How to make money by writing? Many successful freelance writers are full-time writers. If you are hoping to make some extra money in your spare time, or you are thinking ahead towards your long-term career goals, writing for money can take a fair amount of work and effort, but it is so, so worth it.
If you want that to learn how to make money by writing, magazines, and more, here is how to make money by writing.
Start A Blog
Blogging is a true method for writers to make money online. You may be thinking is it still possible for new bloggers to make money with blogs? and the answer is YES.
Blogging requires dedication and consistency, and it will also take some time for your blog to gain momentum before you see much income, but it is absolutely possible. The first step to starting a blog is picking your niche.
The topic you will write about. It is good to get specific here; there are many blogs available on the internet, so if you can provide a unique perspective, your readers are more likely to stick around.
Next, you will need to pick your domain, design your blog, and get it all set up. There are a lot of great resources out there to help you with this just remember you get what you pay for, while there are free blog hosting sites and free templates, top bloggers agree that you will need to spend a little money upfront if you want to make money writing in the long run.
Once you have got your blog established, remember to post regularly, promote your posts on social media, and engage with your readers. No blog has ever been an overnight success, but you can make good money from blogging with a little time and consistency.
Topic-Related Website
If you have an interest or expertise in a particular field, you can start a website dedicated to it. This gives you all the creative control of running your own blog without the pressure of regular posting. While you will need to update your website regularly to keep it fresh and make sure it reaches its full potential.
Self-Publish A Book
If you have written a book and you are unsure what your next step should be, why not consider self-publishing?
Publishing your own book is an incredibly good experience, as you have control over every step of the process. This can be a double-edged sword.
After starting down the path to self-publication, many authors realize that while they love writing, they don’t love obsessing over font and margin options or negotiating with cover artists.
And even if you use a free service, such as Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, you will need to spend money on editing, cover design, marketing, and advertising.
The hope is that you would make that money back from your book sales, but there are no guarantees. But if you play your cards right, it is possible to turn a profit from your self-published book.
Affiliate Marketing Content
Affiliate marketing content is an excellent way to generate passive income on your blog or website. It takes a little block out, but once you develop a plan and implement your affiliate content, you can make money while you sleep.
Scripts For Video Creators
If you understand different scriptwriting techniques, you can bring in money by partnering with a video creator. It is pretty common for video creators to have a great screen presence but not-so-great writing skills, so there are plenty of gigs to be had in this field.
Video content is exploding in popularity, so now is a great time to get your foot in the door and add some script-writing experience to your resume.
These gigs are often posted on job boards, and you can also take the initiative and reach out to some content creators whose work you enjoy to see if they could use a hand with scriptwriting.
Notes For Podcasts
Show notes are a written online resource for podcast listeners that accompany each episode of a podcast. Every podcast approaches show notes a little differently, but typically, they are brief, easy-to-scan episode summaries that often include additional relevant resources.
You can find work writing show notes on job boards, or send cold pitches out to podcasters you would like to work with as a freelance writer.
Social Media Content
Large companies typically have a marketer dedicated to keeping their social media running smoothly. But smaller businesses often can not hire a full-time employee to manage their social media presence. Freelancers are the ideal solution and are a win for everyone.
Think about your favorite local ice cream parlor, or gift shop, and do a little research into their social media presence.
If you notice that they have not posted anything in months or that they struggle with creating high-quality, engaging content, then you just found an excellent opportunity to pitch your writing services.
There is no need to bash them or focus too much on their social media mistakes, but you can start a polite and friendly conversation where you mention that you noticed room for improvement. Try to emphasize what they stand to gain from working with you and how much potential you see in their social media presence.
Before you pitch your social media writing services, make sure you do your research on fair pricing and know which services you want to offer at what rates.
If a business owner shows interest in working with you, the last thing you want to do is keep them waiting while you iron out details you could already have had in place.
Content For Local Businesses
While you are talking to small, local business owners about their social media content, don’t forget the other services you can provide as well.
Maybe a local business could use your help with the occasional blog post, copy for their website, or informational materials like brochures and pamphlets.
If you need a list of local businesses, consider joining your local chamber of commerce. Their events can be an effective way to network with other local business owners.
