“You want to be a writer
But you don’t know how or when
Find a quiet place
Use a humble pen”
~Paul Simon,
Hurricane Eye
The Internet is a wonderful thing.
Consider freelance writing. It’s one of my 10 cheap hobbies, but thanks to the Internet, it’s more than just a hobby. I’ve been writing (on and off) for about 16 years or so, but few people ever read any of it – until now.
If you wanted to make money writing before the Internet, chances are you never got the opportunity. You would have had to have been lucky, or industrious enough to find an agent or grab an editor’s eye for a magazine or publishing company. Not anymore!
With the advent of the Internet, more accurately Web 2.0 and the content development business model, if you have the writing bug, a computer and free time – you can get paid for what you write about. How cool is that?
Here’s a list of 5 channels, if you will, that I’ve been successful with so far.
1) Personal Blog.
Some blog for fun, and others for profit. Personally, I aim for a happy medium between the two. I don’t see the point in writing something just for money. I’d feel differently if I was a professional writer, but at this stage of the game I don’t have the luxury of pursuing that career change. But I feel that I do put a fair amount of effort into what I write (this site is a good example) and if I can get some compensation for it – all the better. Also, I’d like this site to become self sufficient at some point, so I can get some hosting bells a whistles and the like.
The most obvious way people earn money with personal blogs is through the inclusion of advertisements and affiliate links. Google Adsense is the biggest player here, but also Amazon, Yahoo, Adbright and others are also available. I haven’t made millions off advertising, or even tens yet. But I have had some increasing success. Perhaps I would have more if I plastered the site with ads, but that would go against my desire to write meaningful, useful content. I would lose my balance, in other words.
All you need for this method is a blog and an idea. Well, several ideas really because it takes more than just a single post for people to hang around.
2) Pay Per Post.
Once you have a blog, a topic and an appropriate amount of posts you can sign up for sites like Pay Per Post. Pay Per Post operates like a hub connecting bloggers and advertisers. Advertisers post topics, along with guideline and any images or links they require in the post. Bloggers can then claim the topics and if their post meets the requirement of the advertiser, then they get paid.
Payment ranges from a couple of dollars to over $20. Some advertisers require the blogger to engage in blatant advertising, and expect a rave review. Others are more free market in their approach and allow the blogger to state how they really feel about the product. In short, you don’t have to sell your soul to the advertiser- you can avoid topics or conditions that make you feel uncomfortable. Sign up here. or learn more about getting paid to blog here.
3). Helium.
The is the first of the pay-for-content sites that I tried. The concept is simple. Helium gets writers to join them, offers topics and contests and writers get a cut of advertising revenue as well as contest rewards. The name is derived from their method of quality control. The writers vote on articles from other writers. The theory is that the good will out weigh the bad and the best articles with rise to the top of the quality list. Rise to the top. Get it- like Helium rises above ordinary air.. well, OK so it’s a clunky metaphor, but it seems to work for them.
The topics are diverse, and the contest rewards are generous – $60 for 1st Prize, $40 for 2nd Prize, and $30 for 3rd Prize. They also offer a market place of post requests, where advertisers request topics from the members. These can pay quite well too. Learn more here.
4). Associated Content.
AC is much like helium, except there is no concept of community voting on content quality. Articles can be submitted for up front payment, but also earn a performance payment. If the editors feel your article is unique and engaging then they will accept it for up font payment. This ranges from a couple dollars up to $20 (so they say). The most I’ve had up front is $8. The performance payment is based on page views, so the more you have, the more you earn. Learn more here.
5). HubPages.
HubPages offers much more control, but no up front payment. Where both Helium and Associated Content control ads, HubPages gives that control to the writer. If you don’t want any ads in your content, so be it. If you’d like ads all over then you can do that too – to a degree. The revenue is split 60% – 40% with the writer receiving the majority. They also allow for Amazon and eBay affiliate links, where the others do not.
I think the thing that sets HubPages apart from Helium and Associated Content though is that HubPages has more of a sense of community. This is because writers are essentially bloggers who can write on any topic and HubPages brings the readers and traffic. Learn more here.
Conclusion.
I hope I’ve done a good job of detailing the strengths and weakness of each opportunity. Each has its place in a freelancer’s toolbox or the hobbyists bookmarks. If you’ve got an interest and some decent writing skills, then you can really develop quite a good network of friends and associates while earning a little extra cash on the side. It’s a winning situation all around.
Technorati Tags: Income, Money, Make Money, Writing
Amazing opportunities to earn some extra bucks, I also found these ones in the same topic: http://mydebtrefinance.com/blog/3-ways-to-reduce-your-debts/
They are mainly opportunities to share the ads revenues with the websites, but one of them (HowHub) can give you even 100%.
So take a look and great post!
Good advice – I’m going to check some of these out. Thank you.
: )
Well one must be very versed in english and also the proper software is essential. I use power article rewriter and it’s so good.
reat post you offered great resources and info about the various points in your article which were quite useful
Just know that when you write for someone online, they will check the work. There are tools that can show if even 1 sentence has been lifted from ANYWHERE on the Internet. For this reason, as well as the obvious, it is important to do honest work only…
Good point. I didn’t know that they had tools that could be that specific… Not that I had ever thought you should cheat someone like that.
A good list. I would add Constant Content, as well.
If you are concerned that your writing may be too similar to something already published online, there are several free ways to check. Here is one I use http://www.plagiarismchecker.com/
Just started with my site. Thanks for the tips!
Personal blog will never free I think. Unless you just want to have free blogspot without personal domain. However blogspot only use google ads.
About others method you gave, I never know about it. This is new for me. Thanks for sharing. I will looking on them.
I don’t know guys, making money from writing is EXTREMELY difficult. It just seems that there is so much competition for eyeballs online that it is really hard to get a solid following and any real exposure to your blog. I fear that there is great stuff being written out there but nobody ever sees it because it is one of 45 million domains and you really can’t get any attention in Google without major SEO.
I have tried most of these suggested here. I would recommend pay-per-post the best. The only problem there is that you need to have a fairly well established site because they pay based on the rank (both page rank and real traffic) of your site.
Thanks for the blog, I have been searching for writing outlets and your descriptions have been helpful.
These days, getting paid decently to write is nearly impossible.
Why do you say that Leila? What’s changed about these days? I mean, I thought it was always difficult making a decent living as a writer, but as the author points out it’s easier to find ways of getting paid for it now.
Nice work, this is really helpful. Thanks a lot!
it is not always very easy to earn money online, it is a lot of work too.’-`
fantastic blog. I have truly liked it!