Online Writing Income

Most people who make money online are always looking for ways to increase their income. Some entrepreneurs learn through trial and error while others browse popular forums to gain tips and secrets from the pros.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time doing both. Learning from my mistakes and absorbing any information I can from those who are successful at doing what I want to do.

Recently I came across an eBook entitled 20 Ways to Make $100 a Day Online. The book is written by folks who are currently earning in excess of $100 a day from their online ventures. The 240 page eBook is loaded with information. In essence, it’s 20 mini eBooks with hands on advice from the authors on how they became successful.

Of the 20 mini eBooks, I was particularly interested in the section on Writing Articles and Profitable Nice Marketing. I don’t consider myself a newbie so I was interested to see if the information was the same old stuff or if it contained something new. I was pleasantly surprised to see a combination of both.

I was pleased to see the ‘same old stuff’ because it validated the fact that I was doing something right. I was especially pleased to see the ‘new stuff’ because there were a few new links and tools that I have yet to add to my online money making arsenal.

All in all, I believe it was a $27 well spent. Aside from being a tax deduction (I recently did my taxes and am on the look out for tax write offs), this 240 page eBook has more information than I can digest in one day.

I came across a site today that could help folks who are looking to become technical writers. Check out Online Technical Writing. In essence it’s an online book with plenty of free information on how to put together a technical document.

It provides information, samples and an explanation of the process from the initial strategizing through to the final peer review. If you want even more detailed information, they encourage you to purchase the text book “Power Tools for Technical Communication” by David A. McMurrey. However, if you prefer not to purchase the book and want some solid information on technical writing, I suggest you visit the website and gain as much free information as you possibly can.

When it comes to writing online, its best to develop a rhythm. Find a few sites for which you can get paid to write, and set the number of articles you want to place on each site each day, week or month and then develop your writing rhythm.

The good thing about writing for more than one place is that you can change your rhythm as your feelings change. Some sites are easier to write for because you’re allowed to use your natural writing voice, while others are a bit more difficult.

It’s been my experience that writing for sites where I have to write in the third person is more labor intensive than a site where I can write in the first or second person. Taking this into consideration, I develop my rhythm accordingly.

I write the fun, easy to write stuff as a warm up, the more difficult to write articles as the workout and then I bring it all home with more delightful first person writing. My natural tendency is to forgo the more difficult writing, but if I force myself to take on the challenge. After all, I’m still learning and growing as a writer. What better way to develop writing muscles than by doing a bit of resistance writing (sorry, took you from the dance floor to the gym weight room).

Developing an online freelance writing rhythm has helped my income to steadily grow. I switch up the rhythm every once in a while, but I still keep writing to the beat. Do yourself a favor and develop a writing rhythm.

Ground Report.com, founded in 2006, is a website that pays for the latest news, both local and abroad. Not limited to US only writers, Ground Report accepts international writers and pays monthly via PayPal. The Founder & CEO Rachel Sterne is a former reporter for the UN and developed this site in an attempt to “democratize the media.”

What’s Acceptable and Not Acceptable

As with most websites, they want original, non-affiliate laden news items. They don’t accept articles that sell products or sounds like a commercial. The news must be true, original and accurate. Engaging eyewitness accounts are especially desired. They do not accept porn, obscene or hate filled articles (commendable).

Licensing

You keep the rights to all of your work and can remove it from the Ground Report website whenever you want. However, if it’s earning money, why take it off.

Earnings

It appears that they pay based on page views. The more views your news item gets, the more you’ll earn so it pays to promote your news items.

I came across a website today that looks like it can work well for those who enjoy academic writing. The name of the site is Academia-Research.com. It looks promising.

Requirements:

In order to become a writer for Academia-Research you must register at their website and take a test. The test consists of an essay for which you have a few days to complete. If you do well, you’re in.

Payment:

According to the website, they pay their contracted freelance writers anywhere from $6 to $20 per page. Pages are double spaced and a minimum of 250 words.

Who Should Apply?:

Anyone who likes to write and has the wherewithal to do the proper research and put together a grammatically correct, non plagiarized, resource referenced work should apply.

If you have what it takes, check out their Sign Up page and give it a whirl.

If you’re a freelance writer looking for online gigs you must put the Online Writing Jobs.com database in your job search basket.

