1000 Ways to Make Money Writing - #11 - Write Menus for Restaurants

Write Menus for Restaurants
or rather...re-write Menus for Restaurants

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Have you ever been in a restaurant, and you've just cringed when you read the words describing your favorite dishes? Let's face it - most restaurant owners (especially Mom and Pop type takeout places) aren't overly concerned with beautiful prose on their menus. They want a basic description of the dishes, and that's about it. But, they might appreciate a professional writer - yes, that's YOU - taking over, and re-writing their old, weary menu.

How do you go about finding a menu writing assignment? It's all about asking! If you feel a bit awkward about asking face to face, you could always send an email via the restaurant's website or send a fax if the fax number is available.

Payment will obviously vary, especially if you're just getting started in copywriting. But, as long as you can writing mouthwatering words that describe the delicious food that establishment whips up, you might've found yourself a very unusual new writing gig. And hey - maybe you can just get paid in food, which is for us lowly (and often hungry) writers, a wonderful type of payment indeed.

Onward fellow writers, write and write some more!

1000 Ways to Make Money Writing - #2 - Copywriting (Phone book)

So, now number 2 on our list of 1000 ways to make money writing (in any economy) is copywriting. Maybe you've never heard the term copywriting before, so let's take a moment to review what copywriting is, and how you can earn income from writing copy.

Copywriting is basically writing words to promote something, so in a sense you're writing words to market something or someone. Copywriters find work in all sorts of incredible ways, and since corporations or businesspeople often need copy quickly, copywriting can be an amazingly fast and legitimate way to make money.

The first way to make money copywriting is to take a phone book (do those still exist? Why yes, they do!), especially the yellow pages, and start contacting local businesses. Develop a professional query letter outlining the sorts of copywriting you're willing to do for them. The types of products businesses need include, but certainly aren't limited to:

1. Newsletters, either old-school or online


2. Blog posts


3. Updates to websites


4. Fresh website content


5. Catalogue descriptions


6. Flyer information and product descriptions


7. Letters


8. Email marketing materials (or fax marketing materials)

Basically any type of written material that a business or corporation needs to use to conduct business needs to be written at some point by a copywriter! Some small businesses will obviously do their own copywriting, but taking out a phone book or using an online directory of local businesses will provide you with plenty of opportunities to send an email query (or, to grab more attention you might want to send out actual letters in the mail) to inquire about writing for that company.

You might be surprised by how quickly this can net you fresh writing work.

If you've never written copy before...

Don't stress! The thing that matters most in copywriting is that you can write words that make people want to take action: to sign up for a newsletter, or to purchase a new car, or to regularly visit a website. Take note of websites and copywritten materials (either received in your email inbox or as 'junk mail' in your real mailbox) and start noting what you like and don't like about what those copywriters have written. You can train yourself to become a copywriter - no expense necessary!

If, on the other hand, you'd like to arm yourself with some How To books from pros who know, then check out these beauties from Amazon on all the ins and outs of copywriting:

The Copywriter's Handbook, Third Edition: A Step-By-Step Guide To Writing Copy That Sells

The Idea Writers: Copywriting in a New Media and Marketing Era (Advertising Age)