Getting started making profits from your home can be difficult. Many people with a flair for writing find that writing articles for others is a great way to supplement their income while building their online presence. If you happen to have a knack for writing then you need to learn the key steps to making money writing articles for others.

Checking out other writers, their websites, their writing styles, and even their rates is a good start. If you have not developed a writing style that is effective then you can use some of those successful articles written by others as a guide.

When you are writing for other people it is important to know what they want from the article. It is true that some of your clients will be new to article marketing and they will not know a good article from a so-so article. But if you plan to be successful with this service then you really do need to learn the essential skills and even more.

The goal of an article is to inform and entertain. Readers are viewing the article for a reason and that is to learn about something. By including useful information the reader will be impressed and want to learn more by clicking the links in the resource box. Your job is to keep the reader entertained enough to read the complete article so he will reach the resource box.

Keep in mind that if an article is to be submitted to directories it cannot contain a real sales pitch. Instead you will need to find ways to indirectly promote the product or service that the article is about. You can do this in various ways. One way is to discuss a problem and then to talk about solutions, the solutions of course are found in the product you are promoting.

The sales pitch for the click through comes in the resource box but you must build the article in a way that leads the reader to that information. I have found that my clients appreciate a tip about how to best begin the resource box. It is important that it begins as a continuation of the article. The point is to keep the flow going so the reader will continue reading.

You may be wondering what to charge your clients. As I mentioned earlier you will need to check out the current rates being charged by others. But in order to establish a client base you will probably need to start out charging a low rate. I suggest a rate of about seven dollars per article and your articles should be 400 and 600 words. You can then increase your rates over time.

You will need to advertise somewhere in order to get those clients. And since you are writing these articles in order to make money you probably do not want to spend a lot to promote your services. I suggest placing ads in Internet marketing forums and using free classified ads.

When clients contact you about your writing services be sure to get details from them. Learn as much as possible about how the articles will be used and any keywords that you should use. Do not take on more than you can handle. You should be able to give your clients an estimate of how long the assignment will take.

I suggest that you require at least half of your payment up front. That ensures that your time will not be wasted. Learn all you can about article writing and article marketing. That will result in high quality work that you can charge optimum rates for.