Getting That First Sale

[junzhang]

Hi guys, I joined CC about three weeks ago. Thus far, I've written 11 articles and have had 5 get approved. I'm currently at the submission limit, so I figure I'd ask this question now: how many articles in did you get your first sale? I've been inspired by the success of others on CC, but so far have not sold anything. I plan on writing 2 articles a day for the next month to see if I can garner some success. Any tips for those frustrated with a lack of sales?

[jak]

Hi Junzhang, and welcome. Sometimes it does take a while to get going here. It certainly did for me. I almost gave up a couple of months after I started submitting. But I'm glad I didn't as my sales are now topping the average.

Congratulations on getting your portfolio going with your first five. I hope it won't be too long to your first sale.

[maryaz]

Thanks for the encouraging words, Jak, and thanks for starting this topic, Junzhang! I'm a few weeks in and anxiously awaiting my first sale, as well. I keep hesitating to write more because I don't want to invest a significant amount of time only to have my articles sit and collect internet dust.

I need to be patient, it seems. I'm curious to hear other's experiences, as well!

[CRDonovan]

Can't quite recall how long it was but it wasn't right away. Maybe a couple, few weeks anyway. Sounds like you're on track for that first terrific email "Article Sold!" It's a thrill every time. Good luck!

[junzhang]

Well, good news, 8 articles accepted thus far. Bad news: still no sale.
I'm not giving up though, I plan on doing a CC challenge by writing 3 articles a day for a month. That would make it ~100 articles accepted. If I can't sell one after 100, then I'll quit!

[maryaz]

I also have 8 accepted and still no sales! I'm going to keep writing, as well. I'm just getting frustrated trying to think of what I could write that someone might want to buy!

I'll feel a lot better about everything once I sell even just ONE article.

Good luck, Junzhang!

[jadedragon]

You can always tackle requests. At least one person wants to buy articles on that topic. Good luck.

[maryaz]

Well, good news. I got an offer on an article. It was unfortunately on the low end, but I accepted it just because I want to have at least ONE sale to feel like things are moving in the right direction. Most of my articles don't have the "best offer" ticked, but this particular article was getting significantly fewer hits than my others. As of yesterday, actually, it had zero hits, and had been posted for nearly a week! So I'm fine with clearing it and putting a sale on the board for now. Hopefully it's a sign of good things to come. In the meantime, I guess I just need to keep writing!

The one that sold was actually written for a request, but sold to someone else.

[junzhang]

I JUST SOLD MY FIRST ARTICLE! FOR FULL RIGHTS!! OMG IM SO EXCITED

"Your work has been purchased for a Full Rights License" - best sentence over

Thanks for the support guys, this rocks

[jadedragon]

I JUST SOLD MY FIRST ARTICLE! FOR FULL RIGHTS!! OMG IM SO EXCITED

"Your work has been purchased for a Full Rights License" - best sentence over

Thanks for the support guys, this rocks

Even better, you'll be paid in less than a week! Good job

[maryaz]

Congratulations!! What an awesome feeling!

I'm trying to be patient, but am beginning to wonder if something about my writing is unappealing to buyers. I'm not giving up, yet. Just going to start writing about different topics and see if I can't generate some interest somewhere! I've also been reading recently sold articles to get an idea of what people are buying. In the meantime, I'm just going to keep writing and hope that everyone's advice that things will sell is correct!

[Courtney]

Trying different topics is probably a good idea. I've been writing here since May. Some of my articles sell within hours of being accepted but others just seem to sit there. Through trial and error I'm learning what sells most and find my niche here. Keep plugging everyone.

[timnig64]

Hi,

I don't want to make anybody feel awkward but I just want to share my experience. I have been a member of CC for a couple of years but I only started putting articles on the site about 10 days ago. So far I have four approved and one pending. I had my first sale within a week, but that was in response to a request. Maybe that's where people are going wrong? Or maybe I just got lucky?

I have to admit I was quite surprised when I received the email, but I'm certainly not complaining!

Tim

[carpenjoyce]

Sales are unpredictable, and they tend to come in clumps. The great majority of my sales have come in the first two weeks of the month. (This rule doesn't apply to private requests) The beginning of the week tends to bring more sales than the end. I've gone several weeks without a sale, and I've sold 11 articles in one day (to two different buyers.) You really need to give your articles at least 4-6 months to get some idea of how well you're selling, and what the patterns are.

Be wary of accepting lowball offers just to feel good for a few minutes. If the price offered doesn't compensate you for your time, don't accept it. I've had articles sell for .15 a word after they'd been sitting for months. (Note that .15 is for more technical content, but even for general content I wouldn't start out at less than .07 a word.) It takes time for the articles to get into the search engines. Be sure you use every search term you can think of, and don't make them too general.

If you're still not selling, ask if you've seen an article like yours a hundred times before. If so, try putting a new spin on it or saying it in a more attention-grabbing way. It's also possible to have the opposite problem: your topic can be so specialized or obscure that there just isn't much interest. Hope this helps.

[jellygator]

That's great info, Carpenjoyce. Thanks!