2. Big Corporations

Big corporations either do their work in-house or hire an outside agency to implement their marketing and PR plans. They outsource because these agencies have more resources and good track records. These agencies have an account manager that delegates tasks to regular employees and freelancers.

How do you find them? If you are interested in PR or marketing work such as press release writing, brochure work, etc., check out corporation's website and see what contact name is on press release. If press release lists an agency, you'll have a contact name to send your pitch letter to. You can also call corporation's procurement office and flat-out ask what company handles their marketing, advertising, or PR work.

If you're interested in copywriting for a website, you can usually find name of web design firm that handles a corporation's online presence through a search engine. Type in company`s name (example: Timex) and words "client list" into a search engine and see what you come up with. Then pitch your services accordingly.

3. Big Web Projects through Online Partnerships

If you're interested in becoming a service provider on a service- auction website or just breaking into online industry, but you're not interested in paying a lot of fees, you may want to consider partnering with a web design firm or programming company that uses these websites for big contracts. You'll have to approach other independent contractors to do this and establish a good sense of trust. Online partnerships are becoming more popular, and more lucrative, as clients approach online marketplaces as a one-stop- shop. You'll want to have a signed contract in place and check client references for anybody you partner with.

Online partnerships can help retain customers; a programming firm can offer your user manual writing skills as part of software design package and a web design firm can include web content as a part of their web design package. Your skills partnered with another independent contractor can help save client money and help their projects become seamlessly integrated.

The key to building long-lasting client relationships is networking and follow-up. Once you've introduced yourself, you'll be able to get a feel for how your services fit in with these partnerships. If you see a big project that you don't qualify for, you can pass on description to companies you are interested in partnering in. Most importantly, you'll be able to have a few professional relationships on hand for when going gets tough. And you'll be happy to know that you've transformed your competition into powerful allies that may also have honor of writing your paycheck one day!

Because web is evolving so quickly, type of content a website needs depends on their purpose or goal. Web sales copy, of course, is meant to produce sales. But if a website has sales copy alone, their users may get turned off. How do they level out hype? They hire writers to write objective content such as articles and filler. Websites also understand importance of interactivity; interactive elements allow readers and customers to get involved. Surveys and "talk back" features help establish a relationship with website visitors. In addition to these elements, website also have goal of establishing an ongoing relationship with their users. Newsletters and discussion lists provide a quick reminder and a steady outreach to a website's target audience. Freelance writers create email content to fulfill this goal.

So, how big is online content market?

"Huge!" says Rachel McAlpine, founder of Quality Web Content Club, (http://www.webpagecontent.com) "Creating and maintaining web sites is a team job that requires many areas of expertise." "My most successful work so far is a horoscope column, believe it or not," says Brandi Jasmine, a freelance writer and digital photographer. (http://www.brandijasmine.com) Does she think there is enough work to go around? "I do, definitely. Actually I think that `dot.bomb' has helped freelancers. I have had no trouble getting freelance work, it's `full time jobs' that seem thin, few and far between. Portals and online publications are looking more to outsourcing and syndicated material as things get tight."

Looking Ahead - The Future of Web Writing Markets

Can you image web without decent writers? When I think of a web without professional writers, I often think of my well-meaning friends and neighbors who have often showed me their love poems and essays, eagerly asking me, "How much money can I get when I publish this?"

I try to imagine my old boss writing an online newsletter or my father writing sales copy. (Which could happen; Dad's an engineer and old boss a CEO --but I doubt you would want to read it ;-) I think back to days where term papers and transcripts were "free information" on web.

Whatever future of content is, I know that "free information" of olden days was free for a reason. The content writing of today pays well, and content of tomorrow is promising. As web matures, duties of writers expand and solidify. There is a reason that a website's writing doesn't work or a newsletter can't get any subscribers. This is where online content writer comes in. We're ones who will make it work.

"Web content writers need to know where we fit in, and make sure we have expertise in our own field. In end, all you need is three or four big clients," Rachel McAlpine says.

So, are you ready to go out and seek them?

*This article originally appeared in Web Writing Buzz Newsletter in April of 2000.