If you put two Offerings in the same bowl, they'll fight to the death!

Offerings are out of betta — I mean, beta.

As you may have noticed, for a few months now we’ve had a new feature in beta on our main page. While the Offerings weren’t available to everyone immediately, we’re proud to say that they’re finally ready to launch for all our Writers!

But what is an Offering, you may ask? Consider it a place to show off your expertise. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry can write a “general blog post” – it’s your personal experience and knowledge that will wow the Users and further enhance your reputation here on Content Runner. With that, here are some guidelines to creating your first Offering that will be helpful to follow:

You’re Special!

Deciding upon a niche is the most important thing to keep in mind when creating your Offering. We strongly advise against advertising your skills to a general audience; after all, if everyone made a bland, directionless Offering, it would merely be lost in a sea of bland, directionless Offerings, passed over by Users for those exhibiting special skills and expertise.

Discover your own specialty, and market it within your Offering. If you volunteered as a camp counselor for a few summers, you’ve got marketable childcare knowledge, and ostensibly some background with outdoorsy activities. If you worked in construction during college, exploit that experience. You may never have realized it, but there are hordes of clients out there searching in vain for writers with your rare combination of linguistic talent and industry know-how. Whatever it is that makes you special, whatever your interests or experience, consider how it might be applied in the content writing universe.

Choose a Title

Choosing the right title is integral to selling your Offering to potential clients. A boring title – “General Blog Post 500-600 Words,” “Press Release 800-1,000 Words” – won’t catch anyone’s eye for long. Think of the process for creating an effective headline for an article, and build from there. Give a specific idea of what’s up for grabs: “Up to 700 Words on Automotive Technology in the US” is more targeted and valuable than the previous examples. Be sure to include your niche keywords in the title – that way it will pop up if a User is searching for something specific.

Just don't mix up the two when it counts.

Combine your hard hat with your thinking cap, and you’ve got yourself a niche topic.

Visibility, Category, and Niche

You can choose whether your Offering is Public, which means all Users can see and select it, or Private, in which case you’ll have to provide a link to your Offering that will allow a User to purchase it. Public is usually the better option, unless you’ve worked out a special project with a specific User.

Choosing a category is fairly straightforward – what kind of writing are you offering to do here? Is it a blog, a journalistic article, a press release, a white paper, or something else entirely? This helps further define your Offering and gives another filtering option for Users.

Identifying a niche for your Offering is a required step. There is an option for “General,” but you should avoid this unless you have no choice. Users can filter the Offerings by niche, so choosing a representative subject will help yours be found and purchased.

Pricing your Offering is one of the most exciting aspects of the whole thing. You have some control here; rather than waiting for a User to post a job in your price range, you can put yourself out there and set your own rate for your work. Whatever price you decide to set, that is the price you will receive; Content Runner’s 15% fee is taken from the User separately, so the Writer reaps full benefits for their effort.

Description and Credentials and Samples, Oh My!

Fairly self-explanatory, the description is where you, well, describe your Offering. Go into detail here – this is where you can really “sell” your ability and knowledge. Explain your niche further, provide a clear idea of your final product, and invite the User to message you with questions.

Consider the credentials section to be a mini-resume. Convince the Users why you’re knowledgeable: is it your five years as an RN? Did you receive a degree in Theology from a prominent school? Have you owned a small business and felt the pressure of quarterly tax filing? Here is where you can prove you know your stuff – don’t waste your opportunity!

Feel free to add links to your writing samples, blog, Twitter, newspaper articles about your feats, whatever – anything that will help you showcase your talent and ability.

Requirements and Extras

The requirements section is where you express what you’ll need from the User to start your project. This can include many things: required client links; specific information on their projects; biographies; links to site content that needs to be reworked; the specifics of tone, audience, perspective, and style; or anything else you can think of. Being as specific as possible here will smooth out your creative process and result in a better final product.

The extras are there for you to provide a bit of wiggle room within the scope of your Offering. You can price an extra 200 words at $15, for instance, or offering to do in-depth editing for an extra $20. It’s even possible to provide a speedy delivery option – perhaps $20 for an expedited 2-day turnaround time.

When it comes to the Offerings, the sky is really the limit. It’s a wonderful new tool that we’re overjoyed to finally introduce, and we’re hoping to see all of your smiling faces in the Offerings section very soon.