My First Gig

When I first decided I wanted to earn money online, I got my first writing gig through them. Granted, back then I was eager to write 300 word articles for a whopping $5, but the gig paid weekly and I could write as many articles as I wanted.

I knew then it was a low paying gig, but I had no confidence as a writer so I took it. It was nice to see the money deposited into my PayPal account weekly. They liked me and gave me a raise so I started earning $6 per article.

Graduation Time

Shortly thereafter, I realized that there were many more opportunities available on the internet, so I went back to the Online Writing Jobs.com database and I managed to land a writing gig for a print magazine. I earned $520 for my second gig (1,200 word article).

That was all I needed to build my confidence as a writer. If someone was willing to pay me (yes, me), $520 to write an article, I guess I had enough writing juice to make a living on this stuff.

Give it a Try

So, whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned professional, check out the Online Writing Jobs database. You never know what you’ll find. It helped me; I hope it does the same for you.

If you think the economy will negatively affect your freelance writing income, it will. If you think your freelance writing income will continue to grow in spite of the economy, it will.

The old saying, “Whether your believe you can or you believe you can’t you’re right.”

Before you look at your earnings, look in the mirror and have a talk with yourself. What is your mindset? When you begin the self-conversation, do you begin by acknowledging all of the problems that can occur? Google ads are down, people aren’t surfing the net anymore, no one wants to read what I’m writing about, etc., etc., etc.

Well if that’s the way you begin your conversation, you might as well give up now.

Instead of letting the outside forces dictate your earning potential, decide what you want and go and get it. If you are determined to be the beacon in these dark economic times, then change your thinking and get going.

I don’t know about you, but last year I increased my freelance writing income by over 200% (225% to be exact). Not only that, I don’t have any special writing skills or talents, just tenacity. I couldn’t have done that if I sat around and lamented over the poor state of the economy.

Try spendinga little less time complaining and commiserating and a lot more writing. You’ll find that the state of the economy won’t affect your ability to increase your freelance writing income. After all, the Empire State Building was built during the height of the depression. I guess someone forgot to tell them that it wasn’t financially possible.

I’m on the mailing list for a few forums. I don’t usually have the time to visit the forums, but from time to time I receive emails of the latest goings on on.

Well, here’s an opportunity that ended up in my inbox as a result of one of the forums. The name of the site is Universal Class. If you know how to write instructional courses, you can earn anywhere from .04 to .06 per word. According to the website, if you can take complicated subjects and explain them in an easy to understand, clear and logical manner, they want you.

If this sounds like something you can do or are willing to do, give them a whirl. What do you have to lose?

P.S. - If you do give it a try, come back and share your experience with us.

I’m not too sure of any other line of work where there is such a sense of helping others than the online freelance writing community.

I remember a while ago when I stated one of my other blogs, my brother read a few of my entries and asked if I wasn’t giving away the store. In other words, if I shared all of my freelance writing secrets wouldn’t that is some way be like shooting myself in the foot?

Hmmm, I thought of it for about ½ of a second and said no. The more I help other freelance writers, it seems that the more help I get. Think about it for a minute. How many blogs are there in the blog-o-sphere that help freelance writers? Here are a few blogs to take a look at in your spare time.

aboutfreelancewriting
thegoldenpencil
catalystblogger
thewritersmanifesto
allcotmedia
freelancefolder

I’ve worked in a few different industries, and I’ve found being an online freelance writer to be one of the best gigs yet.

No matter how fast you type, I can bet that you don’t type as fast as you talk. Just imagine if you didn’t have to type each article. All you had to do is think, speak and your computer would do the rest. Your final task was look it over to make sure its what you wanted to say.

Well, if that’s what you want, what are you waiting for? I’ve been doing it for about a year now and am lost without my technology. I’m talking about getting a digital voice recorder. They’re not expensive, they are a tax write off if you use them in your freelance writing business, and once you get the hang of it, your productivity goes through the roof.

I call my digital recorder my brain and I have it hanging around my neck. When an idea hits, no longer do I run to find a piece of paper and a pen (the ink in the pen is never ready when I am). By the time I find the paper and pen, I forget what I was about to write (yes, I am at that age where my memory plays hide-n-seek).

Once I do a brain dump, I hook my brain to the computer, download it and let the software transcribe it. All I have to do is edit it.

If you’re serious about earning money as a freelance writer, the more you write the more you earn, why not speed up the process?