People who have an aptitude for writing can write wherever they are located and whatever post they might have. There are people who are appointed at senior posts in multinational companies but still they take time out for writing articles. Youngsters today also have the ability to write great articles. In Pakistan, there are many jobless young people who can write well but are not given the proper opportunity to showcase their skill. This month IBEX has explored the business opportunity of freelance writing. Many companies have stepped into this business and are earning millions of rupees. They get projects from international companies and give them to local writers and earn commission from each article.
Starting the Business
Free Lance Writing business does not necessarily require any technical expertise or any proper office location. All you need are reliable contacts which might also include youngsters. First, you need to find an international company or a website which publishes articles and blogs on different topics. You can also ask some of your contacts in other countries as well. These companies or websites require hundreds and thousands of articles every day on regular basis. If they hire writers from their native countries like America, England and other parts of the world, they have to pay more per article but in Pakistan they can easily find writers who charge a reasonable amount. The charges are so minimal that even the middle man earns commission.
After you have found a parent company and you are finished with the initial contract signing then you have to find writers from the local market. You can find them through internet, placing advertisements in universities and personal references. Many people are interested in working part time. As this job does not require any technical expertise and the writers do not necessarily have to work in an office, it is quite feasible for everyone. You also need a few permanent writers depending upon the size of your business or number of articles or blogs you have to send every day.
Pay Scale
The pay scale of writers depends on the budget of the project and also the commission on each article. Usually the size of an article or a blog is around 400 to 700 words. The writer is paid Rs. 140 –Rs. 300 depending on the word length. In the end, it depends on the amount which is being paid per article from the international company.
You also have to design the policy of your company which may include guidelines such as if you have hired a freelance writer, how many articles does he or she has to write every day or in a week. Some companies give certain number of words that a writer has to complete every day or every week, while some specify the word limit of each article then assign the targets based on the number of articles.
Some companies working in Pakistan give a daily target of 3 to 5 articles of 700 words each to their writers and pay Rs.300 per article which means a writer can easily earn Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 40,000 a month. Internet and web writing for each article only pays 140 – 200 Rupees. Writers who earn Rs. 40,000 are full time writers. Projects like these do not come every day. At the most a writer can earn Rs.18,000-20,000 by writing 7 days a week.
Problems
Starting a business like this is very easy but maintaining it is very difficult. Once the parent company has given you a daily target of blogs or articles, you have to complete them in a given time period. If you do not have writers, you will have to write them yourself. Many people agree to start writing for such companies but after a few days they leave it as this becomes difficult for them especially for those who are already working and doing this as a part time job. Moreover, once you place an ad for writers, there were will a large number of candidates but only a few of them will be suitable for the job. Companies need writers who can write original articles. There will only be some writers and editors who will work permanently otherwise you will have to keep on hiring writers everyday because you never know when a writer quits.
Profit Margins
Despite the problems, this business is very profitable. If you have a good team of permanent writers and editors, you can perform well. Companies which are paying Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 per article to each writer actually sell that article for a price of Rs. 800 to Rs. 1200. Companies get the target of hundreds of articles every day. For example, a company called ABC has a daily target of sending 500 articles . They have hired writers on temporary basis as well as permanent. They pay Rs. 300 per article of 700 words and each writer has to submit at least 3 to 5 articles every day. The team consists of 100 writers. They sell each article (which was written by paying Rs. 150-300) at a price of Rs. 700-1000. The cost of 500 articles is Rs. 75,000-150,000 and they are selling these articles at Rs. 300,000 to Rs. 500,000. This means Rs. 100,000 to 350,000 profits every day. This business is profitable only if you can maintain the quality of the articles which can lead you to more project otherwise there will be times when you won’t have any work. Remember, it always depends on the project. Some projects are very low budgeted and pay less to their writers. The success of this business depends on the number of good writers you have and the amount of articles you can send to the parent company. If you are doing quality work, you will get more projects.
