It seems like such a noble dream – to become a professional writer, and be paid for your thoughts and words.
However, with digital advancements and the internet, being a writer is no longer a distant dream.
We’re not saying it’s easy – not by any stretch of the imagination. However, writing for a living is entirely achievable – a dream can become a reality.
This blog post is all about how to make money writing. Whether you’re using it as a nice little side hustle, or if you make it your full-time job. Here’s precisely how you can get started.
Blogging
First and foremost, let’s take a look at blogging. Every writer needs one, whether you’ll use it as your primary source of income or not, in my opinion, it’s absolutely essential.
Sometimes, your blog can direct you to other writing opportunities. For instance, your blog could be found by a magazine that hires you to write a weekly column.
Other times, your blog could become a source of income – whether it’s through affiliate links, sponsored adverts, or other means.
Once your blog starts to drive in more and more traffic, you can use it to achieve other things. For instance, selling digital products, using it as a content marketing tool for another business, or to sell memberships.
The world is your oyster, especially when you work hard on your blog.
A blog is a great way to kickstart your writing career, promote your services, and build up your credibility.
Blogs are also incredibly affordable to set up. In terms of business opportunities, there aren’t many that you can setup for less than $100.
(You can blog for free, but I would always recommend going down the Self hosted WordPress route. It gives you so much more control and flexibility, especially when you’ve established an audience)
A blog can be based on literally anything. A personal brand, or crafted around a particular niche.
✔️ A Mom Blog
Whatever floats your boat. You could even create a blog on “How to make money writing!”
Every blog needs some kind of focus – from here, you can begin to look into affiliate links and sponsored posts.
You should also look into guest blogging. While this is typically unpaid work, you can add links to your own blog throughout an article. This provides you with free publicity and also pushes your name out into the writing world.
Copywriting
As shopping drastically moves to ecommerce, copywriting is becoming more and more prevalent.
Copywriting, in its shortest definition, is designed to make the reader take a specific action.
This could be buying a product or signing up for a subscription. Think, product descriptions, sales letters, and email marketing. They all need writing by somebody – that could be you.
Remember, website owners and entrepreneurs can often outsource aspects of their business to people with greater skills, such as someone who makes a living from copywriting.
From afar, copywriting might not seem overtly different from other forms of writing. However, it does require a lot of practice.
The modern-day consumer has changed. Nobody likes a “hard sell,” which makes the need for conversational, empathetic copywriting necessary. But not too conversational or your writing will look like it’s trying too hard.
Copywriting requires training and discipline, and practice. (Pretty much like any skill!).
Unless you have a background, you will need to invest time and effort into learning the fundamental aspects. Not to mention, you’ll have to research into the company’s which you are copywriting for – each one has its own tone and voice.
Copywriting is a transferable skill, and one definitely worth learning.
If you want to get started with copywriting, then check out the following book from Jim Edwards, a renowned copywriter and entrepreneur.
Jim’s Book “Copywriting Secrets”
When you purchase the book – Jim will also tell you all about his software that can enable you to learn and automate copywriting, and hire out your services, “Funnel Scripts”.
Self-publishing
Once upon a time, publishing your own book was a difficult thing to achieve. Now, mostly thanks to Amazon and Kindle, you can become a best-selling author from the comfort of your sofa.
Amazing.
The self-published market is a big one – with many writers making money from writing books and promoting them.
Just because this is more achievable, doesn’t mean that it’s easy. You’ll need to be commercially minded and already have an established market/demand. That’s where a blog and social media comes in handy.
Realistically, you may publish several books before gaining any kind of traction. It’s fun and exciting, and definitely worth looking into. Perhaps at first, you can consider this as a little hobby.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a finished book yet, you can serialise it. Ever heard of The Martian by Andy Weir? His success began as he serialised his work on his blog.
Whether you write fiction or nonfiction entirely depends on your personal writing style, nonfiction is the general direction most bloggers take.
Self-publishing is a fun and exciting way to make money from writing. It’s an excellent project to get stuck into.
