Do I have a chance of making money as a freelance writer with my own website?

I'm thinking of starting my "career" as an academic freelance writer. According to EssayDirectory.com, there are 1,700+ essay related websites.

Should I bother creating and promoting my own website? If so, what are the chances someone will find it?

I don't like spamming message boards or wasting time seeking potential clients on Odesk, Freelancer, Elance, and similar sites.

Should I give up going solo and join a writing company instead?

Only you know what's right for you. You might not want to think of it as "giving up," though. You can work for someone else's company while you still plan and/or establish your own-- and maybe get some good ideas.

I know I'd prefer to work directly with my own clients.. but the idea of website marketing and building my brand/reputation overwhelms me. With thousands of sites, isn't the academic writing market over-saturated yet?

Then own a site. That is the solution. However, you will need to do Top-notch SEO to rank the highest in Google and stand out of the crowd that is in Essaydirectory.

Hi Justine!

I'm a relatively new academic writer, very much enjoying it so far. I went the route of working through a company rather than going solo - so far, at least. I thought I'd share my own considerations for whatever value they may have for you. I don't have any experience operating one of these websites (and it seems some of the people on this board do), though I do know a bit about website-related matters from my own hobby interests.

Now, assuming you're just interested in going solo-solo - that is, not in starting a company with other writers as well - it's a bit of a different situation than it is for most of the websites people are discussing here. We're talking about something that is going to be more of a personal-freelancer sort of site. If you decide to give it a real try solo, that's definitely something you'll want. Most everyone in any industry who works freelance full-time has their own site nowadays; it's mostly a 'personal branding' thing showing that you are a professional, demonstrating your talents a bit.

The personal-freelancer website is something you put in your email signatures, list on Facebook, put on business cards, etc. Generally it is not the way that people originally find out about you - it's a way for them to check you out further after making original contact somewhere else. As far as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies for people to find you on Google search.. I'd suggest you forget about that. Make sure people can find you if they search for your name, or whatever business name you might want to go by. But like you mentioned, there are unfortunately thousands of sites that show up for "academic essays" or any similar search term. It's possible in principle to outrank them, but even if you managed to do it, it wouldn't be worth the time and the expense. The "big" sites are places that handle tons of orders and employ many writers. As an individual, the volume you'll be handling just doesn't require the same strategy. Besides, what would happen if you suddenly landed your site on the first page of Google results? You'd probably be swamped with hundreds of requests every day. That's not really so great when you just want to focus on writing.

So I'd suggest, if you want to go solo, that you will have to do some active self-promotion if you want to find clients. If your work is good, eventually you may get a lot of work from repeat clients and referrals - but starting out will likely be a lot of effort to find work. I'd also recommend setting a very firm pricing policy, and make it prominent on your website and clear in any posts/communications. You don't want to waste your time talking to a bunch of students expecting to pay $10 a page and have 24/7 phone access to you. Check out what the other websites are charging and match it, or charge more. You'll have to account for the volume of work you can actually get, not just the pay when you do get something.

All of this is why I decided against the solo route, for now at least. As long as you can find a decent company that matches your own ability, it is in my opinion a nice way to go. Yes, they're probably going to pay you 35-50% of what they're charging clients. Personally, I'm more than happy to let them have it. I don't have to spend my own time and money advertising. I don't have to deal with indecisive customers on the phone or through email, leading me on for a week and then deciding not to hire me. If you've ever used Craigslist to sell off old furniture.. remember that experience, lol! For every item you actually sell you get 30 email inquiries. Half of them never reply when you respond. The other half go some length toward setting up an appointment, but half of those either cancel or just.. don't show up. (Sometimes the ones who express the greatest confidence that they really intend to buy it.) Of those that do, half of them decide against buying, and most of the others pull the "Oh, your ad said you wanted $250 for the sofa, and I know I didn't ask before.. but how about $100?" routine.

Well, okay, it's not always like that. Being very clear and firm about prices helps to cut down on it. But you get the idea. As for myself, I'd be happy to deal directly with clients who had already paid. Dealing with potential clients, however.. I'll take half the per-page pay and just get directly to the writing.

Hi Justine - it's definitely achievable! As long as you are OK with working to short deadlines and managing client expectations, you'll be fine. What's your background?

Many thanks for your comments, especially d652482.


You are so right. I didn't think about that. I want to focus on research and writing, not on customer service. -). But I realize it is a big part of the job if you have more clients than you can actually work with. I imagine it takes time to service potential clients who never end up paying anyway. That's what I want to avoid, if possible.

At this point I think I'll have someone create a simple, business-like website with my name and contact info and in the meantime I'll work for essay agencies. If someone contacts me directly, I'll work with them using my own website. At this point I can only rely on word of mouth clients, but that should bring more clients.

Why can't you do it yourself (the website)?

I'm not a web designer :).

