Content Providers vs. Private Clients

[wah0mer]

OK, those of you who work for both, could you provide pros and cons on private clients? How much work do you spend chasing them, finding them, appying, etc? Is the pay enough to justify the extra effort? (vs, say, 15$ per article for DS)

[HWMM]

For me it is worth it. My private clients pay me $100 to $150 per article for 300 to 600 words. The downside is that the work is not continuous as it is with DS which has 75,000 articles waiting to be written. But when I do get these higher paying assignments, my hourly rate more than triples and I get to work far fewer hours to make the same income. I am now revamping my website and writing a new sales letter to attract these higher paying clients. The info I am learning from the AWAI course is helping me to do this. Right now I just have 2-3 clients, but once I get more clients I plan to stop working for DS entirely. "Demanding" Studios (an apt nickname) is useful, but it requires so much for so little money. I don't see working for DS fulltime even though I know some do.
Edited by: HWMM

[WAHMBrenda]

I honestly find content providers a lot more lucrative and a lot less stressful. I can work less and make more with them. My monthly income this month proves that as I've had a lot of private clients this month.

[wah0mer]

HWMM- Holy Cow, that's a lot of Mooola for one article. (ha ha, I crack myself up) Do you get all of your clients through your website?

[HWMM]

My website is not currently live. I found my clients by answering job ads. (I only apply to those that list a rate of $100 or more.) But I also received some interest in my services by placing a free ad on Craigslist and from contacting companies directly.

Apparently, different things work for different people. I guess one solution is to try a variety of methods - content providers, job ads, bidding sites, contacting private clients - and see what works best. Another option is large sites/companies like Consumer Search and EBSCO.

[wah0mer]

I really need to start working this angle. I will always have a special placefor DS (don't ask which place, lol) but (ha ha) I'd like to wean myself off of depending on them as much as I do. My residuals are building up, but currently are just about enough to pay for the gas in my car. Better than nothing, but nowhere near enough to pay any serious bills.

[awestbrook23]

Great idea on posting service ads on Craigslist. I never would have thought to advertise writing services there!

[adbullock]

I have one private client that has me on autopay. Every Monday the money is deposited into my account...no worries. It took nearly five years and a leap of faith to find this particular client and I would love two more just like him. LOL

Other private clients I work with two or three times a month. I still bid on a few projects and have clients from the past contact me every once in a while.

When things would get slow in the past, I'd pull up my contact list and send out an email offering 10% off my normal rates on packages of 10 or 20 articles to clients I enjoyed working with--this was usually very successful--in the past.

The cons of working with private clients is that there is a bit of a leap of faith involved. You have to trust that they will pay you for the finished product (I do half and half but still it requires some degree of faith) and that you do need to invest some time into finding new clients every once in a while. I'm very fortunate at the moment that I'm not struggling to find new clients. I hope it lasts.

The pros of content providers is that they are great in a pinch, there is almost always work available, and you don't have to go looking for new work once you are accepted. The cons are that content provider sites, in my experience, are a bit more rigid in their requirements (it happens when you are dealing with multiple writers who do not necessarily have direct contact with clients) and I spend more time fitting things into a format and less time being creative and writing. In other words, I don't like the writing (or the end result) when I work for most of the content provider sites. I prefer the creativity I'm able to tap into when I'm not worried about actionable words and pleasing random editors. That's the other benefit of a private client. You only have one client to please per project and if you've really nailed down the requirements before you begin it's easier than writing an article and crossing your fingers that it will please the random editor that draws your lot.

I'm glad to have the ability to depend on content provider sites in a crunch but MUCH prefer writing for private clients. The money is better, the stress is lower, and with the exception of a handful in five years time, they are much easier to please than content provider sites.

[debng]

There are pros and cons for each. For instance, most content providers provide instant gratification. We can see our names in print quicker and payment is almost instantaneous. There's almost always work too. I used to use my content gigs as filler between my private clients.

With private clients there is indeed the leap of faith, but I find an independent contractor's agreement takes care of the deadbeats. The money is much better and they look better in a portfolio and as a reference. Private clients pay more money, but they expect a lot more bang for their buck as well.

Also, as for placing service ads on Craigslist, if you do this be prepared to receive a lot of spam.

[TXWriter]

I do mostly private clients. The pay difference is definitely worth it to me.

Which you choose to work for depends on your situation. If you are trying to make a career of freelance writing, I personally would lean towards private clients. If you have just a little time to write, you may prefer to write for content providers.

Generally speaking (there may be exceptions), here's how I've found that the two types of work stack up:

1. Application process - Content providers are relatively easy to work for. Many content sites accept all, or most writers. It takes a while, on the other hand, to build up a good base of private clients. Also, a private client tends to be more picky when hiring since most will only hire a single writer or a handful of writers.

2. Deadlines - Content providers usually have very broad deadlines. Some allow you to write whenever you want to and don't really work on a deadline system. Private clients tend to have very strict deadlines.

3. Difficulty of work - Content providers often allow you to choose your own topic or topics. They may suggest topics for you to write about - but usually you are not required to write about those. A private client, on the other hand, usually knows exactly what topic they want you to cover. They may even be very specific in terms of the details that they would like for you to include.

4. Contacts - Your contact at a content site may be a generic "editor," or you may have no real contact with an individual at all. At some content sites, you just post your material without going through any type of editing process. When you deal with a private client, you typically work with a specific person and the process is very interactive. The private client may request one, or more, rounds of revisions.

5. Pay - Pay for content providers is much lower. They often pay only a fraction of what a private client would pay. However, many content sites offer a continuing payment based on page views. Pay from private clients tends to be much higher, but usually there is no residual payment.

That's all that I can think of right now. BTW, I require new private clients to pay a percentage of the fee before I even start work. That way, I know that I'll be paid something. However, I second Deb's suggestion of getting an independent contractor's agreement - especially if you have a large project or will be doing a lot of work for a particular client.

That's all that I can think of now. I hope that it helps.