Where would be a good place to start?

[luvzminis]

I would like to know of legitimate places online that pay, even minimally, new writers. I would LOVE to write for cash, but I really need some direction. I have heard that there are places online that allow you to choose topics to write on. Is this correct? I'm not looking for big money; I'm just looking to get started. This may be a dumb question, but is it like writing a report on something for school? I could get into something like that, as I've always enjoyed that sort of thing.

Guess I just need to know a legit place to begin. One that doesn't cost me anything but would hopefully pay me even a minimum amount of cash. Do you need to write a certain amount every day for this type of work? I would appreciate it if anyone would clue me in so I can get started. Thanks so much!

[Lady M]

I got my start with Text Broker. They will hire you with no experience whatsoever. I started at a 3 star rating ($0.01 a word) and now have a 4 star rating ($0.014 a word).

[Laurie1979]

Textbroker is a good place to start. In May 2009, I got $175.25 due to doing articles in April and was shocked to earn that much. Another place to try is Demand studios. the only requirement is that you need to have two online sites to show your work and a writing sample for them to review. I tried it on my second time and made the cut.
There are people who became writers for Demand Studios on their very first try and moms on here who tried for the third, fourth, fifth, etc times and failed.
But try textbroker first and have some writing samples where you are earning residual income such as at associated content and ehow. So far, made some with those two writing sites for residual.

[christent04]

Yes, I've heard Textbroker is a good place to start. Ehow pays too, but I don't think it's a pay per article. I think it's based on how useful the article is to the readers. I would try DS too, b/c I tried there and got in my first try, without much experience. Good luck!

[wildcatgrrl]

I started with Textbroker, too, in July. I branched out a bit with eCopywriters in August and then Edubook in September. I have 2 articles on eHow from October, but when I applied to DS, I forgot to link to them *dur*, but I was accepted by Demand Studios on my first try.

My sample article for DS was a short bio I wrote of a famous person. I also included a link to my Edubook page.

On my resume for DS, I highlighted my experience at each of the 3 above. I mentioned my rating on each, the number of articles I wrote for each, and the fact that I had zero articles refused by clients. At Edubook, I am on the Top Author list on the main page, so I put that instead of the "zero refusal" part. For skills, I mentioned research ability and SEO and standard writing experience on a wide variety of topics.

Not saying the way I did it was perfect, but it worked. Hope it helps anyone who's trying to get on at DS.

[wildcatgrrl]

And Textbroker allows you to choose topics. Edubook assigns them to you, but you tell them when you sign up what you'd like to write about. You can also refuse articles w/o penalty-I refused one once that I didn't feel comfortable writing about.

[VeronicaM]

I would recommend starting with textbroker also. They are pretty easy to get on with. Ehow is also another good place to start. They pay residually. I make about $20 a month on my ehow articles.

[x3xsolxdierx3x]

Originally Posted by VeronicaM

I would recommend starting with textbroker also. They are pretty easy to get on with. Ehow is also another good place to start. They pay residually. I make about $20 a month on my ehow articles.

What percentage of ad revenue does eHow pay? I can't find that anywhere on their website....and, all I can find is a bunch of posts where writers are essentially 'guessing' about what they 'think' eHow pays.....

[Willowsidhe]

Ehow doesn't disclose the percentage of ad revenue they pay to writers. You earn money each time someone clicks an ad on your article page, but no one knows how much of that click you actually earn besides eHow.

Ehow is the BEST paying residual site in my opinion. I made about $250 last month alone on 160 articles ($240 the month before and $200 the month before that), and it looks as though I'll clear $300 this month and I've only added about 5 more articles.

If you're looking for upfront pay, however, I'll also recommend Textbroker as a starting point but there are many others. Check out my blog for a big list. MaHalo, Need-an-article and Associated Content are also good places to start. Strong writers may even be able to get in to Demand Studios. When I started there I had very little online writing experience, but my samples were solid. Good luck!

[x3xsolxdierx3x]

Originally Posted by Willowsidhe

Ehow doesn't disclose the percentage of ad revenue they pay to writers. You earn money each time someone clicks an ad on your article page, but no one knows how much of that click you actually earn besides eHow.

Ehow is the BEST paying residual site in my opinion. I made about $250 last month alone on 160 articles ($240 the month before and $200 the month before that), and it looks as though I'll clear $300 this month and I've only added about 5 more articles.

If you're looking for upfront pay, however, I'll also recommend Textbroker as a starting point but there are many others. Check out my blog for a big list. MaHalo, Need-an-article and Associated Content are also good places to start. Strong writers may even be able to get in to Demand Studios. When I started there I had very little online writing experience, but my samples were solid. Good luck!

If you had to guess, what % do you 'think' they pay? I've heard some people toss around 70%....

p.s. thank you for your response