You don't need to be, there's a number of website hosts that make it very easy. I PM'ed you to discuss further, let me know if you would like some direction as I have done what you are trying to do!

Thanks,

we need more australian writers that can be contacted directly! I know i would use one if i could find one!

In my opinion, if you create your own website, its going to be hard to compete with people that optimize for "custom essay" searches in Google. These people have tons of traffic going to their sites already, and will most likely rank higher than you for quite some time. If you have a good reputation and word gets out, you will surely receive work, but you need to actively ensure that this happens. Just my two cents.

This industry is definitely over saturated as evidenced by the constant spamming that occurs in Twitter and FB for these services. The scam companies have turned what used to be respectable and admirable job into a fly by night nightmare for most students. Setting up your own website would be a good idea only if you can find a way to make yourself stand out and clarify that you are not a scam company. Normally, using FB and Twitter would be enough to help promote your services and website. If you can manage to do some physical promotion for your services at the local student hang outs, you should be able to promote your services and your website in a more "legal" and "reliable" manner. Face to face contact with the writer will certainly put the client at ease and bring a greater sense of legality to your website. Be it professionally designed or not. Face to face promotion trumps social media and website promotion each time. There is just a different sense of confidence that students get when they are face to face with their potential writer. The website turns out to be a bonus as it allows for easier word of mouth promotion when it comes to your satisfied clients referring your services to other students in need.

I agree about the "custom essay writing service" market overstaturation. Some 'writers' have been desperate to the point of offering their 'services' for free (they pretend to be 'geeks' who love writing essays or solving homework problems). Obviously, all those free or low-cost services are 100% scam, but some students fall for it.

What's going to happen next is still unclear. The Ukrainians have already been moving their business back to their origin, ie. fake 'Russian' bride websites with fake profiles of women. As discovered by Donald, here is an example: on Twitter they have hundreds of thousands of fake women profiles (fake pictures, names, etc.). Their bots retweet random posts AND post random tweets related to their targeted niche. For example, they would post a tweet like:

I hate this fcu*king research paper. Who's gonna help me? I'll pay.

Then, the foreign (but not only) suckers aka 'writers' would Follow or Like this fake profile to get attention.

It IS easy to spot such fraudulent profiles - all you have to do is to check the total number of (fake) tweets and the proportion of real tweets and Retweets. When there are many random Retweets and the profiles has THOUSANDS of tweets total, the profile is fake.

Or their bot (with an attached fake beautiful woman picture) would post a tweet like:

I'm feeling lonely, I don't know what to do. Send help.

and then naive men, who don't realize the profile is 100% fabricated, would Follow or Like the profile in the hopes of getting lucky.

So for the fraudsters the end game is creating as many fake (but legitimate-looking) profiles as possible, usually linked with their other social-media profiles like Instagram or Snapchat. They do it because they expect it's going to legitimatize their scam dating businesses somehow, provide free clicks (free advertising), and give an advantage in search engines.

Regarding advertising on campuses, it's not a viable option, at least in the UK. I predict in the future the quality and honesty will prevail. The scammers who now try to sell their suspicious academic research or homework-help services for $5-$20 per page will have to move back to sending '1-Million inheritance African real estate' or 'Beautiful brides looking for Western men' scam emails. The only question is how long the process is going to take; it's up to students to decide if the risk of losing money and personal identity vs low price is worth to them.

If you wish to learn the rudiments of the business, then join a writing company first. Though a bit traumatic for some people, the experience of having an employer helps you get your feet wet and helps you decide if you really want to go into freelance academic writing as a full-time career. I will have to admit that this line of work is not for all people. The income fluctuates with the academic season and the deadlines can be brutal for some writers. If you do not know exactly what you will be facing as a fully independent freelance writer, then you may not survive one writing season. By using an employer first, you not only get someone else to pay for your capital (through salary savings) but you also learn what type of business model you want to use for your own company / self-employed business. Don't just into the business headlong wearing blinders. You need to at least have a simple understanding of what the business entails before you even consider using social media to promote yourself informally as a a freelance academic writer.

This is the harsh reality of the field that is not necessarily considered by others. But it does have its perks. You have more free time to indulge in during the summer or winter breaks. You also get a steady hold of your income during academic seasons, making you expect a certain amount of money flow within a specific period. This helps people (even I) in budgeting for upcoming rainy days.

Websites still serve a purpose these days. Payment channels such as Payoneer will not approve an applicant if the applicant does not have an active website to refer the company to. The websites still offer writers a sense of legitimacy and permanency in this business. Some old school students would also much rather read the site advertising in an effort to "get to know the writer and company". Will an independent writer have a chance to make money through his own website? Maybe yes, maybe no. It all depends upon the writer. Clients will come your way, a few may even hire you. The problem, is that if the writer doesn't put in the hard work required to keep the clients happy, encourage the client to refer your services to others, and prove to be trustworthy, then having a website won't matter. The reputation of the writer will precede him in the end.