Writing for Suite101 is a long term game plan: one that can result in a nice steady income stream coming to you even when you stop writing. Suite allows you to earn residual income from your articles based on Google AdSense revenue. Each time someone clicks on an ad that shows up with your article, you earn.
The three main advantages often discussed about Suite are:
But apart from these basic reasons, here are some more nuggets of information which make Suite a good place to write for the long term.
You Learn to Write for the Web
Suite is hands down an excellent place to learn to write for the web, which in turn will benefit you in all areas of your writing. You can experiment with different keyword combinations and see results within 24 hours on how your tweaking affects your page views and revenue. You learn the importance of keyword placement and density along with the benefits of structuring your article for an online audience, all of which results in higher page views and therefore the potential to earn more from each article. At Suite you also learn to write in a journalistic style versus a blogging style, which can be very useful for knowing how to write unbiased articles, interviews, reviews, etc with proper citations and references. New to SEO writing? Start at Suite – that’s what I did.
Use Suite to Build and Promote your Written Work
Suite provides a great place to showcase your writing to the world and helps you build an online portfolio – I’ve directed many a client there! Suite also gets lots of Google juice so if you write with carefully-chosen keywords you have every chance of seeing your name and your article on Google’s first page of search results – an impressive thing to tell your other clients!
Suite Wants to Promote You
From the editor and assistant editor down to the contributing writers, everyone will re-tweet, comment on your post, write out a thoughtful answer to your queries, and forward your article to their friends when relevant. You can promote yourself and your work, sure, but Suite does a great job of promoting you! The Suite staff and team will encourage you on all your accomplishments, big or small. Just join the official Twitter profile (@suite101) to join and see for yourself.
Suite Forums are Friendly, Supportive and Chock-full of Insightful Ideas
You get to be part of a supportive, friendly writers’ community to whom you can pitch your website, article, story, etc to and who will give you their honest feedback. Starting a new website and need traffic? Want to know which freelance sites are the best? The answers all lurk in Suite’s forums
You can learn about some of the best ways to make money online or the best tools for writers thanks to the active community which is eager to share their experiences.
Suite Allows you Creative Freedom and Control over your Published Works
Your article belongs to you, simple as that. All rights reserved. You can re-publish your Suite articles in print, and you can re-publish your Suite articles online after one year of the article post date. Suite lets you write in any category and any topic of your choosing so there’s a lot of creative freedom there. Writing articles sometimes helps to flesh out story ideas and gauge reader responses; articles can literally be used as a sounding board for creative ideas.
Suite Reduces Writer Isolation
Being a work at home freelancer can get lonesome at times; the suite community does a lot to assuage that isolation and makes you feel you’re not alone in the big (bad) world of freelance writing. So whether you want to talk about your cat or your work at home style, there’s a group of friendly like-minded people just waiting to connect with you.
Some Added Benefits Which Seal the Deal
Although I don’t have many articles up on Suite as of writing this post, nor do I have a FW position under my belt (yet), the rewards for me have mainly come through community encouragement, motivation and support and through learning to write for the web (with added SEO tricks and tips thrown in). Another plus for me is the exposure it gives me when I pitch to new clients, especially if I’ve written articles in their niche. Suite writers are known to be offered book deals, long-term article assignments, interview opportunities and much more.
Any way you look at it, Suite offers you a great way to earn while you learn!
Want to start writing for Suite and need some help? Already a Suite writer and want to share your experience. Go ahead and share below.
Great website, Salma. Completely agree about Suite101 – I’ve been there since May and it’s addictive!
Thank you guys – your appreciation means a lot! And if it weren’t for Suite I never would have met (and benefited from the advice of) such a great community of writers and entrepreneurs
Great article! I’ve been a FW at S101 for almost 3 years and of all my freelance writing gigs, it’s the most dependable stream of income.
Interesting article Salma. I checked out their FAQs and they say they only pay through PayPal. Now this is the most frustrating part for any Pakistani aspiring to earn online. Half of the opportunities are lost just because Paypal refuses to come to our shore.
So how did you manage to work around this problem? Do share your insight.
By the way, I think you were there at Shahjahan’s social media lecture at T2F. So what do you think about what he had to say?
You can find my two cents worth on http://www.brandasy.com/2010/03/13/using-social-media-to-market-your-business-shahjehan-at-t2f-2-0/
Hey Saqib,
Thanks for your comment. I cant access your site, its not banned is it? Heh. Ok jokes aside, you’re rght Suite pays via PayPal. I wrote an article for Spider on accessing PayPal in Pakistan, which I’ll make available online soon’s I get permission from Spider. Or you could buy the April 2010 issue of Spider which is when it was published.
I was indeed at Shahjehan’s workshop; it seemed like it was for newbies so I didnt learn anything much, apart from 2 mins where he said ROIs on CPC advertising are better than CPM (for pakistan) – I had been debating with myself as to which model to go for. So that was interesting. I wish he’d gone into more detail about how they manage pages on FB for the various brands they represent; that would have added real value in my opinion.
And on a totally diff note, Suite’s the best online place to write for – if only for the great atmosphere and collaboration!
Well, Salma, I was basking in the glory of being the proud owner of a website famous enough to be banned, until I realized my second website http://www.restaurants-uncut.com also seemed to be ‘banned’. Alas, it was just a server glitch at my hosting provider. The site is up and running again, so you can access the link now.
By the way, I think you are using the same service, ServerSea, yet your site apparently didn’t get affected by the server problem. Lucky you!
Yes I did get hold of your spider article. Extremely useful! My understanding of your analysis is that moneybookers is the best option for Pakistanis. You seem to be using paypal. Why? Have you used moneybookers yourself? Is there any glitch?
About Shahjehan lecture, I agree with you about the lack of insights. I did a background check on the guy and he’s quite a successful businessman, something he achieved even before jumping on the social media bandwagon. If he had only used his own experience as the basis of his presentation instead of trying to give a lecture, he would have won us over.
I wonder how the ban on facebook has affected his business model.
hey Saqib: Good to know your site’s back up, I checked out your T2F write-up on the workshop, some valid points there and you’re right about the dismal state of coverage it received! Shahjehan gave an interview about the ban here: http://tribune.com.pk/story/14890/social-media-marketing-takes-a-hit/
Regarding online payments, I prefer to stick with PayPal for now since I’ve already set it up and its working well for me. I’m primarily using it to receive AdSense revenue and make online payments for e-books and things, no withdrawals.
I will, however, most probably use MoneyBookers when i start selling stuff from my site (got a couple of e-books planned, altho’ the first ones wil be free).
So thats the outlook. Please feel free to connect with me via my facebook page (now that its unbanned): http://www.facebook.com/WordPL or on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/salmajafri I’m pretty active on both!
Look forward to some enlightening discussions
8:27 pm
Spot on,Salma!I agree with everything you jst said about Suite 101.. I’ve been there 6 months plus now and have learnt so much..