The following article is a guest post from Kelly Kilpatrick of MatchACollege.com.

---

Each day, hundreds of thousands of articles are published on blogs and other pages on the web. Getting your content published has become easier than ever; generating a name for yourself as a writer, however, is a different story entirely. You may need to create large amounts of content to even begin to create a name for yourself.

How does someone accomplish this lofty goal with so many people out there writing and developing content on a regular basis? You must become a prolific article writing machine. Read on if this is your goal.

Find Hot Topics

Start every day using a search engine to find out the hot topics of the day. You can always use Google Blog Search to see and read what other bloggers are saying about the latest news in any category you wish write about. If you have a niche already picked out, start subscribing via RSS Feed to keep up with what your favorite bloggers are saying, as well as the most popular ones.

Offer New Perspectives

You don’t have to sit there and regurgitate the same information like everyone else; offer new perspectives on your favorite topics. Sometimes differing from what the crowd is feeling and saying can be controversial and help generate traffic for your writing. This will help increase your visibility, name recognition, and future visitors.

Quick Brainstorm

Learn how to read, research, and write on-the-fly. You must give yourself a few moments to take in new information, and then spend ten to fifteen minutes free writing about what you have learned. At the end of this step, you should have several starting points to choose from.

Sort Out Sub-topics

For every article you’re considering authoring, you need between three and ten sub-points, depending on the article length you’re trying to achieve. Think about all those “Top 5” articles you read on the web. Five points and you’re good, simple as that.

Elaborate on Each Sub-topic

Two or three sentences are really all you need to get the article in an easy-to-read and smooth format. Take a second to look back through this article. Anything look or seem familiar to you? Using these quick steps to help you create content can make a huge difference in your output, and ultimately your recognition as a writer.

By-line:
This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of top online colleges. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com

Let’s talk specifically about Web content writers today, and the rights they give up when they sell their work.

In many cases, when a client purchases Web content from you, their primary objective is to target search terms for traffic or online readers. Most have no use for your content beyond their websites or blogs, leaving potential non-competing reprint markets available as an additional income stream for you (there are exceptions of course, such as a magazine which may print articles in hard copy as well as on their website).

Let’s get one thing clear up front - if you’ve ghostwritten something as a work-for-hire, you’ve generally given up the full copyright to the work, so holding onto additional rights isn’t an option. But what about bylined projects? Should you hold onto print rights and try to resell the content to offline clients?

It isn’t something that I do often, but it can be an excellent way to earn some extra money, as well as a way for your initial client to save some money. Most clients ordering bylined Web content really don’t need full rights. It just sounds good to them. Exclusive Web rights are what they really need in order to rank well in the search engines without worrying about duplicate content.

But sometimes other markets exist that don’t directly compete. For example, a health writer might put together a piece on the health dangers of of pesticide use on common foods. It’s published on the client’s website. The writer may also be able to re-sell non-exclusive, print-only rights to their local newspaper if those pesticides are heavily used in their area. The markets are non-competing, but the content could be relevant to both an online and offline audience.

So should you pitch exclusive Web-only rights to clients instead of simply handing over full rights? I think it’s a good idea if you have the inclination to actually pitch the piece elsewhere (and keep in mind - you may not want to now, but may wish you could down the road). I’ve found with bylined work that when you really explain the rights in relation to their needs, and offer a discount if you sell limited rights, clients are usually willing to work with you, and you can earn more from your initial Web writing in the process.

Do you hold onto print rights when possible? Do you actually pitch them to print publications? What has your experience been in negotiating rights with Web content clients?

Whether you’re a Web content writer or a Web copywriter, specialization can be one of the biggest factors in earning a higher income from your writing. Here’s why:

More Money

The most important point is that most clients will pay more for a specialist than a generalist. You can specialize in niches (such as for content writers) or even in types of writing if you’re a copywriter (perhaps you specialize exclusively in online sales letters).

Why will clients often pay a specialist more than a generalist? Because specialists bring added credentials and knowledge to the project. Let’s use me as an example:

I specialize in press release writing as my primary form of business writing. Why? Because I have a degree in the field, I run a PR firm, and I was one of the earlier specialists in online PR (giving me an edge with my target markets who are primarily looking for releases they can distribute online). I also have experience that others don’t. A lot of people call themselves press release writers these days, especially when targeting an online audience. However, many of them are simply content writers - I’ll often see generic articles thrown into a template from these writers charging $50 or less. I currently have low rates on the professional circuit (under $200 per release), but much higher than most writers my target market comes across. Yet I’m never hurting for work. Why? They know I have experience in not simply writing the release, but getting them real media coverage, more significant backlinks, and simply more exposure. I also have the credentials and experience to consult with them on the best distribution plans for their release, the best days for distribution given their release type, etc. Generic writers can’t offer the same. So clients who are serious about using releases effectively don’t have a problem paying more for someone who knows what they’re doing.

