Anyone know of any types of articles that are selling well?
- Tom
What sells well?
Moderators: Celeste Stewart, Ed
Re: What sells well?
well, every time I write something about computers it sells pretty quickly. Unfortunately I only know so much about computers!
Re: What sells well?
I've had the same thing evaku. All my articles (OK, that's only two) have been about something computer related 
Re: What sells well?
My computer-related stuff usually sells fastest and fetches a decent price. The two points of view that seem to sell fastest are explaining emerging technologies, such as 802.11ac, and How/Why articles, such as Why Use RAID or How To Select a Motherboard. My best sellers usually have minimal jargon and simplify explanations with analogies and examples. Short articles (400-600 words) explaining jargon also sell well, such as What Are CPU Cores, What Is RAID, What Are Servers, etc.
Other topics that I've had success with are ways to save or stretch money, especially seasonal topics. My very first article to sell was about how to improve your fuel economy by changing your driving habits. Another fast-selling article was about what you should do to prepare your car for winter (although its follow-up article about de-winterizing your car for spring didn't sell). The downside is that these topics don't usually get as high of a price because they are such broad-interest. They are, however, very easy to write and often take minimal research.
Topics that I've had trouble selling even though there seems to be a market for them include dating, travel and food. My writing style might just be too technical for the demographics interested in these topics, as other writers seem to do quite well with them.
My oddball articles, topics with no practical value beyond trivia, also seem to sell fairly well and I find them the most enjoyable to write. One example is "Five Animals You'll Be Glad Are Extinct". It was a short piece with a paragraph each dedicated to titanoboa, giant sloths, bear-dogs, megalodon and... I forget the fifth animal. It sold after about a month, which I consider fast for such a niche piece. Stuff like this is almost guaranteed to contain a unique combination of information, so it catches the buyer's interest.
At any rate, I think it's a combination of a number of factors including:
- How authoritative your article sounds (even if you're not an authority) - this is your "voice" as much as your sources
- Seasonality/current interests - Holidays, seasons, annual events, popular technologies/devices
- Unique topics - Especially the weird, strange, odd, unusual, unknown
- Unique (and often controversial) points of view - What are the benefits of fracking? Are high gas prices a good thing? Should we really save all endangered species?
- Addressing a difficult topic in a way that's easier for readers to understand (Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time is a great example of this)
- Luck - Buyers are fickle, unpredictable creatures
- Self-Help - How To Do X
- Numbers! - Articles that are "7 Ways To..." or "5 Things You Didn't Know About..." or "3 Amazing..." seem to do very well
Other topics that I've had success with are ways to save or stretch money, especially seasonal topics. My very first article to sell was about how to improve your fuel economy by changing your driving habits. Another fast-selling article was about what you should do to prepare your car for winter (although its follow-up article about de-winterizing your car for spring didn't sell). The downside is that these topics don't usually get as high of a price because they are such broad-interest. They are, however, very easy to write and often take minimal research.
Topics that I've had trouble selling even though there seems to be a market for them include dating, travel and food. My writing style might just be too technical for the demographics interested in these topics, as other writers seem to do quite well with them.
My oddball articles, topics with no practical value beyond trivia, also seem to sell fairly well and I find them the most enjoyable to write. One example is "Five Animals You'll Be Glad Are Extinct". It was a short piece with a paragraph each dedicated to titanoboa, giant sloths, bear-dogs, megalodon and... I forget the fifth animal. It sold after about a month, which I consider fast for such a niche piece. Stuff like this is almost guaranteed to contain a unique combination of information, so it catches the buyer's interest.
At any rate, I think it's a combination of a number of factors including:
- How authoritative your article sounds (even if you're not an authority) - this is your "voice" as much as your sources
- Seasonality/current interests - Holidays, seasons, annual events, popular technologies/devices
- Unique topics - Especially the weird, strange, odd, unusual, unknown
- Unique (and often controversial) points of view - What are the benefits of fracking? Are high gas prices a good thing? Should we really save all endangered species?
- Addressing a difficult topic in a way that's easier for readers to understand (Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time is a great example of this)
- Luck - Buyers are fickle, unpredictable creatures
- Self-Help - How To Do X
- Numbers! - Articles that are "7 Ways To..." or "5 Things You Didn't Know About..." or "3 Amazing..." seem to do very well
Re: What sells well?
Yeah I'm kind of self-taught when it comes to computers, as in a have a bunch of tricks up my sleeves about getting rid of viruses/spyware, things like that, but I don't feel TOO comfortable giving advice to others because it's one thing doing these things on your own computer and another when you risk potentially destroying someone else's! So I write what I know is "safe" and it might be worth my time to do some more research on these thingsTster wrote:I've had the same thing evaku. All my articles (OK, that's only two) have been about something computer related
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AteoAltruist
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:07 am
Re: What sells well?
SJH, that has to be one of the most helpful posts I've read on this forum. It helps explain why I may have had some luck in one area, and not in another. Thank you... again.
Re: What sells well?
I absolutely agree! Thank you so much for the informative post. 
Re: What sells well?
A client does mass purchases every month (hundreds of articles) for energy, credit cards and insurance. I'd say that those are a pretty good bet, since the catalogue is pretty well dry. I uploaded an article for a writer's pool request on home insurance, and I accidentally forgot to mark it for a request. It got a ton of hits right away - luckily I noticed before it got sold and I was able to send it in for the request.
So yeah...maybe not the most passionate thing in the world to write about - but a good topic if you want to make a sale!
So yeah...maybe not the most passionate thing in the world to write about - but a good topic if you want to make a sale!
Re: What sells well?
YES. This. This has been amazing. It took a lot of research and effort but I've done 16 articles now on energy and car insurance and it was the best opportunity yet!stelle wrote:A client does mass purchases every month (hundreds of articles) for energy, credit cards and insurance.
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contentwriter
- Posts: 127
- Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2013 8:07 am
Re: What sells well?
It doesn't surprise me, having been on the webmaster end of things, so to speak. These kinds of sites have the potential to be very profitable for them, although competition is sky high.evaku wrote:YES. This. This has been amazing. It took a lot of research and effort but I've done 16 articles now on energy and car insurance and it was the best opportunity yet!stelle wrote:A client does mass purchases every month (hundreds of articles) for energy, credit cards and insurance.
Can I have an idea of the price range of insurance articles that sell? I'm asking both as a writer and possibly as a webmaster too.