Freelancing Platforms
If you’re struggling to get started, you should direct your attention to freelance platforms.
Sites like Upwork, Guru, and Fiverr are just a few examples of what’s out there for you.
These sites make picking up clients and earning an extra bit of money more accessible than ever. They also provide you with a tiny bit of security when it comes to payments and starting contracts.
These platforms also enable you to craft a portfolio and gain reviews for your work. Once work starts pouring in, it’s hard to slow down.
Sign up to the platforms and see if any of the jobs interests you. Don’t forget you have to apply for work in a similar way to average job sites.
The downside is these platforms take a tiny bit of your earnings away from you, but they are providing a platform to meet clients.
Once you start working with someone you can build a relationship and truly discover how to make money writing.
Pitch Your Writing Services
If you would rather stay away from freelancing platforms, that’s completely fine. You can also land your first job by directly applying online.
Search around for writing jobs, and you might just land an excellent writing gig that provides you with extra money.
Other writers have reached out to companies, magazines, and various publications themselves. How you choose to pitch your writing services is entirely dependent on your preferences.
One tip is to offer some work for free and try and get your foot in the door. If their audience likes your writing style then it may lead to paid work.
Academic Writing
This is a very niche way to earn money writing, but it could be a breakthrough for you.
Academic writers are precisely what you think – they write to convey ideas, engage in scholarly discussion, and make arguments. Think essays and assignments.
It’s a very distinct style of writing and is searched for on the web often. With a job like this, you will be expected to write well-thought-out and researched essays. If you really excelled in school and University, this could be perfect for you.
Truthfully, if you love to write and have an academic background, this can easily earn you money writing.
Content Writing
Content writers differ from bloggers and copywriters. They’re arguably a mixture of both – it requires a degree of marketing experience, with a blogger’s touch.
Content writers can write anything from how-to articles all the way to news reports. Usually, the main aim of content writing is to bring traffic to a site.
For instance, imagine you have a company that sells LED light bulbs. As a content writer, your job is to bring users to that site with help from SEO.
As a result, you will create content that contains a series of keywords, all relating to LED bulbs. The material itself can be anything from interior how-to blogs or a report on lighting and sustainability.
The objective is to market and promote a company, product, or service.
Content writing and content marketing are heavily sought after skills, primarily as the world focuses on digital marketing and commerce.
To be a content writer, you have to be fairly clued up on SEO. It’s relatively easy to grasp but does change quite frequently.
You can always transfer your SEO skills into other avenues. It’s useful for when you’re setting up your own blog and website, too.
Content writing can also be used in social media – another great experience to place in your portfolio.
Specialist content writers can be in huge demand charge accordingly.
A quick look at some of the freelance sites show significant earnings for writers in specialist subjects such as law, medicine, business.
Journalism
Last but not least, you could try your hand at journalistic writing. While this is definitely one of the harder avenues to travel down, but it’s gratifying. It opens up your doors to tonnes of other opportunities.
Sure, you’ll likely need a degree in a relevant field, it could still work for you. Not to mention, you can obtain diplomas online, if you’re willing to put the time and money into it. Realistically, we know this option isn’t for everybody – but it’s worth mentioning.
If you’re interested in reporting or even writing opinion pieces for newspapers, journalism is definitely an avenue to go down.
Don’t worry; you can also become an independent journalist – meaning you’re not confined to a specific publication. You will have to pitch articles and seek out work regularly. It’s an exciting writing avenue to explore.
In Summary, How to Make Money Writing
Use these ideas as inspiration to get started on your writing journey. Keep in mind it’s a relatively slow process, and you will have to put in the hours to make a significant income. However, once you get started – you’ll have one of the best side hustles and jobs around.
We recommend that you set up your blog right now and decide which avenue you want to go down. Will it be blogging with affiliate links, copywriting, or self-publishing? Or a mixture of everything? It’s time to stop dreaming about making money from writing, and take the steps to achieving it.