Let’s look now at the sales page example I gave. A well-written sales page might bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars of income for the client. A smart client knows the importance of the sales page copy in bringing in conversions. You’ll see a lot of people new to the game who are happy to hire a general writer to do their sales page, because they don’t understand the way marketing copy influences buyers. They just want it written cheaply. Yet there are plenty of clients that do understand the value, and they’re more than happy to pay several thousand dollars for a masterfully-crafted sales page from a copywriter with a proven track record of high-converting copy.

Now let’s look at Web content writing, where specializations often come down more to niches. Are there clients looking for writers willing to write on any subject under the sun with a bit of research? Of course. You can probably find plenty of work as a Web content generalist. But you won’t be earning to your fullest potential, and that’s simply bad business. Why not?

Most of the poorly paid Web content writing gigs so prevalent today are looking for these generalist writers - they’re often site owners who run hoards of sites on every subject they think will earn them ad revenue. They often don’t care much about the quality. Another client group here is the writer mill - a company hiring a bunch of writers to churn out cheap articles for their own clients. A third group (that can be better to work with) are Internet marketing companies or Web developers. These are companies either building sites for clients or handling their IM campaigns, and they outsource the writing work to Web content writers. The problem here is that you may not get direct access to the end client, you have no idea what the end client knows about you or what they’ve specifically requested, and it’s not usually the highest pay you could find (keeping in mind that your direct client will be keeping a portion of what they’re charging the end client).

More Time

Is there a market for generalists? Sure. But your goal as a freelancer - a professional with a limited number of working and billable hours each week - should be to earn as much as you can for as few billable hours as you can. This either leaves you time to pursue additional income streams by “investing in yourself” (your own blogs, informational products, books, etc.), or it leaves you time to take more client work. Let’s put it this way: Would you rather spend your time writing 10 articles in a week at $100 a piece, or writing 100 articles for $10 a piece? You would earn the same income. Guess which I prefer, and which I recommend.

A common misconception about the scenario I just gave you is that the folks writing fewer articles for more money are still putting in just as much time, because it involves more research. That’s not always true - as a matter of fact, in my experience, it’s very rarely true. I’ve had articles paying several hundred dollars that took me no more than 30 minutes to write. That’s because they were within my specialty - my areas of expertise, where I have a vast enough knowledge store to write without needing much background research (if any in some cases). Those clients wouldn’t hire a generalist to write those articles. No matter how much research a generalist writer did, they couldn’t have added some of the personal elements I would be able to.

My point is this - specialists often spend less time per article than generalists, they get paid more for them in many cases, and they have more time left over to take on even more higher-paying clients.

More Exposure

Let’s look at another example to see another benefit of specialization in your Web writing. Let’s say we have a serious site owner trying to build an authority website about training horses. They could hire a generalist writer for a modest amount, and probably find plenty of takers willing to do some basic research. Or they could higher someone who was a professional horse trainer to write the content. For anyone trying to build a site with any real authority, they’ll probably opt for the latter choice, and be willing to pay more.

Here’s the other common difference you’ll see. Quite a bit of generalist Web writing gigs are ghostwriting gigs. Expert writers are much more likely to get a published byline. Why? Because the client realizes that the content carries more weight when tied to an expert with credentials in the subject area. And why should you care about getting a byline if possible? Because having your name attached to your content on an authoritative site is marketing for you that you’re being paid for!

So by specializing, you’ll very often find yourself with more money, more time, and more exposure that can lead to more work. It’s win-win-win.

One of the most common questions and misunderstandings I come across with new Web writers is about Web content versus Web copy. If you want to write for the Web, it’s important to figure out what type of writer you want to be. Understanding the difference between content writing and copywriting will get you off to a good start.

I’m going to over-simplify for the sake of clarity here, but there can occasionally be pieces that cross the lines. However, in most cases here is what content is / does, and the same for copy:

Content - Content is designed to inform, educate, or entertain in most cases. For example, a how-to article is content.

Copy - Copy, on the other hand, is generally designed to persuade or entice the reader to action. This can be blatant such as marketing copy telling people to buy your product or sign up for your newsletter or click on some link. It can also be much more subtle. For example, the homepage copy on a business website is copy rather than content, as would be the text on something like an “About Us” page. Why? Because that copy is designed to give a certain image of the company - you’re persuading them to trust you by giving background information that helps them make a decision put before them by your more overt copy. The overt sales-oriented copy might be referred to as direct response marketing copy, but not being direct response copy doesn’t make the rest any less copywriting.

To be a great content writer in a niche, your best assets are your knowledge of the subject matter, your credentials that make you a trusted source, and your research ability. On the other hand, to be a great copywriter, you not only have to be able to write, but you have to be able to persuade - you should have a solid grasp of basic marketing and consumer psychology.