Magazine Articles
Write it down and turn it into a magazine article to make money. The magazine industry may not be as prominent as it once was, but it is still going strong, and plenty of freelance writers are getting paid to write magazine articles. Some magazines pay upwards of $500 per article.
Do a little research to find the magazines that would be the best fit for your article, and make sure they have not published anything too similar in the recent past.
This is also a good time to find the magazine submission guidelines make sure you follow their instructions carefully, so you have a better chance of getting accepted.
Create An Information Product
If you are an expert at something, you can monetize that knowledge by creating and selling informational products. This can be an eBook, a video, a short PDF, or any electronic format sharing your insights.
Don’t be afraid to get creative here. Online information products are an excellent way to generate revenue because there are little to no overhead costs involved.
You don’t need to worry about packing and shipping a physical product, nor do you need to be involved in the transactions once you handle the initial logistics of making your product available.
The most important thing is to make sure you are providing a high-quality product with valuable tips and tricks that your customers will not be able to find.
If your customers love what they learn from you, they are much more likely to pay for other products you offer and recommend your business to their friends.
Video Game Guidebooks
Streaming your gameplay is not the only way for gamers to make money online. If you know a video game inside and out, consider writing a guidebook for it and selling it as a PDF.
If you don’t want to handle the logistics of selling your own product, you can always write freelance articles and guides for video game websites and magazines.
Create Destination Guides
If you love to travel or are the go-to person for the best spots to visit in your hometown, you can turn your knowledge into a profitable destination guide. This can be an extensive information product that you sell on your blog or website, or you can pitch it to a travel magazine or blog accepting these types of publications.
Write poetry
Poetry may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about making money writing online, but it is possible to turn a profit off of your poems. There are several places you can submit your poetry online for publication, and if your piece is selected, you’ll get a paycheck on top of bragging rights.
Transcribe Documents
Transcribing is flexible work that can pay very well once you have some quality pieces in your portfolio. High-paying transcription jobs often require experience, special equipment, and specialized medical or legal knowledge.
But don’t let that discourage you if you think you could enjoy the work. You can quickly get your foot in the door by taking on a few simple, lower-paying gigs.
If you have interesting life stories, the world wants to hear them. Lots of websites pay you for the right to publish your personal essays.
You could also turn your essays into a blog or website, although you should be very strategic if you decide to go this route; blogs dedicated to niches tend to perform exceptionally well, while personal perspective blogs do not.
Create Greeting Card Sayings
Someone has to write the sayings and poems on greeting cards. Frequently, that someone is a freelance writer. If you think you have what it takes to create a best-selling greeting card, these companies that pay for greeting card verse submissions:
Write Essays
If you have interesting life stories, the world wants to hear them. Lots of websites pay you for the right to publish your personal essays.
You could also turn your essays into a blog or website, although you should be very strategic if you decide to go this route; blogs dedicated to niches tend to perform exceptionally well, while personal perspective blogs do not.
Product descriptions
Some companies pay quite well to ensure that the product descriptions on their websites are clear and informative. Look for these gigs on job boards or pitch the company yourself. There are even websites you can join, such as Crowd Content, that pay you to write product descriptions for their clients. You can also find possible clients for this on sites like Upwork.
Copywriting
Copywriting can refer to any writing that is specifically used for promotion and marketing. This can include content on websites, video scripts, blog posts, and emails you name it. Businesses use copy to promote a product or service and drive the reader to action.
Some companies hire freelance copywriters, some hire copywriters from marketing agencies that work with multiple companies, and some have staff copywriters. You can find copywriting work on job boards of all kinds, including Indeed and Zip Recruiter.
Email Sequences
An email sequence is a series of automated emails sent from a business to its clients at different sales cycle stages. Companies also send out email sequences when someone takes a specific action, such as clicking a link in an email or leaving an e-commerce site with items still in the shopping cart.
If you have a strong understanding of email marketing tactics, you can work with any company to create or improve their email sequences. Since more companies are getting into email marketing, there are plenty of opportunities to make money writing here.
Technical Manuals
Technical writing is a well-paid field because it requires extensive knowledge of the industry you are writing for. Technical writers need to know how to take complex information and break it down into simple, easy-to-understand messages.
Revenue-Sharing Site
Revenue-sharing sites host your content and give you a percentage of the ad revenue generated from the page in exchange.
