# Writing for web articles



## Marc_T (Jul 17, 2007)

I've been thinking lately about writing articles for internet sites, on particular subjects I'm interested in. 

How would you approach a website to offer services?? Would you write something first and then show them what you've got?


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## mammamaia (Jul 17, 2007)

don't know what else you _would_ do, if you want to sell them on your writing... unless you've got articles up on other sites you were paid for and can provide links to them...

as for offering 'services'... if the copy on a site is really poor, you can improve a bit of it and ask if they'd like you to do the same for the whole site... for a small fee, of course!


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## BWE (Jul 18, 2007)

Note: partial area of expertise.

Woah. Mamamia those are two radically different things with two radically different issues. Websites that would pay for articles are selling eyeballs (veiwers) as their product. This is virtually (see the pun  ) the same as any traditional periodical publication. For them you submit ~portfolios. Ideally you can provide tear sheets, clipped from the actual publication, links to the articles you've written on line, a bio that makes you look interesting and etc. If you're new you have to either have a gimmick(be warned this is difficult to do well), start small or be truly extraordinary.  

Websites that need better writing are selling something else. They need copy writing. That is a marketing function, related to image, design, market, product, mindshare and so forth and relates to a detailed knowledge of target market, positioning and many other issues. Your copy writing won't go in your first portfolio. Your 1st portfolio won't go in your second.

I'm out of time but I'll come back and check to see if I need to clear up what I said.


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## mammamaia (Jul 18, 2007)

yes, i know it's two different things, but the op mentioned 'writing articles' and offering 'services'... both are needed badly on the net, so if a person wants to make a living as a writer, it's best to not look to only one tree for one's sustenance, right?

and when i said 'copy up on other sites' i _did_ mean articles and could probably have been more specific, but i didn't think the use of a synonym would be that confusing... i've been a magazine editor and use the term 'copy' to include all the material in the mag... sorry if it confused you... i can see how it could, so have changed it to 'articles'... thanks for the heads up on that...


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## BWE (Jul 18, 2007)

No problem at all. I've been doing marketing copy for a long, long time and in terms of a business, it's apples to oranges. It's like a welder trying to get a job as a sculptor. The past experience, while not necessarily wrong, is not right either.

That distinction is important as a business proposition and I just wanted to make that explicitly clear. Freelance copy writers typically can't support themselves since there aren't normally royalties.


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## mammamaia (Jul 19, 2007)

> Freelance copy writers typically can't support themselves since there aren't normally royalties.


 
neither can 'article' writers, even when they do get royalties for reprints... ;-) 

sadly, so many who're new to writing seem to think there's a lot of money in it just there for the taking... they don't want to know it's a business that takes a lot of hard work and know-how just to break even, much less make any profit... i ran a private writing consultant business for years and in spite of being able to command up to $150/hr for my services, still didn't get to where it paid the mortgage, since i couldn't devote full time and energy to it, while working on my own writing projects and raising my last 2 daughters, running a rooming house to make ends meet, etc....


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## tressa (Oct 2, 2007)

I write for free. I use these articles that are "free" to have a link to my site and advertise my website. That way I create traffic to my site, so I can advertise my "paid" stuff, like ebooks etc.

I like Helium - Where Knowledge Rules they are a great starter site and will pay you eventually. Very little though. But I think once you build up a great portfolio than you can hit the paying markets, or if they like your article, they might contact you for jobs. I also use SearchWarp Writer's Community for Do It Yourself and Current Events Commentary and Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction Writing, Poetry Contests, Writing Contests 

Whoever you decide to listen to, good luck. And remember writing should be enjoyable.


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## JohnN (Oct 3, 2007)

You could try ScribbleSheet below...

We just started but have a fairly lively community. I hear good things about Helium as well though.


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