Content Provider Writing

What is "Content"?

To do business with Web entrepreneurs it helps to speak their language. They aren't usually thinking in terms of hiring writers or of commissioning articles. To them, "content" is reading material or information of value to their target market. To us, the best content comes from writers. But their first impulse may be to look for experts who write, rather than writers who know a lot. To make that case, and pursue this kind of work, you should first understand the range of material and formats that may fall under the heading of "content."

Reviews.

Travel and regional sites often hire people to review and recommend restaurants, tourist attractions or fishing spots. In fact, though, anything that can be bought can be reviewed. Typical assignments include to pick 10 stocks in the media business and write 100 words on each. .

Web digests.

Numerous sites, such as about.com and niche sites on topics like space or alternative health, pay "guides" to produce lists of recommended resources available on the Web. If you're already scouting the Net regularly for resources, this can represent an easy extra stream of income.

Q&A.

Some answer questions about topics for set fees requiring 8 to 12 hours a month. "It's like being a columnist or agony aunt

Newsletters/e-zines.

Writing a weekly or monthly chunk of content that they distribute by e-mail to their in-house list is a popular writing content job or as a work will serve as a "read-me" anchor for promotional offers that immediately follow.

Serial sagas.

A regional wedding site pays someone to post monthly instalments about the trials and tribulations of preparing for her wedding. I believe this represents a type of opportunity that freelance writers can exploit to a much greater extent than I've seen so far.

Opinion columns.

A site focused on self-employment told me they were seeking "edgy" columnists with a personal voice -- obviously, so that readers would return often to see what else so-and-so had to say.

Interactive material.

Writing packages of material that includes not only a main article and an interview of someone in a profession but also a communication problem and solution involving the profession and a related math problem and solution. Similarly, you could be hired to produce topic-specific trivia quizzes or insider crossword puzzles.

Traditional articles.

A site aiming to become the biggest in its industry hired freelancers to write 12 educational articles and collect 20 others loosely related to the purpose its products fulfil. The fee works out at a £1 a word with the work involved in collecting and securing permissions for the others thrown into the deal.

Adaptations.

Many organisations have an inventory of material that needs to be reconfigured for the Web.

Skills a Content Provider Needs.

The more established a Web site is, or the closer its connection to a print magazine or news business, the more likely it is to be set up with experienced editors who hire writers and report to business managers. However, with start ups where you deal directly with Web entrepreneurs, the following capacities serve you well.

Fast, dependable turnaround.

Things move so fast on the Web that the ability to post content quickly often gives sites a solid business advantage. Correspondingly, being able to put together something in a day that other writers might labour over for a week can give you an edge.

Ability to edit yourself.

This skill might not top the list in the entrepreneur's head, but once you point it out, he or she usually understands the benefit - readable, respectable content without having to hire another layer of management.

Understanding of rights issues.

As an experienced freelancer, you probably know more about copyright and the dynamics of permissions than the entrepreneur does. Business owners have a reasonable attitude toward rights and are willing to negotiate something fair to both sides, unlike some online editors who wouldn't budge from demanding all rights. The more knowledgeable you are here, the better deal you might be able to get for yourself.

Solid business skills.

An absolute requirement: knowing how to negotiate an agreement, how to increase your odds of getting paid and how to deal with a slow-paying company.
For example: you can request partial payment in advance and didn't deliver any work until you have the first payment in hand.

Ability to locate and negotiate reuse of resources.

Being Web-savvy and already knowing lots about what's on the Net may make you valuable to a Web site. Also, explain to the entrepreneur that as a writer, you're better positioned to solicit or negotiate the use of work from other writers than they are.

Web-friendly writing style.

Shorter paragraphs and clearer, shorter sentences are de rigueur when people read your work on screen.

Inventory of material.

When someone needs content fast, your backlog of previously published, still-interesting work on a Web site's topic may make you mighty attractive for a package deal of new and old material.

Drawing power.

If you've been writing regularly and visibly for a particular market, argue that you already have a liked or trusted name within that world. This may enable you to command higher fees or to secure perks like a live link to a Web site where you promote your books and for-hire services.

Ability to suggest more work for yourself.

For your own benefit, learn about the entrepreneur's big plans and suggest additional ways you can contribute.

Cautions for Dealing with Web Businesses

Three aspects of writing for Web businesses bring special risks: getting paid, negotiating rights and the sanity of the process.

Again, you may find dealing with online media pretty much the same as dealing with newspapers or magazines. But the newer the business and the less it thinks of itself as a news service or magazine, the greater the chances that those you're dealing with may turn tail on you, with the situation getting nasty.

Example 1

Writers were let down a few times by start up sites that didn't pay as promised. One company never paid £2,000 it owed when venture capital money the site was expecting didn't come through.

Similarly, a start up travel site commissioned two pieces, one for £500 and the other for £400, but never paid despite contracts being placed. "I had a contract," but I probably should have written only the first piece and waited till I got paid before writing the second" The next time "I did ten reviews, then stopped and said I'd do more when I got paid. A few days later I got the cheque."

Just as magazines often test-drive writers with short assignments, you might want to test a Web site's solvency with a small job first, or even ask for partial payment up front.

It's essential to move cautiously with respect to rights online as well. Some sites insist on buying all rights. This enables them to reuse work in any other medium, resell it at will or even syndicate it to other Web sites as they please.

You need to be very careful before agreeing to this.

The standard contract for some sites offers another negotiation option:

For the first 90 days they buy the exclusive right to publish, distribute and license your work, and afterwards they retain the non-exclusive right to do so.

Some freelancers say they've agreed to all rights because the assignments involve short pieces that they wouldn't ordinarily be able to sell elsewhere anyway. Online, no one acquires all rights from you unless you sign a contract to that effect.

A final hazard in working with start up or expanding Web businesses is the disorganisation factor, which can get extreme.

Writers describe uploading glitches, communication problems with online managers and scatterbrained staff, lack of work flow and no planning.

Finding Opportunities

1. Answering online ads.

Enterprising freelancers search out and respond to ads for staff writers as well as those clearly for one-off assignments. In some cases, they convinced executives who thought they needed an employee that someone living elsewhere could get the job done. Remember with the web the world is your marketplace – you should not restrict yourself to the UK only.

The following online venues were singled out as good sources of ads: http://www.sunoasis.com http://www.monster.com the newsgroups misc. writing and alt.journalism.freelance, CompuServe's Journalism Forum

2. Referrals from friends or editors.

So long as people you work for and with have a positive impression of you, the more writing you do, the more likely you are to be recommended when someone is asking around for a content provider. Be nice, leave doors open behind you and make sure people who know you know what you most like to do.

3. E-mailing those who run promising-looking Web sites.

If you do this, get right to the point with what you're proposing and your qualifications. Don't attach a formal resume. URLs for relevant clips can help, though.

4. Being contacted by someone who saw the writer's work.

The more online venues that include an e-mail link along with your work, the more likely such opportunities become.

5. What I recommend is networking with Internet-savvy business owners and describing yourself as "a content provider." I believe this will get the right people thinking about hiring you, in lucrative arrangements.