An essay writing business is a great way to capitalize on a huge consumer need. It’s definitely worth noting you won’t be getting your business featured on popular business websites for “Business of the Year” or anything similar when running an essay writing startup, though.
Running a business like this is a lot like ticket scalping; the establishment doesn’t like it, but your customers will all love you. If you have the know-how, resources, and work ethic to deliver top-notch, curve-busting essays, you’ll never run out of customers.
Name and register the business
Google “How to register a business in (my country)” and follow the instructions given. Just because some might find this business model unethical doesn’t mean you can avoid the tax man.
Name the business and get it registered ASAP before you start looking for customers. A registered business is a great first step to showing customers you offer a product with value.
Decide the type of essays you’ll offer
Business, English, finance and several other difficult topics will always be in high demand. The types of students/customers you’ll be working for will expect top-notch, well researched, “A” level papers to submit to their educators.
It’s much easier to specialize in a subject or two, than to offer everything under the sun and have no clear direction. As the business grows, and you become familiar with a variety of subject matter, you can hire more writers and offer a more diverse range of topics.
Build a site to showcase samples
As you start to gain interest from students looking into your services, it will be much easier to showcase your work in one place. Primetimeessay.com, for instance, publishes essay examples on their website so that students can get an idea or two on what kind of quality they offer.
Later on, as the business grows, you may consider taking payments and communicating directly with prospective clients through the site. But for now, just get it built. Platforms like WordPress.com is a great option if you don’t want to pay for your own domain and hosting.
Start social media accounts for the business
As with the website, social media accounts are a great place to show off samples of your work and client testimonials. Millennials and Generation Z check their social media accounts constantly.
Twitter and Facebook are great places to start. A YouTube account, where you’re sharing essay writing tips and other topics related to education, is a great idea, but don’t expect it to start paying off until you have a following.
Join a freelancer website
Join a freelance website where you can advertise your services and find quality writers as needed. Yes, you’ll want to build a website and fire up social media accounts on Twitter and the like. But, you’re not going to find much business this way, as you don’t yet have a reputation yet.
I’ll assume you don’t have much funds for advertising, as few startups can afford the expense and, poor ROI that comes from advertising a yet non-established service. Sign up on places like Freelancer.com, Upwork.com, Guru.com, and any niche essay writing classified sites you can find. Be prepared to work for those first several reviews, offering discounted services and potentially doing a few jobs for free.
Spend time (and a little money) finding good writers
Essays need to be structured much differently than your typical news, blog, or advertorial piece. And, if the people trying your service don’t get a product that passes the mustard with their professors, your reputation will be sunk before you get started. Even if you plan to be your only employee, you’ll still want backup, as this business is very boom or bust all the time.
Look on freelancer sites and be prepared to ask for samples and perhaps even spend a few bucks giving writers test assignments to see what kind of quality they offer. Obviously, it’s best to hire those with solid reputations, but the more established an essay writer is, the less time they’ll have to spare. Not to mention, there are untested diamonds in the rough everywhere to be found for a determined startup owner!
If you need to spend some money, don’t count the cost too much. All money spent can be written off at tax time.
Advertise the business
With funds for any startup being tight, a little guerrilla marketing (aka. zero or little cost) is just what your essay writing business needs to start churning out projects. Ads won’t be cheap for an essay writing business, as many related keywords have a high CPC on Google, Facebook and Twitter.
- Advertising your business on Freelancer platforms and discussion forums like Quora is a great idea.
- Don’t forget about Craigslist; they also offer paid advertisements.
- Placing ads in the paper in areas where there are many schools/students isn’t a bad idea either.
Offline options are many, though colleges and universities are an obvious great place to start:
- Attend college parties and pass out business cards.
- Post ads on school bulletin boards.
- Decorate telephone poles throughout the surrounding area.
- Blitz college parking lots and place ads in people’s windshields.
- Decorate your vehicle with graphics or a simple text ad on the rear window.
Note: None of the offline advertising suggestions are necessarily allowed by colleges or even most city bylaws. However, guerrilla marketing is all about skating that fine line until the business can market itself somewhat on autopilot.
Always ask for referrals
Essay writing is one business where it would be crazy to discourage referrals. Read this and it should be obvious that students from all walks of life, all courses of study, and all intelligence levels need to use an essay writing service from time to time.
When your customers get their desired grade on a paper your company wrote, you can be sure they’ll tell their trusted friends about you. Always encourage referrals, and even offer a discount to those referrers when a new client mentions who told them about you.
Starting an essay writing business is easy if you focus on making your business easy to find and contact. Focus your efforts on the right kind of advertising, and strive to deliver the highest-quality product possible, and your new business will be booming in no time!