Learn to write articles and sell as a service?

OP, whilst your enthusiasm is most admirable, and with the greatest respect to you, I would seriously rethink considering article writing as a career move. The reason why? . . . well, to start with it's a cutthroat market where only the very best will achieve a good standard of living. Secondly, it's a completely saturated market where literally tens of thousands of wannabe writers of all levels of competence are vying for business . . . and as such the prices are forced down to such a level that only the very best, proven top quality writers, will command rates commensurate with their skills. Thirdly, you start at a huge disadvantage as you have no experience or skills.

Unfortunately, many people think that writing is an easy business to jump into, but the reality is sadly a hard learning curve. My personal estimate (from 30 years experience) is that at least 95% of article writers start and remain at the bottom level in terms of work and pay (from those who don't give up), and the pay is truly bad. It takes many, many years of perseverance, dedication, sacrifice, and learning, to even step up a rung or two. And that's if you're one of the lucky one's. You see creative writing is a skill that you either have or don't, and it's extremely difficult to learn to a quality standard.

For what it's worth, my advice to you would be:

If you're adamant that article writing is your chosen path then do it for yourself. Read up on as many articles and courses on the subject as you can and if you find you have a knack for it, use those skills to build something for yourself. Not only are the rewards much greater, but the satisfaction is sweeter.

Alternatively, find another means of earning a fair and reliable income, whether from IM or not. There are thousands to choose from, and the greater majority will be easier to learn than attempting to become a writer, with no skills or experience.

Best wishes in your endeavours.

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BOOM! indeed :confused:

I agree that SEO should be considered (to a point) when writing content.

However, the things you described are just one small factor in SEO. Remember search engines have improved immensely and the whole point of them is to find the best & most relevant site for the user. Always write with the reader in mind first, and the search engine a distant second. You want your site to be interesting and informative for visitors.

In short, You do NOT want to write for search engines. Write for people.

The best way to learn how to write is what all teachers would say: Read good writing and before you know it, your vocabulary will improve and your writing will also. You'll be able to see how paragraphs flow, how transition words are used, etc.

The great thing about writing is that most people would rather let someone else sit at a computer and write whatever needs to be written, so if you have decent skills it's one of the easiest services to sell.

Fiverr also right place for getting easy writing jobs to start with, after gaining confidence there, then reach out for better remuneration..

Chris, I totally agree with you. And I strongly disagree with those who say that "practice" will make you a better writer. It won't - at least not without proper feedback.

With some learned skills, like playing the piano or hitting a baseball, for example, you get immediate feedback when you don't do it correctly (well, unless you are completely tone deaf when it comes to learning an instrument). You know right away when you missed a note or didn't hit the ball. So, you keep practicing and adjusting until you get it right - although you'll improve much more quickly with a qualified coach or teacher. (Practice doesn't make perfect - perfect practice makes perfect.) So, to merely "practice writing", in order to learn how to write or to become a better writer, is a waste of time. Practicing on your own won't provide you with any definitive feedback that lets you know if you are improving or not.

So, if you want to learn how to write (which is not a skill you can learn overnight, btw) or improve your writing, I'd recommend taking a writing class or course - one that allows you to submit your work for feedback and guidance from someone who is qualified to teach you how to write.

Granted, you can be a terrible writer and find people who will pay you $2 to $4 per article - there are plenty of those types of jobs available on Elance and other freelance sites (and tons of terrible content written by those writers all over the Internet). But if you are serious about selling your services and don't want to make slave wages, and you don't know anything about writing (or don't have a natural talent for it), then you've got your work cut out for you. Otherwise, you'll be competing in a market that is already saturated with very mediocre writers, as well as far too many people who think they can write but really can't, and are willing to write for next to nothing.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Personally, I'd encourage you to look into other ways to make money if you don't already know how to write.

All the most talented writers are avid readers. My English teacher in high school told us often: if you want to write well, you should first read. Read everything you can lay your hands on. She also told her students to always read with a dictionary by their side and whenever they encounter a word they're not familiar with, look it up and understand its meaning fully.

Read a lot with a good memory. I left school at 15 with no qualifications. I always loved reading, though, and I always had a fascination with proper grammar, punctuation and the like.

Whenever I came across something I hadn't seen before, a particular type of punctuation or a grammatical construct for example, I memorized it. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I can then retrieve whatever I've memorized any time I need it later. That's how I taught myself better grammar and punctuation - through avid reading and memorizing anything I didn't know that I felt would be useful to me later.

John.