Constant Content Writer Tutorial

Constant Content is a marketplace where freelance writers sell their original work and potential buyers come to shop for it.  The site acts like an agent bringing client and author together and maintains this site where articles, tutorials and reviews will be showcased until they are sold. 

Writers who submit their work to Constant Content may write on any topic or subject and name the work's price.  Upload the article to the site and it will remain here until a buyer purchases it.  Not only do writers have the ability to write articles on any topic they like, they may write at their own pace.  Additionally, Constant Content provides a feature whereby buyers can make specific requests that writers may submit work for if they are inclined.

Getting your writing noticed is important.  Constant Content provides the network where writers need worry only about the writing itself.  We shop your article, archive it for a potential sale, attract new customers to the site and handle the administrative process that comes with transacting business. 

The site is the ideal place to show off your writing talent and make money for your well-wrought work.  Writers may submit as many articles as they choose.  The site will host them until a buyer completes the sale.  Working with the site is easy.  The subsequent tutorial demonstrates how to set up an author account, submit and update your articles and learn to use the site's important tools.  The sooner you understand the process, the sooner you can post your articles and make new sales.

Getting Started with a Writer's Account

Registering as an author and creating your account is simple.  At the top of the home page look for the "register" link on the menu.  Click this link and when directed, click on the appropriate choice—you are registering to become an author. 

The author registration is a one page form that must be filled in completely.  However, before you get to the registration fields, you will notice a note explaining an additional way writers make money with referrals:

MAKE 5% ON EACH SALE OF OTHER AUTHORS!
You can now make 5% commission on all sales of authors that sign up for the Constant-Content service through your affiliate link. This means every time an author you refer (via your link) makes a sale you receive 5% of that sale.

Learn more about this feature through the site's FAQ page or register at the affiliate link from the main menu.

Here's a brief explanation of the registration form:

The "Author/User" name section is where you should enter your writing name.  You can use your real name or a pen name—it's your choice.  Note: This will also be the username to sign into your writer's account.   Then enter your real name.  You will also need to establish a password to be used every time you login to the site.  Next, fill out your address and phone number.  At the bottom of the form, notice there is a section to enter your preferred payment method.  This is for Constant Content to pay you for article sales, affiliate referral sales, etc.  Payments are made online through Paypal or 2Checkout—which means you must have an existing account or set one up so you may receive payment for sales. 

There is a payment threshold of $50.  This means you must have earned this amount before you will be paid.   Constant Content makes payments on the 1^st day of each month for authors who meet the minimum payment threshold.  Enter your Paypal or 2Checkout payment email address in the field labeled "Paypal Account" or "2Checkout Account."  Constant Content recommends using a Paypal account.

You will also need to read the terms posted at the bottom of the page and check the box stating your willingness to comply with the site's terms and conditions.  Among the terms and conditions writers should be aware that Constant Content retains 35% of the gross proceeds from each sale (writers earn 65 % of each sale).  The site's proceeds are used to pay affiliates and referring authors, and to maintain Constant-Content.com. You can view the exact percentage breakdown through the link provided in the terms.

After signing up, login to your account using your writing name (or pen name) and password.  The login is located on the main page on the left side of the screen near the bottom of the page. You will be directed to your author account status page each time you login.  However, this page will be explained further into the tutorial.

The Writer's Menu

Once you have logged in, visit the main page and look again at the menu on the bottom left side of the screen.  This is what you will see:

Click on "Submit an Article."  This page constitutes the work form that will accompany each submission.  Your articles should be uploaded to our site in the following formats.  Write the article on your computer first using Notepad, WordPad, MS Word or any other similar writing program.  Remember to keep all your articles saved and organized on your computer or disk so you will have them available if you need to resubmit or remove them from the site for any reason.  There are three formats you can use, but not all three are always required.  The buyers will sometimes specify what type of files they need.  The most popular are text files, and a few buyers want HTML and PDF files.  These three are explained below:

1.  Plain text:  Text files (.txt) can be created with any text editor such as Wordpad, Textpad or Notepad.  Text files can also be created in Microsoft Word and several other publishing programs.  These files are plain text with no special formatting, bold print or italics. The buyer will format the article once downloaded.

2.  HTML:  Articles can be created in HTML code using a web design program or HTML editor.  HTML code usually has formatting such as bold print for headings.

