SEO Kieran Flanagan here at FWJ.  He made a point of discussing both the changing face of link acquisition for SEO and the growing role of social media in his business.  The days of using 500-word articles at a pre-ordained keyword density level and fueling them with a series of  easy-to-acquire, low-grade links is on its way out.  At the very least, the writing is on the wall.

At my blog, I recently posted about the less-than-rosy long-term future of low-quality content mill work due to market forces within the search sector and the increasingly untenable hypocrisy of Google in terms of how they’ve “banned” paid links yet are allowing other intentional methods of subverting their search algorithm to have an impact on SERPs.

You don’t need to agree with my perspective to recognize that there’s a lot boiling under the surface in the way people find and use information online.  No matter how you think it all might unfold, you can be certain that, in the words of Sam Cooke, “a change is gonna come.”

Preparing for Change

We often talk about the need to spread risk when developing an overall approach to building a freelance writing business.  That need is usually expressed in terms of “not putting all of your eggs in one basket.”  That’s rock-solid advice–in the short run.  In the longer run, it’s just as important to have a sense of what future eggs may look like and if there may be new ways to store them.  Hell, the eggs we gather today may be poisonous before too long and we might all be laughing at the antiquated notion of using baskets.

People pay writers because they want to make money.  Writers who aren’t sufficiently prepared to transition their talents and to apply them to new contexts aren’t going to be in the best position to help clients make money.  Writers who have over-invested in strategies that seem to have a limited lifespan could be setting themselves up for a more difficult future.

That doesn’t mean anyone should abandon any part of his or her business that’s currently producing a nice stream of revenue.  Make hay while the sun is shining.  However, one should probably do that with an awareness of the need to move on to new markets and new approaches once the limitations of those activities start to become increasingly visible.  Otherwise, you might find yourself well behind the curve while other writers profit from being ahead of it.

The Moral to the Story

Continue to focus on being a badass writer who offers the world’s greatest customer service.  Continue to work on distinguishing yourself in the marketplace and do everything you can to become the best choice among those who are looking for a writer.

At the same time, look ahead.  Make a point of learning more about why potential clients are looking for a writer in the first place and study the hell out of the marketplace and the kind of changes in advertising, search, social media, and all of the other things that are going to force changes in the way people conduct business and information acquisition on the ‘Net.

If you’re going to focus on online markets, be smart, nimble, well-informed and an expert in larger trends.

My list of places to find freelance writing jobs for our daily job lists changes on a regular basis. As I learn of new resources or remove resources that aren’t working for us anymore, I make adjustments to my list. I also like to make these lists available to you from time to time so you can do your own thorough searches for freelance writing jobs. Plus, I think it’s fair to link to those people who make gigs available to us all.

Some of these places require a subscription fee, but many are free. I hope you find this list useful. Please know, this isn’t a full list of places to find freelance writing jobs, but it’s where I search on a daily basis.

Where I Hunt for Freelance Writing Jobs

1. Craigslist – I’ll state it again for the record: Craiglslist gets a bum rap. Because of its seedy personals section and haven for scammers, many freelancers write it off as a place to NOT look for work. I disagree. Most of the leads you find here come from Craigslist and they’re not all low payers. I found several very lucrative clients via Craigslist and you can too.

2. Mediabistro - I love Mediabistro for many reasons, but especially the job list. Most of their jobs are of the full time variety, but each day features a sprinkling of gigs for freelancers.

3. Indeed - Indeed, the job search engine, also provides many of the leads you see here on a regular basis. Expect to see gigs pulled for a variety of sources including Monster, Career Builder and others. The only problem is that places like Examiner and Hub Pages advertise in every town and every city in every state, so sometimes you’ll have to go through dozens, if not hundreds of entries for these places before finding unique gigs.

4. Freelance Daily – Like FWJ, Freelance Daily culls leads from a variety of sources including Craigslist, Indeed and Media Bistro. Leads are mailed to you each day so you don’t have to venture past your email to look for work. It’s a paying service and will set you back about $100 per year, but those who enjoy the convenience find it worth the expense.

5. About Freelance Writing – My friend Anne Wayman offers leads and advice from a seasoned vet. Check Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the gigs. We have some overlaps here and there, but between the two of us you’re covered.

6. Journalism Jobs -Features some general freelance writing jobs as well as newspaper gigs from around the world.

7. ProBlogger – Darren Rowse’s job board for bloggers has grown to feature freelance writing jobs as well.

8. Freelance Job Openings -This job board offers a mixed bag of opportunities. Most are of the lower paying variety, but every now and then, a surprising lucrative opportunity pops up.

9. FlexJobs: As its name indicates, Flexjobs includes a variety of flexible opportunities. Some are freelance, some are telecommute and some are simply flexible. Not all gigs are for writers and you’ll have to pay to play, but you might find stuff not found on the usual job baords.

10. Twitter: There are a variety of ways to find gigs with Twitter. For example, many of the freelancers I follow Tweet links to freelance writing jobs all the time. Also, I use Twitter Job Search and Twitter Search.

11. LinkedIn: LinkedIn’s job board features occasional freelance writing jobs.

12. Paying Writer Jobs - A Yahoo newsgroup where the members all share leads to writing gigs and contest entries. Be forewarned: If you’re not an active particpant you’ll be dropped from the list!

13. Telecommute Job List: Aggregates all the telecommute jobs from Craigslist. Some are freelance, some are full time and some are scams, so proceed with caution. However, this can be quite the handy tool. Use it to search for telecommute jobs beyond writing gigs, if you’re looking to work at home.

