Has anyone ever told you that you’re a good writer? Do you like to write? Would you be interested in turning that interest into an income?
Every day, hundreds of thousands of people are making anywhere from an extra $10 a week to $10,000 a month by writing articles for the internet.
How to Get Started
I have friends who majored in English in college. They learned all the technical writing skills, and they even began to build a writing portfolio to showcase. Interestingly, none of them are writing today.
This is going to sound silly, but today all you need to do to start building up a writing business is write using a public format. Since it’s what I know best, I’d suggest you start a blog. If you’re interested in starting a blog, you can get a lot of great tips from Bob’s Blogging Your Passion webinar.
Why a blog?
It’s easy and cheap to set up. For $100, you can have everything you need to get started with a self-hosted blog.
The blog can be accessed anywhere in the world. There is no more public forum than the internet.
Also, through the process of blogging, your writing will improve. Writing for the web is different than other types of writing. Sentences need to be shorter. Line breaks must occur more frequently.
One thing to keep in mind is that you should write about topics that combine your passion and something for which people will be willing to pay. The more profitable the niche, the more likely you will be able to get some paid writing jobs.
From my personal experience, once you start a blog, the writing opportunities will slowly trickle and then snowball in your direction. The more exposure you get, the more likely it is that others will also be interested in hiring you to do writing.
Honestly, you don’t need a formal plan to seek out writing opportunities. Make your work accessible in a public place (blog), and always be on the watch for opportunities to arise. If there are no opportunities, you could contact people you’ve developed a relationship with and ask them if they’re interested in a staff writer.
Tips for Earning Money Writing Online
Once you’ve set up your blog, you should start to guest post. Guest posting is when you publish your article on someone else’s website or blog. How does that make any sense? Well, the blog or website owner may be tired of writing. You offer to give him or her a free post. In return, you get exposure to thousands of readers. It’s free advertising.
- Network on social media. People are more likely to hire someone they are connected to. Sign up for a Twitter account and start following people who write about topics that interest you. Seek out like-minded individuals on Facebook. Eventually, you’ll find different blogs that are hiring staff writers. I can personally think of about a dozen blogs just in the personal finance niche that pay for articles related to finance.
- Write from your heart. I don’t come from a professional writing background, so I don’t really know what separates good writers from bad ones. However, I do know that with blogging you can break all the rules and still be successful. Online writing has very loose and flexible rules. Basically, you just need to write things people are interested in reading. The best way I can suggest you’ll do that is by writing with your heart. Be flexible and informal.
- Read successful blogs. The easiest way to determine the success of a blog is to look for an image that has the number of blog subscribers. Blogs with more subscribers must be doing something right.
How much can you get paid?
From my experience writing articles online, you can expect to get an average of $25 per article of 500-800 words. Some blogs are currently offering as little as $10 per article, but that is certainly the exception. Once you show your proficiency, it is possible to earn $50, $100, or even $200 per article.
Once you build up some clients, you can also progressively start accepting higher paying jobs and dropping the lower opportunities.
I think it would be feasible to earn $500 a month by spending 5 hours per week writing articles online.
Anyone else have any tips for someone wanting to earn money writing online?
Photo by aless&ro
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I just wanted to post a follow up to your post and let the ChristianPF readers know that making money writing online is not only possible, but very likely, if you can put a few sentences together on some interesting topics.
I’ve been writing for several years now and make in excess of $200 for most of my articles done for other sites. It took some time to get there, and I wrote mostly on subjects I knew really well.
I put a few posts up on my own blog and then used that as a resume of sorts for editors on other sites, which would later hire me.
Great article…I’ve read an article on this site before, entitled ‘How to Make Money Blogging’, or something to that effect. That was the reason I started a blog initially…but now there are so many more opportunities to make money from a blog that I’ve noticed. You mentioned writing and getting paid for articles..but there’s also Adsense and running other ads, E-stores, being hired as a consultant in your niche, selling e-books, selling other information products, links to your other businesses/products/services from your blog, building a list for future sales, etc. Blogging is a great way to make money doing what you love: offering your expertise and insight in your particular niche.
Best,
David
I have been struggling with this. I love to write. I have 2 blogs, which are slow going right now. Anyway, thanks for your blog it is very encouraging for me to stick with it. My husband thinks I am nuts.
Hi!
I am not super tech savvy. In fact I do well in operating my computer and send assignments back to the college [as a much older student, well over 50 yr]. do you have to pay to set up a blog-site? lets say I write something, how can what is written be protected from someone stealing it and claiming it as their own? Is legal and legitimate to use an alias for a blogger name?
I have in the past gotten copyright protection for some Christian poems and other things.
sincerely,
Diane