3.  PDF:  These are files used to create downloadable articles or ebooks.  This works great if a buyer needs an article and wants to allow his Web site visitors to download it from his site.

The Submit Form

The form first requires you to select a category.

Click on the arrow for the drop down menu and then click on one of the choices that describe your work: articles, tutorials, reviews, blog entries.  Once you click on one you will immediately be directed to an updated form that next requires you to choose a subcategory from the drop down menu.  Again, click on the arrow to choose a category that best suits your work from the menu.  Then, simply click on the appropriate category.  In some cases your category may require you to narrow down your topic further.  For example, if you select travel as a subcategory your page will update and you may choose to select one of the places listed from the menu.

Next, you will type your title as it appears in your document.  The next section provides a space where you can suggest a category for your work if it did not appear to fit into a category from the list.  Editors may decide to add your suggestion to the main category list.  Next, you will see the word count field:

Many word programs will make this count for you.  A word count may constitute the basis for your pricing.  Some clients are also specific about the amount of words they need for an article.

Pricing your article is up to you, but the site provides a link of sample pricing that writers may consider.  Your prices may be adjusted later if you choose.  It's one of the few fields that writers may edit at any time—even after the article is months old.  The specific licenses and what they mean will be described further into this tutorial. 

If you wish to entertain best offers for your work, check the box labeled "Best Offer."  This will alert a customer who is interested in your article that you are willing to negotiate the price.  They may make you an offer which you may approve or deny.

The next fields require summaries.  The first summary is a short one that will accompany your article's title and explain what your work is about in a few sentences.  As customers search for articles in any given category, they will see a title and this short summary.  If they are interested, they may click on the article to see more specific details about the article and also the long summary.  The long summary should contain approximately 1/3 of the article.  This summary is not indexed by search engines.  The idea is to provide customers with an adequate sample of the article to determine whether or not it suits their needs.  This is also the place to demonstrate your writing talents.  Cut and paste some of your article's best paragraphs here.

Finally, if you plan to upload images to accompany your article, click on the appropriate box.  You will be prompted to include these files as well.  When your submission form is complete, click on the "Next Step (Submit Files)" button.  If you filled in all the required fields you will see:

Your submission has been completed!

Once your article and submission form have been sent, it's then up to the editors to approve or reject the article.  See writer's guidelines for more information about the approval process.

Back at the writers menu, click on the next choice, "Account Status."  Each time you login you will be directed to this page.  This concise page organizes a lot of information.  First, it show how many articles you have under review.  If you have any articles pending, you will see a link where you may view them.  You have the option to edit or delete your pending article.

The next point on your Account Status page is for offers received.  If you checked the "best offer" box on an article's submission form, you acknowledged that you are open to negotiating the price.  At a glance, you will know how many offers you received.  Click on view to view them.  You may then approve or deny these offers as you deem fit.

The next point on the Account Status page is for messages received.  If you posted a comment or question to a customer and they reply, you will get a message.  Again, click view to read them. 

The last point on this page under General Information lists the number of referred authors.  Referrals are another way authors make money.  This page tracks referral status.  To learn more about the referral process, go to the "Affiliates" link from the main menu at the top of the home page.

Going back to your main writer menu, click on the next heading: "Your Recently Sold Content."  This page reveals your latest sales.  Writers can click here to quickly see any new developments for their work posted on the site.

"Your Content" is the next link from your menu.  Clicking here will take you to a listing for all your posted content showing your latest submissions first.  Each title listed is accompanied by two links to either edit your article or delete it from the site.  Again, you may change prices at this point.  Some writers decide to delete an article to make any changes they like.  Of course, once deleted, the article must go through the entire submission process before it may be posted back onto the site.

The "Your Content" section allows you to search for your own articles by category.  Authors can also search by sold along with other search criteria.  Or, simply scroll through all your articles.  Some writers have hundreds of articles posted to the site so these features are handy tools for navigating your through your own content.

Your content is arranged by title, category, status, number of licenses sold and actions that may be taken concerning each article (either to edit allowable portions or to delete).  Status will indicate whether an article is under review, for sale, sold, or unfinished.  Articles that sell for usage rights may be resold several times; the # sold columns shows how many times an article sells.  Unique and full rights licenses will read "1" in this column and will not be available for sale again.

