Get Rich By Copywriting

Can you get rich, by copywriting? Possibly. But even if you don't get rich, you can earn a pretty good living at it, from home, without ever setting foot outside your door, and it's FREE to get started.

A few months ago, Kirstenblog left a comment on my How I Earn Money Online Hub, suggesting I write another telling how to earn money by copywriting, because that's part of how I make a living online. It's taken me a while to get round to it, but here it is.

Firstly, what is online copywriting? It's pretty simple. Say, for example a wine merchant wants a few articles about wine to be circulated via wine wholesalers magazines, but they don't have the time or creativity to do it themselves. They would contact an online copywriting agency (of which, there are several) with details of the work, how much they are willing to pay and when they need the articles to be written by. Writers like myself on the agencies books then bid for the work, stating how much they'd want to be paid (yes, you can do that!) and when they could finish the articles.

If a buyer likes your bid they pick you and you write your little socks off!  When the articles are done, they pay you - thank you very much.

 So what's the catch?  Well, there isn't really a catch.  The agency extracts a fee from both the bidder and the buyer, but it's not an 'up front' fee, and it's only triggered when your bid is accepted, so you know the job is yours and payment will follow.  Most fees are reasonable, around 10% of the total project.

Being a freelance copywriter is a useful adjunct to other writing projects, such as writing for Hubpages, as there is a ton of copywriting out there to pick and choose from, and it's regular paid work from the comfort of your home.

 Copywriting agencies try to protect both their buyers and writers, and will mediate in disputes.  There is usually an online facility for rating buyers and writers, so that each can see how reliable the other is.

If a copywriter is worried that the buyer may default on payment, they can opt to be paid escrow, where monies are deposited and only released when both parties are happy.

First you sign up with an agency. I mainly write for Freelancer.com, but there are others.

You choose what type of work you could do, what your interest are, for example, copywriting, ghostwriting, data entry, craiglist poster etc. If you have good IT skills, you could offer these, as IT skills usually pay more than writing.

The agency emails you regularly with prospective work. For example, Freelancer.com sends me up to ten emails a day, often with a dozen jobs in each one, that makes around 100 jobs on an average day that match your interests.

All you have to do is read through the job offers and if you see something you fancy, log on to the site and take a closer look. If you like it -bid!

Freelancer let you have 30 bids a month, which is more than enough, I find, to keep you writing as much as you want. Like I said, it's free up to the moment your bid is chosen, but then most buyers pay you within one week.

So if you want to earn cash straight away with Freelancer.com sign up here.

Just make sure you join using the box on the right - "Looking for Work" - see the screen pic below.  If you join as a buyer different charges apply and this article is all about working as a freelance copywriter, rather than as an employer of copywriters.

 You can view some jobs even before signing up to the site.  However, from the minute you sign up, you will receive several emails daily, each containing a list of jobs which match your interests.

Each item has a title, a few words about the work required and a link to the job on Freelancer.com.

If you find an item you like the look of, click the link and sign in.  you can then view the whole job, the employer rating and details of other people's bids.

If you want clarification of what's required, then you can post on the clarification board, which messages the buyer.  This board is PUBLIC, for all to see.

If you decide to bid,  you say how much you want to be paid for the whole job, how many days it will take you to complete the job, and put a brief description of why the buyer should choose you.

if you want to leave details of previous work for the buyer to view, most bidders post it on the PMB - PRIVATE message board.

It's really easy to do, and as soon as you link to the job you like the look of, you'll see how simple it is.  When your bid is chosen, you'll receive an email informing you of this.  If you then accept the work, your fee will be debited and you will need to put funds into your account.  Again, this is 10% or $5, whichever is the greater.

Some freelance copywriting is really badly paid, often less than $1 an article - don't bid on these.

Look at the word length. $2 per article for two hundred words is OK, but not for 2000 words.

Look at how many articles the buyer wants you to complete a day. Five or ten X 200 words is OK. Ten X 1000 - really not good.

Look at what is involved. Is the article a simple re-write (no research), in which case it's much quicker to complete, or will you have to research it too, which takes longer. I'm a quick typist, but it takes me around two and a half hours to research and write ten X 200 word articles.

Look at the buyer's rating, certainly initially, make sure they've had some good reviews.

Look at the effort the buyer has put into the ad. Is it spelt correctly? I kind of think that if they can't get their project ad right, then will they bother to pay up.

Never bid the cheapest or offer really quick turnaround. If a buyer wants quality work, then they have to pay for it, and have it submitted in a reasonable time. If they want, quick, cheap and shoddy then I'm not the writer for them.

Don't put so many bids in that you'd never handle all the work if they're all accepted. However, if you're accepted for a job, you can retract your other bids.

Don't bid on projects which ask for one free article up front - all an unscrupulous buyer needs to do is get each bidder to do this and they've had a free project.

Likewise be sary of sending articles up front to a g.mail account.

Once the project is yours, read it thoroughly and ask lots of questions up front, so you know exactly what's expected.

I usually write one article then send it in to the buyer and ask for feedback, before beginning the rest, and I make it clear that this is how I work up front.

Keep in close contact with buyers, emailing them at least daily.

Don't plagiarise. It's illegal and your buyer will not like it.

Don't copy and paste - write it yourself.

If you're going to be late, or are having problems, be up front, so the buyer knows what's happening.

You are in control and you can pick and choose which jobs you want.

You earn money from home - no boss, no commute, as many coffee breaks as you want, you can spend the day in your pyjamas.

No overheads other than your agency fee. The agency has all the hassle of overheads, marketing etc.

It's another way to get your profile out there. I always mention in my bids that I write for Hub pages, so buyers can look at my work. This has lead to other, better paid writing gigs, and I now work alongside a handful of writers for a boutique writing agency on a regular basis. At this very moment there is a project from them in my inbox.

If you want to go up the chain, you can tout for work, then outsource that work to other writers (become a buyer in other words), so that you have your own freelance team. Thus you earn more. The leverage is great, BUT different charges apply, plus you have to market yourself hard and find the work in the first place, so that your copywriters have something to write.  To me, this sounds like a lot of hassle.  I just like to write for the dollars!

 Um.

You can't choose the subject or style of writing, but if a job looks really dull, just don't bid on it.

Sometimes you can have alot of deadlines running together, but then alot of deadlines means there will be a lot of pay days running together too!

 So, can you get rich by copywriting?  It's up to you and how much effort you want to put in.  The more you write, the more you earn, and if you want real leveredge, then you could always market yourself as a copywriting service and post a project for a team of writers.  As long as you're reasonably literate and accurate, then you'll do well.

Define rich, but if you have time and effort to devote to the work, then you'll earn plenty of cash.