Make Money Writing Before Your Blog Hits the Big Time

While you’re waiting for your blog to make it big and your monetization plan to really kick in, you might be looking for other ways to earn cash. One skill you’re developing by blogging is very marketable in the online world. Blogging exercises our writing skills.If you can write, you can earn money. Contrary to what you might have thought, you don’t have to be the next John Grisham or Nora Roberts.

Several freelancing websites will match writers with clients. You can also offer your writing services on Internet Marketing related websites like Digital Point Forums and The Warrior Forum, but be sure to check out the posting rules first.

Make Money Ghostwriting

Ghostwriting Articles

You don’t need a lot of writing talent to ghostwrite articles. You do need to be organized, able to research topics quickly, summarize the main points and write clearly with correct spelling and grammar. The article length can range from 200 words to 1000 words or more. Payment is usually based on length. For beginners, a 500 word article can be sold for about $8.00. An accomplished ghostwriter can charge up to $30 for a 500 word article.

If you have knowledge of a topic, such as dog care, or travel, you can approach membership sites that pertain to your topic to see if they are hiring ghostwriters. Some of these sites pay by the article and some pay for a certain amount of contracted articles per month.

Ghostwriting Ezine Articles

Many Internet Marketers depend on articles posted in article directory sites such as EzineArticles and GoArticles to drive traffic to their websites. You could be hired to ghostwrite the articles and post them to the various directory sites.

Ghostwriting Reports and Ebooks

A commercially published nonfiction book usually has a minimum of 50,000 words which is about 125 pages, but writing an ebook can be much quicker. Ebooks can range from 5000 to 50,000 words. Generally a short report is 1000 to 2000 words, and a long report from 2500 to 5000 words. It’s important to specify how many words will be on a page if you are dealing with someone who wants a 30 page ebook for example. The going rate ranges from $10 to $30 per page, with 300 words on each page.

Ghostwrite Blogs

There is a growing market for people to develop content for blogs on a regular consistent basis. Some knowledge of the topic of the blog is required. The blog posts can be from 50 to 500 words and the requirement may be that a new post must be completed daily, every other day or weekly. You might also be building a contact with another blogger which could open promotional doors later.

Make Money on Blogs and Forums

Post on Forums

People don’t want to post on forums unless there are already posts. New forum owners pay people to post comments, start threads, and respond to other threads in an effort to get some forum action going. As the forum grows, the level of posting increases until paid posts aren’t necessary.

There’s probably a forum for just about any subject. Usually a paid poster has to have at least some knowledge of the subject to post relevant comments. There can be a minimum word count for the posts. Posts of “I agree,” “Me too,” and “Thanks for the info,” are too short and don’t add anything to the discussion, so forum owners don’t want to pay for them. Posting on forums doesn’t pay a lot, perhaps as little as 5 posts for a dollar. Find the jobs on Internet Marketing related websites like Digital Point Forums.

Post on Blogs

You can be paid to post comments on blogs the same way you’re paid to post on forums. The posts can’t be too short and have to be relevant to the subject matter.

Using your Own Blog as a Billboard

There are several websites who will pay you to post product reviews on your website. They are paid by the company who owns the products. The products can range from consumer durable goods, consumable goods, or just about anything you can think of. The blog has to be approved by the company and has to remain up for a specified length of time. There usually has to be a qualifying statement that your post is a paid advertisement.

Using your Blog as a Review Site

Another way to use your writing skills is to post product reviews of affiliate products. When someone buys the product you’re paid a commission. You can post reviews of books you’ve read that are available on Amazon.com and link to the books as an affiliate. However, for this method to work you will need a steady flow of visitors at your website.

Make Money Writing Freelance

Once you start writing for others, you just may get the bug and want to expand this part of your life. This brings us to a few old-school methods, the traditional kind most people think of with freelancing. Here are just a few examples of how you can make money the old fashioned way, as a writer.

Magazine Freelancing

There is a lucrative market of freelance writing jobs for national publications but also a lot of competition. Pay ranges from $1.00 to $2.00 a word. The article can vary from 250 words to 1500 words. Smaller publications pay considerably less, sometimes $25 for a 500 word article. Look on the masthead of the magazine for the articles editor. Most publications prefer to receive a query letter that has a short description (pitch) of the article you intend to write. Send your query letter and pitch to a specific editor at the magazine. You can send the same pitch to several different competing magazines. However as soon as one says yes, you should notify the others the article is no longer available.

Ghostwrite a Book

Freelance writing jobs for hard copy books are hard to get because you have to have a portfolio of previously published material. There are literary agencies which deal exclusively with celebrities and sports figures and match them up with the writers. You can also team up with a well known figure yourself and present a book proposal to a literary agent or directly to a publisher. Make sure there is a contract between you and the person you’re ghost writing the book for. If there is a favorable response from a publisher you don’t want to get cut out of the deal.

One step above ghostwriting is the “As told to” category of authorship and the “with” category. You’ve probably seen the titles “How to Make a Bazillion Dollars in Twenty Minutes,” by Rich Guru as told to Lowly Writer. At least you get a byline and credit for the book, which can be important if you plan to write other books.

The payment for the ghostwritten book can come from the person you’re ghostwriting for or from the publisher. This is considered a work-for-hire and in most cases you won’t receive any additional royalties or payment, even if the book makes the New York Times bestseller list.

Traditional Publishers

This can be a challenge, but if you have writing skills and a well thought idea for a book, you can get it published with a commercial publisher. In most cases you will receive an advance which can range from a couple hundred dollars to four or five figures, without the decimal point. In nearly every case the advance does not have to be paid back if book sales don’t reach the projected amount.