by Francis Jock

Created on: January 13, 2009   Last Updated: March 03, 2010

Perhaps you have wondered, for quite some time now, if freelance article writing is all that it's cracked up to be. You've seen articles posted by other writers touting their income level, apparently a measure of their degree of success. I've been writing articles for over a year now, and my income is meager when compared to theirs. Of course, you're smart enough to know that instant success isn't likely, so you are being patient and dedicated to hacking away at the keyboard whenever you can. You keep hoping that someday, you'll attain the lofty goal of writing only occasionally and spending the rest of your time on the beach.

It's the journey - not the destination that matters, right? Since I started on this, my most recent adventure, I've tried writing technical articles, poetry, short stories, essays, humor, how-to articles, recipes, science fiction, mathematics and societal, religious, and political articles. That's a lot of topics, but my goal over the past year has been to find what works and what doesn't. By that, I mean what are people likely to read, how are they going to find my articles, and how much is each article going to earn.

Over time, I have discovered a small range of successful topics and I have devoted a lot of time and energy writing about real estate, rentals, and property management. I have experience in all of these areas, so fleshing freelance articles wasn't too much of a challenge once I got motivated. Nothing gets me more motivated than a nice return on my work, but I do get bored with these topics at times, especially since the housing market has severely tanked. One area that I have written in with surprising success, at least surprising, has been in the "How to" subject area, in this case general articles about water heaters, sump pumps and other such things of a plumbing nature. Since income is the goal, I'll be sure to write many more articles about such ordinary things in the future.

What if an article isn't as successful as I'd like it to be? Well, after some study of how articles are read or not-read on the basis of its earnings, I've decided to donate the proceeds from any articles that aren't making the cut to charity. This is a great feature on Helium, and one that I strongly endorse for any writer. You'll have to decide where the cut is for your own purposes. I monitor those articles closely, as I have found that reader's interests change over time and with the seasons. For example, an article on growing poinsettia isn't likely to attract very many reader eleven months out of the year, and then attract quite a few when the holidays arrive.

Now, that leads to my conclusion. While creative writing and politics and other such topics are emotional and fun, they are short lived in the public interest and aren't likely to be around a year from now. On the other hand, ordinary, mundane things are always in demand over a long term - unless there is a major change in technology. Therefore, the best tip I could give for freelance article writing is to write about the ordinary, everyday things you know about. Maybe we'll meet on the beach and discuss it some day soon. Until then, happy writing!

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