[Beyond Borders]

I haven't posted in here in quite some time and just wanted to
contribute if possible to those out there looking to make money
overseas - I know how many of you are dying to figure it out!

I want to stress how much there is to be made in the online content
markets. There's a lot of misinformation out there about there
being no money in it, but it's really far from the truth.

I made my living writing web articles and SEO content for people
while living overseas and have brought the business home with me.
I do web design and a little IM here and there, but the writing stuff
is what really pays my bills.

Don't listen to people who tell you that you have to pen articles for
$1 - $5 each. I'm still pretty small-time, I suppose, but I get about
$30 - $50 for most articles. Keep in mind that these $30 ones take
me about 20 - 30 minutes to write. The $50 ones sometimes a bit
longer but not much.

The hourly on that turns out pretty nice (keeping in mind that you
have to spend time emailing and marketing as well).

My newest client is paying quite a bit more. I don't want to
give too much info as they're one of the bigger players in their
industry online, but this last month alone, it took me about 4 days
to write all their content, and I cashed out a couple grand.

They are going to have enough work for me to make a solid income
every year on their stuff alone - well more than enough to live on in
Asia or South America and with plenty of free time for other clients
or projects.

Not too shabby if you ask me. Also, this is not the higher skill of
direct response copywriting but just your basic web content and SEO
articles! If you can write decent, you're good to go - just learn to
market yourself.

This client came through word of mouth, but from other people I've
talked to, there are a ton out there just like them - think the big
corporates - and I'm going to work on getting more of them. At
these rates, I could build a 6-figure business out of writing alone,
and I'm thinking about re-ramping up my business to do just that.

Hell, I know of one lady who started around the same time as me
and her and her husband cleared a million last year with their team
of writers - they were basically flipping sales pages (paying their
writers to write them and doing all the marketing to get clients).
That's direct-response stuff, and it pays big.

This isn't 4 hour workweek stuff - not exactly, anyways. It fullfills
freedom of location but not freedom of time.

Writing for a living is hard work and not always fun. You'll work a
lot too, if you want to take it seriously, but keep in mind that it's
nice to have something keeping you busy when overseas - otherwise
it's way too easy to party all the time and ruin yourself. I know
because I did it.

Also, if you really want, at these rates, you can work 2-3 days a
week in a 3rd world country and still live well. I know because I did
that too. You'll take a cut in pay and won't be able to save a lot for
retirement or for investing if you do it that way, but if you want to
take it easy for a while, that's not a bad way to go. All brain cells
aside - it was fun as shit!

Again, I'm not saying it's easy, and nor is it easy to get going -
there were times in the beginning when I put in 18 hour days holed
up in my little SEAsian apartment marketing and filling orders. How
bad do you want full location independence? For me, it was a
matter of survival at the time.

There's room for leverage in this business too if you're a good
communicator and project manager. At one point, I had 6 people
writing for me and just sat around managing clients and flipping
articles. It was hard work, but it paid.

I kind of let it all go partying over there, but with the success with
my latest client, I'm starting to second guess that decision. I think
I'm going to ramp it up again and then head back overseas. Build
up a little investment cash and get into the import/export thing with
the money I make while I"m over there (awesome contribution with
that pdf, YMG!).

How to get your start?

I started with Elance, to be honest. It gets a bad rap and may have
gotten more difficult, but I started by doing basic SEO articles at
$10 a pop (500 words) and selling myself as a quality provider. I
did maybe two or three projects at that rate, and then as I stacked
up a client base, I doubled my prices a few times until I was making
a solid income. Work on building a great reputation and treating
clients like gold (without getting pushed around).

There are other freelance sites out there. Then there's Craigslist.
Warrior forum. Wicked Fire. Industry-specific forums.

Another great way is to start talking to businesses in your local area
about writing web content, brochures, ads - anything you can get
your hands on. Email big businesses online.

Or how about getting on Amazon and ordering the top 5 books on
there about becoming a commercial content writer? Read them all,
take notes, and you'll probably know more than me. Million-dollar
consulting by Allen Weiss is another good one to look at - it's not
about freelance writing, per se, but if you learn to think and act like
a professional consultant in this business, you'll be way ahead of
the game.

Shoot questions if you want. Ironically enough, I'm rarely online
right now and just hop on to send in my stuff or research, but
hopefully I'll be spending more time working this month as I gear
up.

I'm sure there are a few real copywriters who can contribute on here
too. I'm not the be-all end-all expert on this stuff, by any means - I
do it enough to pay the bills. But I've been doing it almost 5 years
now and for how much I work it's not too shabby at all.

Nothing I've said on here is revolutionary info. You can find the same
testaments from other writers online - hell, it's a constant argument
over at the WF. Go do some reading. But I thought maybe a heads-
up from a fellow RooshVForum member might be the kick-in-the-ass
some of you need to look closer at the writing opportunities.

Got skills? Then think about it.

Cheers!