If you’re looking to make money through writing, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to give you the inside scoop on how to do it. Plus, we’ll teach you valuable skills that will help you write your next best seller.
The Basics
For those of you who are new to the idea of making money through writing, let’s cover the fundamentals. In order to do this, you’re going to need a few things.
- A laptop or desktop computer
- Internet access
- A reliable wireless connection
- A printer
- Paper
- A cup of coffee
What you want to have here is a combination of gadgets that can help you write with ease. Not only does this save you time, but it reduces the stress and strain that comes with trying to write on an iPad or small smartphone screen. Remember: good posture and lots of coffee help too!
Once you have all these items, you’re ready to start earning money through writing. To do this, you need to create a blog where you can easily share your thoughts and ideas with the world. Once you have that, you’ll need to find a niche and build a following. Once you have a following, you can then monetize your blog. There are several different ways to do this, but we’ll discuss three of the most popular ones.
Affiliate Marketing
If you’ve ever shopped online, you’ve probably seen the little boxes at the top of the page with the words “affiliate marketing” in them. These are affiliate marketing banners that can be slightly distracting, but they’re also an effective way to make money from your blog if used properly. Basically, affiliate marketing is when you earn a commission if someone clicks a monetized link or buys a product that’s promoted on your blog. There are plenty of affiliate marketing networks that can be accessed through a simple login, including Clickbank, which we’ll explain how to use in a little bit.
Paid Posting
Similar to affiliate marketing, paid posting is where you post content to social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter and you’re paid for it. This is one way to make quick and easy money online without having to create or run a blog. You just need a Twitter account to begin with. Once you have that, you can use the Twitter API to create custom ad campaigns that promote products and services you’re passionate about. You can use these campaigns to tweet about things you see or hear that are relevant to your niche, and you’ll start making money from the moment you start using the API. You’ll find several different paid posting platforms similar to Twitter, including Fiverr, UserTesting.com, and Sqreen.
Stories Management
Stories management is the act of collecting and organizing content into coherent narratives that can then be distributed across different platforms and channels. A good example of this is Buzzfeed, which creates original content that often includes interviews, funny stories, and quirky content. As a Stories Manager, you’ll often be asked to find the “right” balance of content that is neither too light nor too heavy, which can be quite the juggling act. A reliable source of income for Stories Managers is sponsored posts, which involves the author posting about a product or service in return for some paid financial compensation. You can also create branded content, which involves an advertiser paying you to publish content about their product or service. The advantage of this is that you won’t have to worry about finding the “right” balance of content or whether or not the content is worth posting about in the first place. Simply write about what you know and love, and you’ll be able to connect with your audience.
If your ultimate goal is to make money online through writing and you’re looking for ways to save time and effort, these are all legitimate ways to do it. Just remember: good writing skills are a valuable commodity in today’s world, and even if you don’t want to become a full-time writer, you can still use your talents to make extra money online.