Biz Opps - Make Money
Freelance Writing as a Career Online
Since the Internet provides access to global markets, and global freelancers, some have complained that they can’t compete against authors in far away places willing to sell their time and work for pennies on the dollar (U.S.). How does an author in the U.S., for instance, make a living writing articles when the going rate online seems to be so depressed?
If no one looking for articles, for example, would pay $5/500 words the price of articles would climb. But there are freelancers that will work “for cheap” and consumers that will pay dirt cheap prices for that work thinking it’s a real bargain … so that market segment exists.
In my opinion, here’s the key for freelance writers: don’t try to compete in that bottom dollar market.
Open your mind to the possibilities of using your writing skills in other ways. Too many writers (many of them newbies) assume that article writing is the only outlet for their work. But it’s not – not by a long shot!
Here are some other ideas for you writers:
1- Use your writing skill to produce your own reports, ebooks, lead magnets, sales letters, whitepapers, how-to guides, freemiums, etc.
Focus your list building on business owners and entrepreneurs, especially targeting a niche or two where you have some current knowledge and experience. Offer the complete finished product (ideally including graphics) and include branding with the business owner’s private logo, contact info, web site link, etc. Sell the finished products “ready to go” so the owner can use it right out of the gate with possibly only very minor changes needed. Charge custom prices for your custom work.
2- Your skill could be used in selling “hot sheets.”
I’m specifically thinking about the entertainment industry, gaming industry, dating industry, etc, but hot sheets can be appropriate for many markets. Subscribe to several hot niche magazines (like People Mag, for one) then focus on “putting your own take” on what you read. Don’t copy or rehash. Be a commentator and produce a weekly or monthly “hot industry news” kind of writing in your chosen niche. Build your list of people that can’t wait to hear from you. If you had 1,000 faithful subscribers that devoured everything you published on a weekly or bi-weekly basis at $2 a pop, you would be happy, right? What if you had 10,000 addicts? Or half a dozen specific niches you covered?
3- Write your own serials, novelettes, novels, plays, short stories, magazine articles.
If you’re good, this road could lead to some major income. I think the key would be to find the genre that appeals to you and for which you could find avid readers. Think about selling “serials” where readers get caught up in wanting to know what happens next with your characters. The same type of content can be written in the non-fiction space as well. The key here is to niche down deeply into the vertical market and specialize. Become the “go to” author for that specialization where avid fans dwell, build your subscriber list, and then feed the hungry audience over and over again with paid content (maybe) giving a nice discount for “valued paying customers” on your list.
4- Do technical writing if you can learn that skill.
There is a great and on-going need for manuals, instructions, how-to booklets, product guides, etc in technical fields. Those who already “speak the language” should focus on areas of their own expertise. Even those without experience could sell their writing in less technical subjects after researching the various appropriate topics online.
5- Write to create your own products.
Every “how to” niche is ripe for product creation where you explain something that needs doing to those who want advice, hand holding, or reassurance that they’re doing something correctly. The sky’s the limit on this one. There are e-books, e-courses, tutorials, reports, PLR content, and lots of other sellable products in every niche from which you can derive a nice income.
6- Instructions to business owners.
I almost hesitate to mention this one simply because it is so powerful if you grasp the idea. The market is online solo and small business owners. The idea is to write short yet authoritative instructions about various tasks that business owners have to do but don’t know how to do, don’t want to do, don’t have time to do, or at least would like to learn how to do better, faster, and cheaper. Think business execution steps of instruction. Let’s face it … more and more everyday people are coming online with ideas to make money. Many fail, of course, but there is a constant need to have a mentor or guide that can help these entrepreneurs to understand and execute specific online business tasks that have to be done. Many of these people know nothing about running a business online. You could be the one that authors the steps to daily online business execution for them.
There are so many things you could write about: getting customers, nurturing customers, promoting services, building or maintaining a web site, doing business taxes, dealing with angry customers, keeping employees happy, outsourcing billing, setting up merchant accounts, email marketing and list building, SEO for their web site and on and on and on. But here’s where you can make your writing very valuable.
For each set of instructions you write, make it specific to one type of business (their business) and one market (whatever their niche might be); for example, “How to promote your dental service online.” Be very specific. Then with just a little bit of “tweaking” you can change your report to “How to promote your bookkeeping service online,” or “How to promote your Investing service online.” By being specific you will attract a much larger and hungrier crowd of prospects in your chosen niche because the prospects see you are writing for their exact business. And by leveraging the concept of re-purposing your content, you can create great content once and then simply modify it a little for the niche audience and have a ready-to-go new product targeted for a totally different niche.
7- Blogging, of course!
This is a very powerful and popular way to express yourself through your writing and many people have learned to do it in a way that provides an income for their effort. To be a profitable blogger you must be disciplined and willing to create valuable niche content on a very consistent basis. You must be a good writer and be willing to share your personality and expertise in your posts. In addition, you must figure out how to monetize your blog. There are many, many ways and methods to choose from in order to generate income with blogging and you will have to decide what is best for you and your audience and then master that technique. There are lots of monetization examples online.
OK, this has been a long discussion but I wanted to help you to start thinking about writing as something other than just producing articles.
The field really is wide open and you can make a substantial income if you get creative, differentiate your writing, be specific in your business model, and provide outstanding service consistently as well as high quality, engaging and compelling writing!
A simple word of caution: great writing (that people will buy) is produced by authors that have writing talent. Many don’t. Certainly, anyone can improve their writing skills over time. But if you can’t communicate at all, can’t form a proper sentence, or don’t like to write, please choose a different way to make money online. I’m serious here. The Internet is a virtual dumping ground for poor and worthless content. Don’t add to it!
To your online business success!
Steve Browne
www.stevebrownedirect.com
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