It sounds simple and it seems that everyone is getting rich online; but if you've tried your luck, then you know that it can be freaking tough and that there is very deceptive info out there.
I've been writing online for about 7 years now. It's been one of my main sources of income and it has become a career of its own despite me being a Computer Engineer. If I decided to, I could cover my living expenses from writing, but simply that's not what I want. If you want to know more, feel free to ask in the comments.
I have written a lot. If you fret at the idea of writing, say 3,000 words, you're better off doing something else. If you want to earn at least $10 as a writer, you're gonna have to sweat; but not in the way you are probably thinking. It's not just writing an X number of words for Y amount of money. Like playing soccer and playing an instrument, writing is a skill; and to get paid for doing it, you have to get good. How do you get good? Practice.
Your first 100,000 words will probably be garbage, and you won't get paid enough for a long time. But if you keep at it, eventually you'll see that writing 1,000 words is not that hard because the same patterns start to emerge. You'll develop your method and you'll learn from your mistakes. Now, let me tell you about my experience.
I started at a job I saw in a newspaper ad. It read:
"Looking for people with good grammar! 18 to 30 years of age."
I went ahead and contacted the person. It was my first serious job. It was an e-mail address where they would assign 2,500-word tasks about many topics, mostly finance and business while inserting SEO keywords at a certain rate. I was paid little, but I did not care so much because I was just amazed that people would pay for writing articles.
The first assignments were ungodly hard. I had to work all day to meet the deadlines. Try writing 2,500 words about a subject you know very little about. The assignments forced me to do research and not only that but to get good at it. Someone said that being smart is not necessarily knowing the solution, but rather knowing where to find it.
1- When starting, you should be willing to take on any writing project that appears before you. Don't decline for any reason, because finding paid opportunities is the most difficult thing about this job. There is a lot of fierce competition, but there is also a lot of opportunities. Do not underestimate any of them.
2- It is easier to work with a company that finds customers for you rather than by yourself. It ensures some sort of payment and you can start streamlining your work. Sadly, these companies always take most of the client's pay; but think of it as a temporary "alliance" while you build your experience and manage to become independent, which is the golden dream for any entrepreneur.
I was browsing Facebook and I saw an ad shared by a friend. It read:
"Looking for daily news writers on diverse topics!"
I wrote to the e-mail address. It was an ad for Pulse Headlines, a daily news site that aimed to rank articles on Google News, that way it would get more viewers. I met one of the editors and she tested me; she saw that I had already amassed serious of experience writing a ton of words following deadlines. The daily task was to write three 500-word news articles, using high-quality sources and being extra careful with wording and the copyright of images. These articles required a bit more time per word compared to the previous job as I had to be more careful with the research.
3- Web traffic is king. People pay for links on high-traffic websites. That's why SEO is so important and why guest posting is a thing.
4- You will start to become a serious writer once you can accurately measure yourself. How much do you write per hour, what topics are you good at, and after meeting other people who work as writers, how much can you get paid per piece?
5- You can find opportunities in Facebook groups, LinkedIn and websites of companies such as WriterBay and Livingston Research. Set up your profile and SEARCH AGGRESSIVELY. I cannot stress this enough. You must be aggressive and look for "writers wanted, translation jobs, freelance writing, academic writing job". That's part of the job. Currently, I earn some money on the side with Livingston Research, and although I do have my set of complaints about their methods, they have improved their fees and their support team allows inconveniences to be solved.
Writing content is tough. You are expected to write about topics that you may not have an idea about. If you had a hard time writing essays in school, then it is time to be strategic about your writing.
5- English, motherf#cker, do you speak it? English is the dominant language on the Internet. You must be a native-level speaker. Watch movies, read, write, study. This is not negotiable.
6- Read "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White. It is a classic book for writers. But mind that while some of its rules are outdated, it will give you an idea of how to write better. Also, mind formatting. Headings, bold and italic lettering. All of that is important.
7- Make outlines. When writing an article on things that you don't care about, inspiration is the last thing that should matter. While writing is a creative endeavor, many times you just want to plow through the workday. How do you achieve this while also maintaining a high sense of quality? Plan out your article. The three main components are Introduction, Body, and Conclusion. If the article is 1,000 words long, then you can divide accordingly: 200 words for the Introduction, 600 for the Body and 200 for the Conclusion. You can then plan out the Body once again, splitting it into 200-word paragraphs, covering different topics. This makes writing on demand SO MUCH EASIER.
8- Use Grammarly. I'm using it right now. Install it. Do it. Don't ask any questions. It's invaluable.
9- Nurture skills besides writing. In the end, you have to write about something. More often than not, you'll have to use your own experience and knowledge to write content. It's what I'm doing right now: I'm writing on Steemit about getting paid for writing. But there must be something that gives you a competitive edge and some personality as a writer. Remember that writing in itself is also an art. Besides, you'll note that writing about the things you love is so much easier and fun. That brings me to the most important lesson of all:
10- Write from the heart. I learned that from Adam F. Goldberg, with some background from Ray Bradbury's book "Zen in the Art of Writing." In the end, you are a human; your work will be read by other humans. Try to reach out, try to understand what's worth writing about and then do it. It's an eternal but rewarding and beautiful struggle. Don't forget to write just out of passion and love of writing, as I'm doing it right now. You'll see that it will result in your best work; and it will show, trust me.
Apparently, lesson 5 didn't strike home with you, so let me give you some quick but valuable tips:
Good luck.
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