Advice for beginners

[jeangrey]

I am going to be applying for DS in the very near future.

For the writing sample, does anyone have any suggestions of what type of piece to submit?

I'm sort of jumping in this and hoping it turns out for the best. In a past life I was a newspaper editor for two years, with two additional years of journalism on my resume also, so I'm hoping that will help me get on with them.

[LuthCrl]

Take a look at Ehow, the primary Demand site. Review a couple of Ehow of the Day articles as a guide.

Write a 400 word How-to on a topic that you know well...

Start each Step (max 5-7) with an action verb. Include one or two tips and warnings. Include links with descriptions for additional reader resources (at the end of the sample).

Good luck

edt: note: DS HATES passive voice. Subject-verb-object sentence construction is MANDATORY. e.g.

No: The first person to discover America was not Columbus.
Yes: Columbus was not the first person to discover America.

[jeangrey]

Sorry for the double post.


I'm currently writing an article which is a how-to and sales article combined.

Does DS ever have sales articles available to write? I wrote sales scripts for quite a while, so it's one of my strengths, and I'd like to submit one as a sample.

I guess I was just curious about if/when I get on with them, if I'll have the opportunity to write sales articles.

[ladysawfan]

Originally Posted by Barry_Walls

Hi all

I have experience in this area from many angles. I have written myself (I'm pretty poor at it), I coach others in the business end of writing online for a living and I have spent a A LOT of money on sites like elance and guru.com for my web business, so I know what bidders need to do to get work.

Here is my advice to newbie writers.

1. Realize that getting work is a numbers game.
2. If you take longer than 20 minutes to write an article, you are costing yourself money. Either you aren't as efficient as you could be or your research time is costing you money.
3. If you bid at $5 per article, thats what you will get paid.
4. If you bid at $10 per article, you will win less bids, but you will win some.


Barry

Since i spent the past 11 months going from one idea to another (inc. Ebay, Tutoring, Herb farming and soap making) while being unemployed, i have only 3 to 4 months to get some money rolling in. So this is the strategy i will use to get stopgap work until i can establish myself as a high paid business writer (specifically business plans). i plan to take a few $2 articles to get exposure, also to offer myself as a writer's assistant to those who are already in business, also to offer to coach people who are not good writers, such as ESL, speakers. is this a good way to get money coming in right away? i already have Paypal and have set up a special email to avoid scams. i am a decent web developer ( I just hate it! writing is sooo much more fun;-) so i plan to develop my own site soon. i have also announced my intentions to my 40 or so facebook friends.
Is there anything i have forgotten. Are there maybe temp jobs i can do that could get me clients? my town has 17% unemployment so maybe not(Palm Coast, FL)
thanks in advance to everyone who may reply, and thanks to those who have already posted.

[Karen E Wheeler]

Hello everyone,

I just learned about this website, I'm very happy with what I've learned so far. As one who is new to the freelance world, and looking for more writing projects, the wealth of information here is most valued. Thanks so much!!!!!

[jhng000]

i think it is really a good idea. many people are actually on search of information to help them out everyday

[stormdore]

I've read all the posts in this site and am so impressed with all of the great information! Thanks to everyone who contributed!

Terri

[gwmama]

Hi, I'm new here and find the information regarding new writers very interesting. Thanks.

[snoopxpert]

I wrote a step-by-step guide to starting an online writing career if anyone wants to read it, It is at my site, so I don't get any "page views" for your visitng there. It is free, and there are no sign ups or downloads at my site. Just go read it if you like.

I am sure there is a lot more advice than this, but this may help to get you started.

Step by Step Guide

There is also a free jobs board at the link on my site, called "Writers work from home" where you can search for online writing jobs.

[ThisIsMiss]

I always come across this site when doing freelance research. I've only just started not even a week ago doing some really crappy work, but am slowly getting better work. I have one question though..

I am not yet a mommy. I am 38 weeks along, so my DD should be here anytime now. I was wondering who started working from home with a newborn and how much were you actually able to get done the first couple of weeks? I really need the money, so I am trying to figure out how to balance it out as much as I can right now..any advice??