So there you have it. This is where I search for freelance writing jobs each day.  I also do occasional Google searches for submission pages. Also, many businesses have a page on their websites listing available opportunities and some of these are for freelancers. I’ll search for those as well.

There are so many places to find work for all types of freelance writers. Whether you want to work for a content site, a business or a publication, if you’re diligent in your searching, you’ll find plenty of work.

I often talk about how I find freelance writing jobs, but one thing we don’t really discuss is where YOU find freelance writing jobs. I know most members of this community come to the job lists here and at other blogs and websites. However, I was wndering… do you do anything else to find work?

Do you:

• Attend networking events?
• Attend conferences?
• Cold call?
• Wait for clients to call you?
• Work primarily via word of mouth recommendations?
• Find clients via the social networks?

My assumption has always been that the Freelance Writing Jobs network community uses mostly online tools to search for work, but I haven’t really asked that question in a while.

What do you do to find freelance writing gigs? Where do you find the most success?

Something I struggle with is whether or not I should put most of my eggs in my clients’ baskets or if I should invest my time in me. With clients the pay is sometimes better and more immediate, but I’m not necessarily writing my passion. However, when I create my own projects, I have the opportunity to earn on my own terms and not have to troll for work or meet someone else’s deadlines. If you’ve been doing this for a while, you might consider how to begin earning a residual income by taking advantage of your own expertise.

What is your passion?

Now, before I go on, understand this. I’m not telling you to write about writing (unless you want to). Everyone who writes thinks they have to have a blog  about writing to be taken seriously, this isn’t true.You can write about whatever you want. Say your garden is the envy of the neighborhood year after year, you can exploit that expertise by blogging, writing ebooks, traditional books and even creating online courses for each of the difference gardening zones. I write about writing or blogging the way Gary Vaynerchuk discusses wine. I talk about it because it’s my passion, not because writers have to write about writing. Share what you love and your passion will shine through.

Everyone is good at something

Everyone has a specialty. It might be interior design, cake decorating, cars, tomatoes, or turtles. If you enjoy these things, there’s a good chance there are others enjoying them as well. If your interest is more than an occasional hobby, if you have a passion and everything you touch turns to gold, you have the ability to reach people and teach them what you know.

What can you do with your passion?

My passions including writing, blogging and social media, which is why you see me write so much on these topics. Have you noticed I’ve been doing more for myself lately than with clients? In addition to blogging, I write ebooks, speak at conferences and local business meetings, and, I even have a book proposal in the works. In the past six months, I’ve turned away at least a dozen clients. My passion has become a career and yours can too.

What next?

It’s time for a good old-fashioned brainstorming session. Think about your passion. What would you like to do with it? Have you thought about blogging or creating a series of ebooks? Make a list of goals. If your goal is to only write for clients who share your passion, think about the ways you can accomplish this. If it’s your goal to speak to others about your favorite topic, list how you will do this. Make a list of goals and research the ways you can accomplish those goals.

Find the Time

A common excuse for not starting our own projects is time. I don’t care how busy you are, time is only an excuse. Even if you find one hour a week to write a page of a book, you can find the time to do this. You have to, or you’re destined to write for other people for the rest of your life. Anyone wishing to break away from clients to become self-sufficient can do so with the right time investment. For example, to build this blog, I invested two hours of my time every day for several years. Now, it’s pretty much a full time job, but it also pays a full time salary. Making sure I had time to invest no matter how many clients, no matter how many hours worked at my full time job, ensured a return on that investment almost five years later.

It’s not only the blog, either. Investing a little time each day to write an ebook is slowly paying off. It’s not a runaway best seller but I’m earning money from my ebook every month and that’s never a bad thing. With two more ebooks in the works, I’m investing more time in my future. The more of my own projects I take on, the less time I’m spending with clients and handling their projects.

Everyone has options

In 2010, there are no more excuses. We all have an opportunity to share our passion. Never before have there been so many options available. As Darren Rowse just proved, you can self publish and still earn the same amount of money as a best selling novel. Now, there’s nothing wrong with writing for clients, but don’t forget your own stuff.

Most freelance writers have goals they never meet. There’s no better time than now to share your passion.

What’s your passion? How will you use it?

Not sure of what to do with your passion? Need to bounce some ideas around? Talk to us in the comments and we’ll help you brainstorm.

If you have an eye for design and create blogs and websites for friends and family in your spare time, you can offer a boutique of services for potential clients building the blog from scratch. Many will appreciate the one stop shopping element of hiring one person to build and stock a site with content. If you spend a lot of time using social media tools, your blogging clients might pay extra if you help them to further build their brands.  Some other considerations:

• If you have a background in sales or marketing, you can help your clients lead a promotional campaign.
• If you’re a press release writer with a background in P.R., you can offer to release the release to your contacts and others.
• If you worked in graphic design in a previous life, offer to write and design brochures and other promotional material.
• If you’re a blogger with a large community, you can offer community building and moderation as an extra feature to blog clients.

No one says you only have to be a writer or only have to be a blogger. Think about what else you can do and see if you can offer packages to potential clients. Market yourself as a boutique services provider. When you offer packages, you can command a higher rate, but your client will save money and appreciate not having to hire several people for one project.

Are you ready to move beyond freelance writing?

Do you offer a variety of services? If so, share your tips and successes. Not sure of what else you can do or how to sell it? Let’s brainstorm below.