Writing for your local newspaper can be a great way to break into print, and land your first paid writing assignment. I know that some people will write for free, just to develop their portfolio. I highly recommend that you never write for free - always expect some payment, even if that payment is quite small at first.
Look through the contact information for your local newspaper, and contact editors with ideas for short article ideas and or/column ideas. Please post a comment if you try this and have success!
* Query letters used to be the way you contacted any editor with a potential article idea. In a query letter, you'd introduce your idea, and why you were the perfect writer to put such an article together. Now, query letters can often be much more informal: a well-put together email is often all it takes to land an assignment. Please do research on the newspaper (or other publication) that you're querying first. To fail to do this step makes you look unprofessional, and your email will quite likely be quickly deleted. Find out the editor's name, and make sure they're the current editor. Brainstorm up some strong article ideas before contacting the editor.*
Showing posts with label make money writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label make money writing. Show all posts
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
1000 Ways to Make Money Writing - #10 - Write about your town or city
How can writing about your locality - your town or city - earn money into your freelancing pockets? Try contacting popular local websites, newspapers or locally produced magazines and send in queries of your work. Even small published pieces are valuable clips to add to your portfolio!
Or, create a simple website with information about your town or city, particularly if it's a popular destination for tourists. You'll be able to monetize the site by selling ads to local businesses, hotels, tourist spots, etc. Plus, you can monetize your site by including ads from Google Adsense, which is a quick and painless way to earn an income from your site right away.
If you're technologically insecure, then blog about your town or city instead. A blog like this one on blogger.com is free and easy to start. You can blog about local happenings in your home town, and even get guest blog posts from popular residents.
Writing about your locality is another way to make money writing.
Until next time...happy writing!
Or, create a simple website with information about your town or city, particularly if it's a popular destination for tourists. You'll be able to monetize the site by selling ads to local businesses, hotels, tourist spots, etc. Plus, you can monetize your site by including ads from Google Adsense, which is a quick and painless way to earn an income from your site right away.
If you're technologically insecure, then blog about your town or city instead. A blog like this one on blogger.com is free and easy to start. You can blog about local happenings in your home town, and even get guest blog posts from popular residents.
Writing about your locality is another way to make money writing.
Until next time...happy writing!
1000 Ways to Make Money Writing - #9 - Write an eBook
The #9 way to make money writing on our master list of 1000 is to write your own ebooks. From my experience of selling an ebook at around $19.95 each compared to the small royalty you make on each traditionally published book - I'd have to say that if you can write a great ebook, and can market it well - you might make a lot more money selling ebooks!
As a writer, you can easily do the research necessary to come up with some ideas for your own ebooks. Or, if you want to add some income by selling ebooks immediately, and without needing to do all the writing involved - then try a site like Clickbank. You can provide links to ebooks for sale on their site, and earn a percentage on each sale.
eBooks are just another way to add to your writing income!
Until next time...get writing!
As a writer, you can easily do the research necessary to come up with some ideas for your own ebooks. Or, if you want to add some income by selling ebooks immediately, and without needing to do all the writing involved - then try a site like Clickbank. You can provide links to ebooks for sale on their site, and earn a percentage on each sale.
eBooks are just another way to add to your writing income!
Until next time...get writing!
Monday, October 17, 2011
1000 Ways to Make Money Writing - #8 - Turn Your Blog into a Book
Ahh, every writer's dream - seeing your very own book on the bookshelves of your local bookstore. Is it only a dream, though? Or, is the Internet making the dreamy ideal of being a 'real' published author far more realistic?
How Blogs can Become Bestselling Books
Dozens, if not hundreds of successful blogs have become the tool writers use to get their work in front of editors at major publishing houses. It makes sense that editors and publishers will sit up and take notice if your blog is attracting huge attention from a devoted crowd - if they come back to read your blog everyday, it's not as big a risk for the publisher to take to publish your book.
The basis for many blogs just naturally lend themselves to becoming bestselling books. My website at www.happyslob.com helped me to land a book deal for my first book: "No Hassle Housecleaning", originally titled "The Happy Slob's Guide to Housecleaning." Was it a bestseller? Not yet! (self deprecating laughter inserted here...) But, seeing my book in bookstores was an incredible and surreal moment, and continues to be. (My second book from the same publisher - F+W Publications - is called Living Large on Less. I get no less giddy seeing it at online and offline bookstores.)
How to Do It
Simply put, you need to put your best writing foot forward when you blog. Don't makes excuses like: "It's just a blog after all, who cares if it's really my best writing?" Express yourself and create your very own writing style. When I started my blog and site, it was because agents and publishers hadn't been interested in my book and I wanted to prove them wrong by selling my book as an ebook. That ebook was later purchased by an editor at F+W, and the rest is history. (Let me just acknowledge right now -- when her email arrived asking if I was still looking to publish my book traditionally, I had tears running down my face.)
Get Blogging!
Get blogging right away! Of course, you need some sort of catchy idea that people will come to read more and more about...and you need to create quality work that people will want to come back to read. The more readers you have who love your content, the more proof you have that your blog concept is really worthy of becoming a book.
