How to Gain Experience without Getting Paid Peanuts

I see some disheartening posts occasionally from new writers who are bending over backwards to gain experience. In an effort to grow their business, they are willing to be paid peanuts.

I know everyone has to start somewhere, but $1 an article is no way to start. Even if you’re the newest of new writers, you can find jobs that pay $5 an article and lines of people just waiting to give you work at that price.

Here are some tips for starting out on the right foot with web content writing:

1. Believe in yourself.

You’re new. You know it. You’re working with people who are making thousands of dollars per month. Who are you to charge more than a fraction of a cent per word, right? Wrong.

Get these types of thoughts out of your mind right away. You’re providing a service. You’re making things convenient for them and making their lives easier. Therefore, they need to pay you for the convenience. Start believing that your time and skill are worth money, and turning down those penny a word jobs will be a piece of cake.

2. Never, ever, ever write custom samples for free.

If you’re starting out,  write some samples from scratch. Hit a writing forum and ask for some feedback on your samples. Make sure they’re great and cover some different topic areas. When people ask to see your work, send them those samples or put them on your website.

If someone asks you to write custom samples, let them know that they can get a sense of your writing style from the samples. If they push the issue, just say “No thanks!”

3. Ask for recommendations after every job.

Nothing builds your reputation, credibility or article price higher than having someone else recommend you. Collecting blurbs from other clients about your writing skills, your customer service and your general awesomeness is the best reassurance for new clients that you’re the real deal.

Hope Wilbanks has a great post today about how to ask for a recommendation.

The easiest way to stop writing for peanuts is to just say no to bad pay. :) There is higher paying work out there but if you’re stuck in the middle of a 25 articles for $50 job, there’s no way you’ll be able to jump on it.

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October 9, 2007 | Filed Under Link Love, Making Money, Techniques and Tips, Motivation 

Comments

6 Responses to “How to Gain Experience without Getting Paid Peanuts”

  1. Hope Wilbanks (40 comments.) on October 9th, 2007 6:56 pm

    This is a timely and excellent post Courtney! It’s really hard to feel like you have to compete against the “peanut writers”. Truth is though, a huge percentage of those writers are NOT English-speaking and the work they put it is not very good. Do what you love and respect yourself enough to ask for what you’re worth. Great post!

  2. Web Writing Info Review : Get Paid to Write Online on October 11th, 2007 1:38 pm

    […] example, there’s How To Gain Experience Without Getting Paid Peanuts,  a post that offers some useful tips for newbies. Then there’s How To Get Google To Do Your […]

  3. Misti Sandefur (2 comments.) on October 15th, 2007 7:25 am

    I have to agree with you on this one. We writers need to stick together and demand the fair pay that we’re worth. In fact, a few weeks ago I too blogged about these “peanut” jobs, and if you’re interested, you can read my take on the subject here: http://mistisandefur.blogspot.com/2007/09/on-rant-about-freelance-writing-jobs.html

  4. Hope Writes » Blog Archive » Linky Love on October 24th, 2007 10:52 am

    […] How To Gain Experience Without Writing For Peanuts I love Courtney’s creative titles […]

  5. What's YOUR favorite post? | Web Writing Info on December 12th, 2007 6:03 pm

    […] How to gain experience without being paid peanuts […]

  6. FYI on December 13th, 2007 6:56 am

    Write on Courtney!

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