Forum Moderators: not2easy
I am looking for budding writers who are looking for exposure and a place to get published. I am offering the writers who contribute articles a link to their site, a bio, a pic and a t-shirt.
Firstly, do you think this will work.
Secondly, I am planning to place this add in the form of a banner add on a popular blog site. Do you think this is a good place to put it up? Where else will I find budding writers?
Thirdly, can some one help me understand budding writers, what will appeal to them. What kind of add will grab their attention? What could a good title for the advertisement be?
Your responses will be greatly appreciated
Thanks!
...get a free T-shirt? E-hem. Credit card companies give out free T-shirts. They give them to college students who fill out credit card applications.
Really, all you have to remember is this: people write to be famous. That's the only reason, whatsoever. Forget about this thread [webmasterworld.com], it won't help you. People write to be famous.
Don't insult them.
The only reason I would like to give a free t-shirt is the same reason credit card companies like to give free t-shirts. I want to advertise my site and get my site logo in print.
I think I understand vaguely what you mean by “people write to be famous”. So, what do you think will motivate them to write for me? How do I give them what they want? How do I make them famous?
Your response will be appreciated.
Thanks
Don't give out free t-shirts.
It's easy to get people to write for you for nothing, but you have to do it right. As a writer, the idea of receiving a free t-shirt for an article big turn off to me. It's not sexy.
If an amateur writer is investing time and effort to give you content, they're going to want to produce something good that they can show other people (hint: give them a byline).
But if you really want to make writers feel cheap and used, then you might as well just pay them with the 30 cents it cost to make the t-shirt.
Yours,
Content_Writer
I am looking for budding writers who are looking for exposure and a place to get published.
Great. If you're offering a chance to be published in a high-quality, prestigious venue that is highly selective about choosing its content, then you should have no problem attracting writers -- they probably already know about you.
I am offering the writers who contribute articles a link to their site, a bio, a pic and a t-shirt.
So, except for a T-shirt, you're offering what they can already get from any free hosting site on the web (not to mention their own ISP, most likely). Except, if they go with a free hosting site instead of you, they don't have to be edited, don't have to write about anything that's of use to you, and can generally toot their own horn much better than you promise to do.
Can you get some writers? I bet you can at least one. Will the quality be great or even just not awful? I bet it won't.
Your post really doesn't indicate that you've found anything of value to offer except a free T-Shirt (which I'm guessing is just another opportunity for the author to do unpaid advertising for you). You're asking for something for nothing. The response should be predictable.
If you’
1. There are many writers who are unpublished and are desperate to get published somewhere, anywhere! They want to increase their "exposure" and proudly quote in their query letters that they have been published ......here and there and there.
2. You talk about them starting up their own site. I know that's a cool option. But they need to know how to start their own site. Even though it is not very hard, many of these writers are novices. The idea of starting their own site is intimidating.
Based on these assumptions I think the add might work. What do you think? Are my assumptions flawed?
By the way...i had decided against the free t-shirt after listening to content writer. Do you think that giving a free t-shirt is a motivator?
Thanks,
Your views will be appreciated.
The problem is that there aren't many good writers in the world, and the ones who are probably have jobs doing something else and couldn't be bothered by giving away their writing for free.
Writers who find a website that they really like, though, will write for free and for their passions. If you are a writer who loves skee-do for example, you'll write and write free articles until you become the reknowned skee-do author of the world.
I've tried to find writers with little success, though I have gotten about 5 of them who give me 1-2 articles a year... that's about it.. once they use your site in their resume and get a real job, they'll stop writing for you
I do the grunt work too. They respect that. It's not easy and it takes a lot of time, but gees, how can they feel abused, when I contribute and research as much as them? I'm also a good editor and seek to improve standards. When they write crap, I tell them. Not easy, but crap is crap, no matter how you squeeze it. Let your writers in on your business. Let them know what worked, what didn't and what people had to say about the site. You will always lose a few writers, but that's why you must constantly be on the look out for more writers. They will feel tired too, after a while. Respect that.
Just remember that writers are not cattle. Don,t treat them as makers of contents. They deserve the most respect possible. They are humans and they have something to say. Give them a place to say it that's right for them, and they will come.
Either way you plan to make money somehow - directly or indirectly - if you don't then you probably shouldn't be in this business. And it seems to me that if you are making money from their work it would be fair to share that with them.
I'm afraid that I just cannot imagine any valid businesses plan which could not support paying the people who create your value.
I did initially decide to pay the writers for the articles. I was researching writers and what will appeal to them etc. by going though many writer forums and I found some very interesting posts on these writer forums.
There was one in which some one wanted to actually pay a website 1$ so that he would be published. There are websites running that take money from writers to publish them online. I checked out the website. It's not a very prestigious thing to be published there. Its just a regular website. Now that's an extremely unethical but ridiculously good business model. What say?
If there are people, who are so desperate, that they are willing to pay to get published then asking them to do it for free becomes an interesting proposition. I understand that the work quality will not be that good. So what, I am getting free articles that I will edit. I have been writing all the articles for my site till now. I know a thing or two about writing.
If there are people out there whose ultimate dream is just to get published then why not make them happy and get free content in return.
What I am asking is, will this work? Many people here were budding writers at some point of time with no reputation. So put you self in that place and tell me whether this will work?
Anyways I have put an add out and I will see for my self whether this works or not soon. I will post what happens.
Obviously you need to target the right group of people for this to happen, maybe fans of a product or people interested in blue widgets.
Just rethink your original idea to this: People write -> They contribute to the community that they love. Much more powerful and substantial than giving a way free t-shirts. I would encourage you to try to find examples of these kind of sites on the web, I can sticky you some if you don't find them yourself. Good Luck!
If the writer isn't coming out of a sense of contributing to a community, or to discussion on a topic of great interest to him or her, your offering will be a last resort - but maybe you know that, already. Common practice for budding writers, if they know what they're doing, is to send material to places that pay for it (the highest-paying first, then on down the line). If no one who pays will take it, then it's time to go to the "just to get my name in print" places. The thing is, once something is published online, it's published, and most editors won't buy it afterward.
If you want writers to submit to you instead of a zillion other "just to get my name in print" places, any ad should point out to them why your site is such a great place to get their name in print (so to speak). How many visitors does the site get? What kind of visitors (editors, for example, or people especially interested in the topic they write about)? What kind of web prominence does it have? How do you market the site to people who will make a difference to the writer (editors, for example)?
Authors do tend to respect people who at least recognize the worth of what they do and attempt to pay them for it, even if they can't pay much. Then, as their hard work contributes to your site making more money, you'll increase the pay... right?
If you can't afford to pay everyone, how about pooling the money you were going to spend on t-shirts and having a writing contest, with monetary prizes for the best articles on [whatever]. With the stipulation that you can publish all of the entries, not just the ones that win. Not the best idea, but at least you're giving people a chance to get something out of it.
