Freelance Writing: Getting Started as an Internet Content Author

Online writing has become very popular over the last few years. Online content sites report that there are more than ½ a million writers online at any given time. To be successful online, you must be tenacious, willing to learn, willing to promote your own work, and above all...be able to write.

There are many reasons people write online, whether it be articles or blogs or other venues. Everyone has their own goals and expectations. Many writers make a moderate living writing solely on the internet. Some use the internet to supplement their other, "real world" writing. Others merely want to write as a hobby or write about a hobby. Whatever your case, your definition of successful writing will be YOUR definition.

A successful article, published online, is one that is informative and popular. Most authors and web masters define this by page views. Most online content sites as well as blogs allow the author to view the number of page views the article has received. In other words, its popularity is determined by the number of people whom have read the article.

Writing articles for websites such as Associated Content can offer you an upfront payment for your writing as well as "royalties" for your page views. Other websites, such as Helium may offer you a small up front payment for a new title as well as payments for page views. However, these websites alone are not enough to earn enough monthly income for the typical writer.

Freelance writing websites that allow you to sell your writing such as Constant-Content or Daily Article enable you to increase the price you earn per article. Remember, your reputation is important just as your writing quality is. Constant-Content reviews your writing prior to allowing it to be "posted" on their website for sale.

You can increase your article sales by writing what the web masters and other readers want to read. Check click-bank or Google Trends to find out what people are searching for or advertising. Write your articles to these search trends or current affiliate marketing advertisements to boost your sales.

There are several strategies to help increase your page views. This is where you may need to be willing to learn to promote your work. The website you publish for may or may not promote your work for you. If your article is written well, using SEO (Search Engine Optimization), your articles will place well on Google search results. Since you are paid by your page views, promoting your own work (without spamming people) can help increase your readership. By following a couple of strategies, you can increase your page views and your success.

1. Blogging - Creating your own blog is a good way to direct traffic to your other writing on the internet. If your writing is primarily on one topic, your blog can also be on that topic with links, appropriately placed, to your articles. You can create a newsletter is sent at certain intervals promoting your blog and other online content.
2. Squidoo - Creating a Squidoo "lens" is a very easy way to begin to promote your work. This website allows you to create a page...er...lens to promote anything you want. It also links or overlaps your page with other related pages allowing others with content related to yours to be visible on your page...and vise-versa. This allows you to be found by thousands of individuals searching the internet for content you have created and linked to your online content.
3. Social Websites - Websites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter allow you to create your own pages to provide information, promote your work, or many other avenues. A simple RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed placed on your social website(s) may encourage people to read your articles.
4. Newsletters and Mailing Lists - By using either the "newsletter" function on your website or blog, a "Fans" list on the website itself, or a mailing list you have created yourself, you can let your readership know you have written a new article.

While promoting yourself is important, writing quality articles is critical to successfully publishing your work and growing your readership. Writing quality articles, blogs or reviews will bring readership and success. If you write sloppy articles, your readership will fall off, regardless of how intensely you promote yourself.

If it has been a while since you have written anything, you may need to brush up on your writing skills. The best way to do that is to write, write, and write some more. Begin with what you know. It takes less research and tends to write itself. Write about what you enjoy, it makes your work more pleasurable. Later move on to writing articles that have proven to be successful online, then write what people are searching to read. Share your knowledge that will help others achieve their goals and you (with some hard work) will achieve yours.