In Summary:
How Blogs can Become Bestselling Books
Dozens, if not hundreds of successful blogs have become the tool writers use to get their work in front of editors at major publishing houses. It makes sense that editors and publishers will sit up and take notice if your blog is attracting huge attention from a devoted crowd - if they come back to read your blog everyday, it's not as big a risk for the publisher to take to publish your book.
The basis for many blogs just naturally lend themselves to becoming bestselling books. My website at www.happyslob.com helped me to land a book deal for my first book: "No Hassle Housecleaning", originally titled "The Happy Slob's Guide to Housecleaning." Was it a bestseller? Not yet! (self deprecating laughter inserted here...) But, seeing my book in bookstores was an incredible and surreal moment, and continues to be. (My second book from the same publisher - F+W Publications - is called Living Large on Less. I get no less giddy seeing it at online and offline bookstores.)
How to Do It
Simply put, you need to put your best writing foot forward when you blog. Don't makes excuses like: "It's just a blog after all, who cares if it's really my best writing?" Express yourself and create your very own writing style. When I started my blog and site, it was because agents and publishers hadn't been interested in my book and I wanted to prove them wrong by selling my book as an ebook. That ebook was later purchased by an editor at F+W, and the rest is history. (Let me just acknowledge right now -- when her email arrived asking if I was still looking to publish my book traditionally, I had tears running down my face.)
Get Blogging!
Get blogging right away! Of course, you need some sort of catchy idea that people will come to read more and more about...and you need to create quality work that people will want to come back to read. The more readers you have who love your content, the more proof you have that your blog concept is really worthy of becoming a book.
In Summary:
- Yes, blogs really do become the basis for books!
- Blog writing represents you as a writer - so make your blog posts inspirational, funny, charming - whatever it is you want to be identified with as a writer. Develop your writing style within your blog.
- Popular blogs prove to editors and publishers that your content is popular, thus making it less of a risk for them to invest in creating a book out of your concept.
Writers: What would you most like to blog about? Do you think you could sell it as a book idea in the future?
Friday, October 7, 2011
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:
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)
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:
- Newsletters, either old-school or online
- Blog posts
- Updates to websites
- Fresh website content
- Catalogue descriptions
- Flyer information and product descriptions
- Letters
- 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)
1000 Ways to Make Money Writing - #1 - Start a Blog
It's as obvious as obvious can be (since you're right at this moment ingesting information from a blog) but starting a blog or weblog can be one of the easiest ways to start making an income writing - NOW! If you sign up for money making programs like Google Adsense, you can earn cash from your blog content right away.
"But, what should I write a blog about?" You might wonder. It's a good question, since blogs number in the millions, and if you want your blog to stand out you need it to be unique enough for people to want to come back over and over again to read its content.
Start by writing a list of all the things you love: hobbies, jobs (dream jobs you wish you had, or your current job - which is also your expertise), etc. Then, try to come up with unique ideas that could become a new blog.
Some write a number of blogs - I do this myself, on a number of different topics. But, start with one or two blogs on topics or issues that are near and dear to your heart, and then monetize your blog in one or more of these ways:
How to Monetize Your Blog
"But, what should I write a blog about?" You might wonder. It's a good question, since blogs number in the millions, and if you want your blog to stand out you need it to be unique enough for people to want to come back over and over again to read its content.
Start by writing a list of all the things you love: hobbies, jobs (dream jobs you wish you had, or your current job - which is also your expertise), etc. Then, try to come up with unique ideas that could become a new blog.
Some write a number of blogs - I do this myself, on a number of different topics. But, start with one or two blogs on topics or issues that are near and dear to your heart, and then monetize your blog in one or more of these ways:
How to Monetize Your Blog
- Google Adsense is a quick and easy way to get started. The ads correspond with the content you write, so if for instance you write about tips on selling your home quickly, your Google Adsense ads might come up with ads pertaining to local real estate, home staging, books about selling real estate, etc. You earn a small amount for each click. You might want to research what types of content earn the most income, if the main goal of your blog is income generation.
- Advertising - Link ads or small cube or banner ads on your blog itself can be rented out to sponsors by the day, week, month or year. It will usually take a while for your blog to earn this kind of advertising, by being one that readers return to over and over again to read. In other words, a good, consistently written blog with regular readership are the ones that can charge for ad space successfully.
- Amazon has an affiliate program which allows you to place links or ads on certain products or even categories of products. Each time someone purchases something on Amazon after having been taking to the Amazon site through your original link, you earn a percentage on sales. It's very easy, and you can either take cash payments or else a gift card from Amazon.
- Sell your own ebooks - at www.happyslob.com I set up sales for my original ebook called The Happy Slob's Guide to Housecleaning. You can sell your own ebooks too, and contrary to popular belief it often pays more to sell your own electronic books instead of going the traditional publishing route. (I know this from firsthand experience - you make far more per book selling ebooks than regular bookstore books. But, I digress -- having a book on a bookstore shelf can sure make you excited!)
- Paypal donations - this is a tricky one. Some bloggers have great success with a Paypal donation button strategically placed on their blogs; others veer away from this option. It all depends on what type of blog you choose to write. You can always try popping up a Paypal button and see if your readership agrees that your content is worth an occasional donation of their hard earned money.
These are five ways to get you started with monetizing your blog, but there are dozens of other ideas too, which we'll discuss in an upcoming blog post.
And now...go get writing!
The Almost Wealthy Writer
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