This can be a great way to gain experience writing online since you don’t have to worry about setting up your own website or driving traffic, although you should do everything you can to market your work and encourage people to read your work on revenue-sharing sites.
Here are some examples of revenue-sharing sites where you can get paid to write articles:
- Medium
- Hub Pages
- Info Barrel
Writing Contest
Keep an eye out for writing contests, and throw your hat in the ring when you can. This one is a gamble because only the winners get paid, but it could be worthwhile.
Some contests pay their winners surprisingly well, and winning can also be a great way to gain exposure as a writer. So if you have the time, why not give it a shot?
Here are a few reputable contests to get you started:
- Reeds lists over 100 writing contests
- Bio pages Storytelling Contest pays $100 to $300 for winning short stories.
Resume Writing
If you have a skill for creating effective resumes, you can find freelance work writing resumes for job hunters. Check job boards for resume writing gigs, and spread the word through social media that you accept clients for resume makeovers.
As a similar way to get paid to write, you can also specialize in LinkedIn profiles. Many professionals are willing to pay for an optimized profile that can help them land work.
Review books
Did you know you can get paid to review books? If you can read quickly and write engaging, objective reviews, this could be an excellent way to earn some extra money.
Here are some companies that accept applications for book reviewers:
- Kirkus
- Reedsy Discovery
- Online Book Club
SEO Writing
SEO writers are some of the best-paid freelance writers because they provide the most value to their clients. These specialized writers know plenty of SEO tips, including researching keywords and integrating them into websites to make them rank higher in search results.
Write Sponsored Content
If you have a blog, writing sponsored content is a no-brainer. Sponsored content is anything that a company pays you to write and publish on your blog.
There are a lot of options for companies you can work with, and some creative ways to write sponsored content that doesn’t feel like advertising. Check out these trusted sponsored post networks you can join to find paid blogging opportunities:
- Clever
- Acorn
- A
- Aspire IQ
- Blog Meets Brand
Writing Translations
One great way to make money from your language skills is to write translations. There will be plenty of businesses willing to pay you to translate text for them on a freelance basis. Some languages will earn you more than others.
But, it is worth having a look at sites like Fiverr to see how much freelance translators tend to charge, depending on the languages they speak. We go into loads more detail about working as a translator in our in-depth guide.
Technical Writer
Technical writing is another writing job that is more of a long-term career route, rather than an immediate way to earn money in your spare time.
What a technical writer actually does? The exact nature of your work would vary depending on the specialisms of the company and industry you are working in, but you will generally be expected to explain complex technical info in clear, concise texts.
A common task for technical writers is writing instruction manuals. To do this, you could need to do thorough research around the processes you are writing about, then explain them in a way that is easy for the target audience to follow.
You will likely need a fair amount of work experience as a writer to get into this career, so you could try some of the other suggestions on our list to build up your writing portfolio.
Once you are working as a technical writer, you could be looking at an average salary of just under £40K according to Glassdoor.
This makes it a pretty well-paid career, as far as writing jobs go. If you are talented at research, have good communication skills, and are comfortable working with challenging, technical information, this could be a great career for you.
Become Ghostwriter
A lot of people have excellent writing skills, but don’t really have the public attention that writing can bring. If that is you, ghostwriting could be ideal. As a ghostwriter, you would be working with others to help them write texts, but you would not be publicly credited as the author.
It is difficult to say what salary you could expect to receive as a ghostwriter as it depends heavily on the industry you work in and the clients you write for. But, for big, high-profile writing projects, it could be pretty profitable.
As with technical writing, you will need a fair amount of writing experience to start ghostwriting full-time. It is important to work on developing a strong portfolio to boost your writing credentials.
It will take time, but you could eventually be working with celebrities or politicians, making a living from doing what you love writing.
FAQS
How can I earn money by writing?
Here are three ways to make money writing:
- Freelance writing
- Blogging
- Self-publishing
How can a beginner make money writing?
Becoming a freelance writer is the most straightforward way to make money writing – you can get paid to write articles.
How to make money as a freelance writer?
Here’s how you can start making money as a freelance writer:
- Pick a writing niche
- Build a writing portfolio by guest posting on popular blogs in that niche
- Start looking for clients on freelance marketplaces and online job boards