Understanding the Growing Demand for Writers - and More Particularly Web Content Writers

To all @Read.Cash writers

So long as the internet keeps growing, the demand for content writers will grow. So how are these two related - the internet and writers? 

Let’s look at a simple case study.

For example, @MarcDeMesel who lives in Hulingharm owns a dental clinic.  Most of the residents around hulingharm are millennials who rely on digital technology to do almost everything, including shopping, checking service reviews, and so on.  George hopes his services will reach more people and he aspires to grow his customer base. Therefore he thinks of a strategy.

As a dental physician in the digital age, @Marc knows that search queries with “Where to Buy’ and ‘Near Me’ have grown by 200% over the past two years, this is according to HubSpot.  He also knows that 60% of searchers on the internet will contact a business directly after finding it through Google. 

Well he thinks he must get his services on google and the best way to do that is by creating a website. If he is technically fit , he can create the blog himself or hire the services of a web designer.  Once the website is created, it will have the following two things:

1. A landing page

2. A blog section

This is a good example of the landing page that @MarcDeMesel will create for his business: 

An effective landing page requires creativity and should be perfectly written in a simple-to-understand language. The writing that goe  into the landing pages belongs to a category of writing known as sales copy or just copy (Remember there is no direct relationship between copy and copied/copyright or copying). 

Another thing that George will require is a blog section for his website.  According to Spiralytics, 57% of businesses grow their customers through blogging.  So George has to create a blog section that relates with his audience and his aim is to provide valuable information that will get his blog and articles ranked on Google. 

So let’s study a sample customer for @MarcDeMesel dental clinic. 

Jane has been planning to have a dental implant.  Well Jane might have to learn a little bit about the subject and because she lives in kenya ; she might Google any of the following: 

1. Dental Implants in Kenya

2. The cost of a dental implant in Kenya

3. Dental Implants

4. The risks of a dental implant

The above four are called long-tail keywords and we are going to discuss them under Search Engine Optimization.

So George has to create a blog section and write articles that reflect the needs of potential customers such as Jane. Therefore he could write an article about “The cost of dental implants in Kenya” and place it on the blog, he can do another article and another -- to grow his readers and then potentialy convert the readers into customers. Remember his readers list contains people who were looking for information abour dental services and they are therefore highly prospective customers. 

And since Marc is a busy person , mostly he will be attending to patients or spending time with family ; he needs a content writer to research and write topics they deem valuable to potential customers. 

Simply this is how the demand for content writing grows. There are over 1,000 businesses being created daily and all of them need to get online. 

Certainly, the demand for writers is not likely to go down. 

So how do I reach out to people like George who are looking for content writers? 

1. The first step is creating a portfolio of samples and placing them on free-plan blog such as medium,  or wordpress. 

2. { The simple way }Join freelance writers groups on Facebook and Linkedin. There is a group on Facebook called Online Article Writers in Kenya  (O.A.W.K). Today alone between 6:00 Am and 2:00 pm , there were a total of 11 group posts looking for writers. There are other groups such as Remarkable Freelance writers - which is owned by the online marketing Pundit Walter Akolo and its such a good place as well to find writing jobs as well as tips for growing your art. However, these platforms are not 100% reliable as some of them are the breeding grounds for cons. You should therefore remain cautious and careful when dealing with people there. Check their profils and guarantee that they are legit writers and reknown clients. 

3. You can create a profile on freelance websites such as upworks, fiverr and Freelancer. I recommend Upworks, but you will need to pay some Upwork experts to open this one for you. You are going to find them on Facebook groups, a reknown one is Frank Atwori {Just search him on Facebook] he charges anywhere between Kes 300 - kes 600 for an upwork profile and Kes 12,00 for a fiver profile + customized gig. 

4. You might also choose to go the hard way but most effective way - Cold Pitching - this is what I use.  Reaching out  to businesses and individuals whom you think need content and proposing a content strategy to them. Essentially, you will send them your portfolio, links to your work and tell them what you want to be writing for them. We will talk about this in detail, further on through the lessons. 

The standard newbie /beginner rates for a polished article is anywhere between Kes 0.5 - 1.5 bob per word.  Established writers who have achieved a good track record earn anywhere between Kes 1.0 - 3.0 bob per word.  There other writers who earn a whopping Kes 100 per word such as the famous Kenyan economist  David Ndi. 

Well, that’s just a quick brief of what to expect in the craft.