How To Make Money Online: Writing
If you’ve got good writing skills, there are a wealth of opportunities out there, including blogging, freelance assignments, and article writing. Here’s what to look for and what to avoid:
Blogging: Blogging is hot right now, and if you have good writing skills and a passion for a particular hobby, TV show, or other activity, you could potentially have a way to make some extra cash. You can get started on your own by creating a blog with one of the free services like Blogger or Wordpress, and once you’ve established yourself you can purchase your own domain name. Blogger will let you monetize your blog immediately with Google Adsense. Wordpress says they will offer similar services in the future but for now, to put ads on your Wordpress blog you’ll have to have your own domain name and host and download their free Wordpress.org software.
If you’d rather not have to do all the work yourself, you can join a blog network. There are many to choose from including Examiner.com, B5Media, 451 Press and Today.com. Visit each site to check out their openings and see if any are a good fit. In many cases they’ll want to see that you have at least a little experience, but this can be accomplished by simply starting a blog on Blogger or Wordpress and writing regularly for at least 30 days. The job board at Problogger.net is also a good place to look for blogger jobs (and the site itself is a must visit for any aspiring blogger!) Some blogging jobs pay per post or a flat monthly rate, others via page views. While it takes longer to generate a decent income with the page view model, it is very possible!
In order to be successful at blogging you need the Three P’s: patience, persistence and passion. It takes time to build an audience, and in order to do so you need to be passionate about what you’re blogging about. You also need the self discipline to be able to write regularly. This varies by blog but 2-5 a week is a good target to shoot for. It can be hard sometimes because lets face it, life happens, but once you get in the habit, it gets easier. Once you’ve got your blog going, you’ll want to promote it. The above mentioned Problogger.net is an excellent place to learn how.
Article Writing: There are several sites that pay writers to post articles, and these can pay nicely once you’ve gotten a few under your belt. Suite 101, About.com, EHow, and Associated Content are some of the more popular ones. Associated Content is for people who are just starting out. They pay per article (the rate varies depending on quality, topic, and demand but it’s usually around $3-$10) and writers also earn residual income via page views. Be aware that since they also have a non payment system that accepts anything and everything submitted to it, their reputation is less than stellar. However it’s a good place to get started especially if you need a little quick cash. This is not the place for truly serious writers though. Suite101 and About.com are better avenues, but they also have stricter acceptance requirements. Suite requires their writers to post 10 articles in a 3 month period. If you’re good enough, you’ll get promoted to Feature Writer, which assigns you a specific topic that you are expected to write a weekly article about.(You are also free to write articles for any other topic on the site as well). About.com is more involved as it combines blogging and article writing and puts you in charge of an entire topic. EHow on the other hand looks for writers who can write clear and concise articles on how to do things, such as “How to patch a hole in the wall” or “How to change a tire.” Some article writing opportunities pay via article, word, or like blogging above, page views.
There is one type of article writing you really should avoid. Ads pop up all over writer’s sites and job boards looking for someone to write a large amount of articles (anywhere from 25-100) on a specific topic and offers very low pay, usually $1 to $2 an article. It may seem like a good way to make quick cash but most of the time you’ll be writing articles for some scammer to put on a site in order to take advantage of the Google Adsense program, and the very low rate hurts all writers. It’s best to pass.
Writing Assigments: There are a wide variety of writing assignments available online. Jobs vary from website copy to ebooks and more. However there is a lot of competition and you will need some clips to prove your writing skills. This is another reason having a blog can be valuable. FreelanceWritingGigs is an excellent place to find writing jobs and advice. Craigslist is also a good place, but follow your instincts. If an ad sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It is possible to make an income with online writing, but it takes time and patience. Start with a blog and work your way up. Use common sense and trust your instincts. Join some online writers groups (Absolute Write is a great place to start) and most importantly, write, Write every day and don’t give up!
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