The Most Active and Friendliest
Affiliate Marketing Community Online!

“Adavice”/  “RollerAds”/

How I used semi-automated content writing to build up a budget for mobile

M

mr_papageorgio

Guest
Whats up guys, Im relatively new to the forum and thought Id explain how Ive been using semi-automated content writing to build up a budget for mobile. Ive been wanting to get into mobile for a while, but information overload coupled with a full time job has given me all the excuses I needed to procrastinate. The truth is I actually had the money to start but wanted to try something I read on Sean Ogle's blog, Location 180, about earning extra money through freelance writing (seanogle(dot)(com)/guest-posts/freelance-writing-website). Content writing is obviously nothing new, but I wanted to see if I could outsource it and pocket the profit - spoiler alert - it worked. I pretty much followed the blog post to a T but heres a breakdown anyway:

1. Setup a free Weebly site with a truthful profile and contact submit form. Make sure you post some writing samples as well since potential clients will want to see proof that you can actually write. Don't worry if you don't have any samples, just go to Fiverr and get someone to write 3 or 4 separate hundred word samples on anything. Also make sure to include prices on the site - I used the same prices as the blog post but also offered the first article for $15.

2. Build an email list using Mailchimp using the emails of companies/people in areas you are familiar with. The trick is that you want to appear to be local so I just Googled stuff like "SEO Consulting Atlanta" or "Online Marketing Miami" etc etc. Make sure to separate the lists by location.

3. Once you have a good email list build up, create an email campaign where you introduce yourself and your services, etc. My campaign was a little more complex than the blog post as I tried to make it match the style of my site but Im betting something basic will work too. Make sure to say that you are from/have lived in/went to school in X city and are now doing content writing. Include a link to your sample works page. I was astonished at the percentage of recipients that opened a blind email like this, it was something like 60-70% and a lot of them then went on to check out my site.

4. If your site looks legit and you have emailed enough people (I think it took me 50-60 emails to get my first job), someone will bite and ask you to write an article. I ended up writing the first article myself as I wanted to make sure it was well done so the client would come back for more. It worked and their next order was 10 articles at full price.

5. At this point I went to Fiverr and Textbroker and listed all but one of the articles to be written (I decided to write the last one myself). Fiverr ended up producing better quality stuff than Textbroker and I now have a guy I use exclusively who does great work with a fast turnaround. MAKE SURE TO PROOFREAD AND EDIT ALL OUTSOURCED ARTICLES. They need to look like they were written by you so change what you need to, etc.

6. Deliver the articles and invoice. Try and make the invoice legit, not just a note in the email with your Paypal address. There are plenty of good free online invoicing sites out there.

7. Rise and repeat using different cities.

That's it, I used this method to make a $15-$20 profit on a bunch of articles over the past few weeks. The well has started to dry up though as this was always an experiment and I am no longer emailing potential clients. My start up costs were nothing as I used a free site and had some content to post as my samples. Id suggest making sure your site and email campaign template look good - its worth spending a bit of time on them as nobody will give you any money if it appears to be half assed and amateur.

Ill be applying to ad and mobile networks in the next few days and intend to post a follow along thread once I start implementing this budget. Cheers and good luck!
 
Great idea and it works, too. :) How do you approach the outsourcing with your clients? Do you present yourself as a 'team' of content writers, or let them think that you're writing the originals yourself?

If you've found yourself a good writer, that's terrific, hang onto him. :) As you probably know, they're not easy to find on a budget.
 
I acted as if I was writing all the content myself but was prepared to explain that I had partners helping me if anyone ever asked. They never did and since I was proofing and editing all the content anyway I was confident in the quality and 'feel' of the articles.
 
I acted as if I was writing all the content myself but was prepared to explain that I had partners helping me if anyone ever asked. They never did and since I was proofing and editing all the content anyway I was confident in the quality and 'feel' of the articles.

Cool! If you did the editing then you are involved in the finished product, anyway.
 
MI
Back