The next menu item you will see is "Licenses for Your Content."  This page lists your sold content by type of license sold.  It also lists the buyer unless the customer has chosen to remain anonymous.  Anonymous buyers are indicated with "( )."  Constant Content designates three types of licenses that may be sold.  Alternatively, free content may also be obtained through the site.  Read the following chart for an explanation of each license:

Below is what you can and cannot do with licenses and content, please contact us with any questions if you are unsure:
	Free	Usage	Unique	Full Rights
Add to website, magazine, newsletter (unchanged)	X	X	X	X
Add links to content		X	X	X
Add to multiple websites, magazines, newsletters (you own)			X	X
Article is removed from Constant Content once purchased			X	X
Add to multiple websites, magazines, newsletters (you don't own)				X
Change content (adding words or removing words)				X
Remove writers name or byline				X
Take credit for writing content				X
Resell content				X

Special Note:  Some articles may sell as "usage" before selling as an exclusive (unique or full rights).  At Constant Content, we carefully approve articles that are being offered exclusively to be sure they have not been published elsewhere.  Approved articles can be offered for usage or exclusive rights.  If usage rights are purchased first (even if multiple usage rights have been sold) the article may still be obtained for an exclusive license.  However, once exclusive rights (unique or full rights) have been sold, the article is removed from the site altogether.

Returning to the writer's menu, the next link is for "Received Offers."  While this information can also be found from your "Account Status" page, this link will take you directly to a page listing your offers.  If you do not entertain "best offers" for your work, you will not need to check this page.

The "Recently Sold Content" link from the menu reveals the last twenty-five articles sold on the site.  It does not list authors; however, it does show the type of license sold, the amount it sold for, the article's category and the date it sold.  It will look like this:

Affiliate Information:
This is where you can keep track of authors you have referred to the site. Using this affiliate link you can earn 5% of any writer you refer that sells articles on Constant Content.

The "Requested Content" link from the menu is an important place to visit.  This page separates private and public requests.  Private requests may be placed for one or several specific authors.  If you receive a private request, read the terms and decide if you can fill the request.  A sample request might look similar to this:

Category:  Travel (Vacation Destinations)  

Number of Articles: 10

Word Count: 500-800 each

Price: $30-$50

Comments:  I need articles about resort locations in "hot" spots around the world.  Think tropical or subtropical like Barbados, Hawaii, Mexico, etcÉI want a quick description of each resort (describe some highlights) and add some local flavor—the major attractions.  Also, I need this by the end of the week.

Private requests are not visible to other writers.  Once you read the request you may deny or accept the work.  You will naturally want to post a message expressing your intent.  You may also want to ask the client other questions which they may then respond to.  The private request system is a place where you can maintain a dialogue with your client keeping in mind that no personal contact information should be revealed as per the terms and conditions of the site.

The public requests are also found on this page.  You can ask requesters questions and submit work for any of these requests.  Once your article(s) are approved you can call the requester's attention to them through the request system.  The customer has the option to buy any writer's work that bests suits them.  A public request will look like the above sample private request, but it is open to all the writers.

Constant Content authors write about many subjects.  Buyers often do not place either public or private requests.  They simply shop the sight for articles of interest.  Consequently, writers may write about any subject and it may easily sell even though no request was placed.

The "Your Account" link simply brings you back to your registration page.  You may change this information and update your registration if you move, change your email, open a new Paypal Account, etcÉ

Finally, the "logout" link can be clicked when your session is complete.  

Writers will find other useful tools on the site that may prove helpful navigating Constant Content.  The Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) section will help you to understand the site's policies and practices.  It will also answer most questions frequently posed by newly registered writers. 

The Writer Guidelines and Tips for Submitting Content sections should be read by all newly registered authors.  These sections will acquaint you with Constant Content's expectations for submitted work. 

Finally, visit the Writers Forum to communicate and exchange ideas with other writers.  You must register to use the forum.  This area is also a place to communicate with Constant Content staff with questions about the site or article rejections.  Buyers also use the forum to post possible projects.

End Note

At Constant Content, we want all of our writers to succeed, make sales, and get their writing talent noticed.  Your success is, in part, a success for us too.  Thank you in advance for choosing us to showcase your work.  If you encounter any problems with registration or submitting content—if you have any questions not answered in this tutorial or elsewhere on the site, use the author support link on the main page or visit the forum to post your questions there.  Staff and writers are always eager to add their support.