Want to earn a real living as a freelance writer? A new site aims to help you do just that. In fact, some of their writers are earning over $50k a year. They pay a minimum of $100 for an article, and the average is over $250 an article.<\/p>\n
Plus, if you are looking for a great place to set up an online portfolio that makes access to your articles quick and easy then look no further than Contently.com. Contently hosts your articles for free and makes it a simple task for those looking to hire freelance writers to get in touch with you. Because your samples are already available, the only thing left is to offer you the job!<\/p>\n
When you buzz over to Contently the site looks pretty basic. You can sign up quickly and it\u2019s free. After you sign up you will need to fill out your profile and set up your portfolio. This process has been greatly streamlined and is done in a step-by-step manner that makes it easy for even a novice computer user to complete.<\/p>\n
From your Dashboard opening page, there is a link at the top of the screen to your profile. After you click on that you will be able to begin setting up your profile and move on to your portfolio.<\/p>\n
Please keep in mind that this is a comprehensive portfolio and will take a bit of time to complete. You want to do a good job here because you can use this portfolio when applying for writing jobs on other sites. Not only can you link to the entire portfolio but you can also link to individual articles. The portfolio can be set up a little at a time so don\u2019t feel rushed.<\/p>\n
One interesting and very cool feature is the ability to search for and automatically add article clips from other writing sites to your portfolio. For example, if you are a longtime writer on Yahoo! you can enter your Yahoo! information and Contently will pick up all of your articles from that site. Then you can add them to your profile with the click of the \u2018add\u2019 button. You choose which articles to add.<\/p>\n
If you are completely new and have no published articles, you can add them from your computer individually. This is especially good for both brand new writers and for those who have work that has been published in print magazines and newspapers but is not available online.<\/p>\n
After you have listed your articles, you can choose the best of them to be \u2018featured\u2019 or given more prominence than the rest. This makes for a very nice front-page layout of your best samples. It\u2019s also good to have several different topics, formats and such featured. This gives a client a good idea of your writing range. There is no limit to the number of clips you can have in your portfolio and this is a very good site for storing all of them for easy retrieval. You never know when that article you wrote about sitting on a sawhorse is going to come in handy!<\/p>\n
Standard profile information is required and you have the option of choosing whether or not to make your portfolio public or private. A public portfolio is highly recommended so that those searching for a writer can find you. However if you are just looking to use the portfolio features and not seeking onsite writing, you can choose to make your portfolio private.<\/p>\n
There is a place to upload a photo and this is always a good idea. Your photo makes your profile more professional and people generally like to see a photo of the person that they are hiring. It makes the relationship seem more real to them. A viable alternative is to use a business logo.
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Unlike many online portfolios, Contently also includes and tracks social media. You register your social media networks and the system will keep track of your articles through them. If you are in the habit of tweeting a new article when it comes out (and if you aren\u2019t, get into the habit; it\u2019s good for business) then Contently will track how many times it has been shared, commented on and retweeted! Currently Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Linkedin are represented. These are all great platforms for building your online presence and branding your work.<\/p>\n
Once your portfolio is set up, keeping it maintained is a snap. If you add a new site to your resume, add it to the portfolio. Then all you have to do is click a single button and the system will look for new articles or blog posts. Your portfolio will always be current and ready to show off to a prospective client. With a single click of the mouse you can even share your portfolio with Facebook or Twitter. You can even email your entire portfolio to a client if you wish.<\/p>\n
Speaking of resumes, there is even a place to upload your resume to Contently. So even if you are short on articles you can use your resume to boost your chances of connecting with those looking to hire someone with your background.<\/p>\n
If you plan to work through Contently, and I highly recommend this, you will eventually need to submit your tax information. You will only need to submit this information after you’ve completed an assignment. Again, this process has been streamlined and is quick to complete.<\/p>\n
Once you have your portfolio set up, you’ll be eligible to get assignments from Contently. This means you will need to be selected by a publisher. You may need to be patient, but it can be worth the wait. Contently believes in helping writers earn a good living, and they back it up with the pay you can receive. The average pay is currently $250 per article.<\/p>\n
Contently publishers select journalists to work on a team. Once added to a team, a publisher will arrange with the journalist to either accept assignments or provided pitches.\u00a0It\u2019s not unusual to suggest your own title and then to start writing an existing title while waiting for a reply.<\/p>\n
Contently has their own writing screen and you can write directly to their site. They also have a new autosave feature that backs up your work whenever you stop typing for more than one second.<\/p>\n
There is a word count to most articles but it\u2019s within a minimum and maximum range. You don\u2019t have to actually count the words because the Contently interface will do it for you and your \u2018submit\u2019 button isn\u2019t active until you reach the minimum word count.<\/p>\n
Once completed, hit the submit button and your article goes into the review process. When I started working with Contently I was fresh from a site with a poor editing process. No worries with Contently. There is back and forth dialogue between you and the editors and they are, without exception, a great bunch of people. Oddly enough I\u2019ve never heard of anyone complain about them and in this field that is very rare.<\/p>\n
The article deadlines are very reasonable, with an average of 4 days to complete each one. Edits generally need to be done within 3 days. The review process is quick. From submission you can expect review to be within 24 hours and payment is sent automatically upon the editor clicking the approved button.
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Payment is to your Paypal account and it\u2019s on approval so there is no delay once your article is approved. As soon as the money is in your Contently account, you click to have it released to Paypal. There is a minimum transfer amount of $10 but that has never been an issue that I\u2019m aware of because of the average dollar amount of the articles. The money is immediately transferred and Contently pays the fees.<\/p>\n
For new and would-be writers who have read my previous articles here, you might notice that I often mention that a company pays the Paypal fees. This is because some individual clients do not and those fees can take a chunk out of your bottom line. I generally avoid working with those clients or I contract with them separately to cover the fees.<\/p>\n
For those new to working online, Paypal is the largest and safest payment method available. You can get a free debit card from them and access your money from any ATM. Because the card carries a MasterCard logo it\u2019s also usable in any location that accepts MasterCard. With Paypal, you can complete the assignment, submit it, be paid and have access to your money in minutes. With checks it can take weeks. There are also many companies such as Contently that only pay via Paypal. It\u2019s accepted and understood that if you work online, you accept Paypal payments.<\/p>\n
The final interesting thing about Contently is that they have a very nice newsletter. It is published every Friday. It highlights anything relevant to freelance writers and is a great way to stay current. Freelancers are encouraged to submit articles for inclusion in the newsletter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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