Just thought I’d do a quick post while I am undergoing changes to my affiliate campaign, this post will be crucial to any copywriters out there as I can understand how hard it is to get a constant flow of work, especially when you are starting out.

When you begin your copywriting career you have to build a good portfolio so that you can show potential clients – this is pretty much self explanatory. The problem is that there are so many places where you can find ‘cheap’ content (DigitalPoint, Wicked Fire, Get a Freelancer just to name a few) it makes it hard to compete on rates as people are offering it at $0.01 or less!

In the content industry you often get what you pay for, meaning if you buy it at $0.01 a word you can expect it not to have a great impact on your sites performance. You have to use this to your advantage when it comes to negotiating with potential clients.

When you have genuinely set your rates based on what your time is worth you have to stick to it, it’s in everyone’s nature to try and barter on your prices. If they say that they can get it done cheaper elsewhere then politely explain why your content will benefit them and their website. More times than not you will hear from them again as they know that in order to get into the top results in the major search engines you have to have quality content.

With rates out of the way you then have to build a good clientele that will be able to provide a constant flow of work. You have to think outside of the box in order to find the better paying gigs, don’t expect them to come to you all of the time, especially in the early stages. A great method that not many people use is to browse the internet for sites that haven’t been updated in a while, send them a quick professional email stating what you can offer them, how it will benefit them and how much it will cost. You wouldn’t believe that cold emailing works but I have gained a few clients by using this process in the past.

If you are serious about writing for a living then I strongly suggest that you focus on your favourite niches, this has a number of advantages in the long run that will make your time more effective. If you can become well known for offering quality content in a small number of niches then the word will get around, the work will begin coming in on recommendations so it takes a great deal of your time away from marketing so you can focus on making money.

Another advantage of specialising in a small number of niches is that you will be able to spend less time on researching the facts and write more effectively. It’s a fact that if you know and fully understand a topic you will be able to write an article based on the client’s needs without having to spend 10-20 minutes or more researching it to ensure the best article possible. Being able to write articles quicker, not compromising on the quality will mean you will be able to earn more for working the same amount of hours each day.