How to Make Sure You Actually Get Paid for Writing Keyword Articles

I started off my writing career with keyword articles. You know the ones. 600-800 words, 5-10% keyword density . . . on topics you've never heard of or even want to hear of. These articles are usually dull to write, and only pay a dollar or two, or five, if you're lucky. And if you actually get paid.

Not that I'm against keyword articles, they can be a great staple for any beginning writer. They allow you to write and earn some money while you learn the ropes of the business and submit for higher paying work. The reason it is worth doing keyword articles for so little is because they never come just one or two at a time. No, you will be expected to turn in as many as 20-30 a day! At $2 a pop, you can actually earn some decent spending money that way.

However, with these jobs abounding all over the internet, you will find that you will run into some rather unsavory characters now and then, people who will try and get you for free. Here are a few of the scenarios you are most likely to run into:

The Trial: "Please submit 10 articles on the following topics, using the attached keywords. If we approve these, you will be paid a rate of $2 for the remaining 100 articles."

The Copy: "I ran your articles through Copyscape and they are all duplicate content. I can't pay for duplicates, sorry." Or "My client reports that these are plagiarized. As you insist they are not, I will concede to pay you $0.50 per article, not the $5 originally agreed on. Take it or leave it."

The Huge Payment: "I prefer to pay larger amounts, so will pay you $300 after the first 10 sets of ten articles have been submitted and approved."

The PayPal Issue: "My PayPal account seems to have been shut down by accident. Can I send you a check?" (which never arrives)

The Vanishing Act: " "

The Dead Man: "I'm blah-blah's sister and I'm contacting you to let you know that my brother has died in a car accident. Thank you for sending the articles, he would have liked them." (The articles then show up on a website with the "dead" man's name shortly afterwards.

In case you are wondering, yes, all of these scenarios have happened to me. They are real and here's how to avoid them.

First, stay away from all shady characters. If their email sounds suspicious, go with your instincts and delete it without replying. Most of the time, if you try to work with someone suspicious, you will get burned.

Secondly, don't work for free. If someone offers you a trial period, just say no. Really. You can get a job at a fast food place if you're that desperate and it will certainly pay more!

Last, it can be virtually impossible to get these guys to pay ahead of time and it is usually not worth the struggle. So here's what you do. Let them know that you will write 2-5 articles and they can pay you. After you receive payment, let the person know that you expect to be paid after every 10 articles up to 100. After that, decide how you want to do things. And yes, this may mean daily payments. However, if they aren't willing to pay you up front, this is the best way to make sure you don't waste your time on hundreds of articles only to get nothing for it.

If you have done the work, but not received payment, send an email asking about the money first. Depending on the answer, and whether or not they pay you, go to PayPal and send a request for payment. If that is also ignored, go ahead and let the person know that you will be reporting them to PayPal for failure pay and starting a dispute. Then go ahead and do that. Many times, you can get your payment this way, but occasionally you will just have to walk away.

Writing keyword articles is not a glamorous job, but you should still get paid for it! So stick it to them.