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Writing for money online: maximizing your content revenue

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By sunforged


Writing for money online is not a scam

Many people group online writing opportunities into one big scam pot. Its frequently seen as fruitless, not respectable, a gamble or underpaid.

Certainly all of these concepts are true is many cases. Im not going to debate the merits of web vs print. Im not going to explain the importance of keywords, seo optimization or proper subject choice.

I am going to show you my method for making money writing online, both upfront and recurring using basically the same content.

No, Im not selling anything!

My individual articles usually net me approximately $50 per article upfront and at least $5 per month recurring. I do this by using multiple publication sources and selecting evergreen topics that are guaranteed to continue generating revenue for years to come. I do the research once and then write multiple versions of unique content for each publication source.

So for those who claim that writing online is underpaid, hows $110.00/hr sound? Of course, this is paid over time, but my system is specifically made to ensure that income is derived from upfront purchases (immediate payment) AND revenue sharing (payment based on traffic and/or clicks generated by page)

What you will need to begin maximizing your content revenue: writing for money online

Good money on the web is made by writers who understand that traffic generation is your purchasers and partners main goal. Traffic is generated by search engines responding to keywords in your content.

Keyword research is an art in its own, but we are writers! What if you someone else will do the research for you? They will!

You will need accounts with these resources:

Constant Content

Associated Content

Hubpages

Demand Studios

eHow

These sites will not only pay you or share revenue with you, they will also do your keyword research for you, if you know how to look!

Step 1: Constant Content - Big money, strict guidelines

Constant Content offers the largest upfront payment from any writers clearinghouse I have discovered. The trade-off is that they also have the strictest editorial guidelines. This is to be expected as they are able to offer great prices usually 30-50 dollars per 600-110 word articles by ensuring quality content.

Once you are a Constant Content writer you will have access to their requested content feature.


Above is an example of the requested content page, it is updated daily. The article requests are made by webmasters who are looking for content for their pages. You can be sure that they did there research before offering 50/ per article! These are good topics to write about. Their are more detailed explanations including sometimes suggested formats or keywords included in the detailed explanations.

Even if an article is not accepted by the original poster you can offer your content for sale via constant content with a varied amount of usage rights, you set your own prices.

Go ahead and sign up for constant content now

Navigate through the requested content and see if their is a project you would like to pursue, if their isnt one today..there will be other days. The trick is to look through the varied sites and find a common theme that they are all looking to pay for. Then when you research and write you can market unique content to each with minimal extended effort.

Step 2: Find Similar themes at eHow and Demand Studios

Use keyword search to find articles quickly

Both eHow and Demand Studios offer upfront payment and revenue sharing for articles. Although, there are required formats for each site, it is not difficult to adhere to them.

After signing up for accounts via each service, you can go to your writers dashboard and claim content you wish to write. Many times you can find very similar articles to constant content needs and ones that overlap within the publisher network. Both services offer a search engine to quickly find content requests in your areas of expertise or interest or even just those that much up with constant contents demands.

Claim your topics, than read over formatting requirements.Research your topics, take great notes and save your sources. I find Google notebook to be very helpful for this process. Especially if you use the related firefox plug-in.

Start writing! into text files, (not directly into publisher windows). An added bonus to this method is that you will be able to create backlinks for your own articles within your new content!

Write your eHow or Demand Studios articles and put them aside for a moment.

Write for Hubpages: Earn based on traffic and clicks

Step 3; Be your own resource, generate revenue and create backlinks

Unlike most revenue sharing programs, HubPages places the revenue creation directly into your own hands. By easily signing up for the included affiliate partners one can earn income directly via clicks in the adsense program or sales in amazon or ebay.

As an added benefit, HubPages is a respected resource and links from it can quickly help your other revenue sharing articles.

Get a HubPages Account

Using HubPages for Keyword research

  1. Use the Ideabank : Read through the selected content requests in the IdeaBank that has been selected by staff members, they have done their research looking for subniches and themes that are underdeveloped on the web, it wouldnt be there if they didnt imagine it could be profitable.
  2. Use the "Hot" and "Best' tabs to see topics that are generating great traffic now and have been generating traffic for a while. By appearing in these sections you know these topics are strong and in many times they have very undeveloped competition

Getting back to the process:

Since you just wrote and researched your articles for Demand Studios or eHow, you should have the concepts fresh in your head. Write a HubPage article on this topic, a unique one, that incorporates the title and keywords found in your other articles, you should be able to do this in a very short amount of time, under 15-20 minutes.

Publish it!

Copy the URL to your notebook , open your Demand Studios or eHow page, insert your properly formatted article, within the resource box, add your new Hubpages URL, voila, instant backlink.


Associated Content: Dont overdo it!

Step 4: Get a couple of bucks and a backlink by submitting a quick rewrite

AC pays in general around 2.50-5.00 per article, directly to your PayPal within a week and offers 1.50 per 1000 page views generated by your article for the lifetime of the content (or as long as they exist!)

This is not good pay, so dont give them good work! Sneeze out a quick article, maintain proper grammar and spelling, stuff with high paying keywords (this will cause them to offer more upfront), once again between your notes and your mind this should be very easy if you just researched the themes!

Insert your HubPages URL as a resource. Submit.

Associated Content is also great for finding trends and topics via their requested content console.




Get an Associated Content writers account:

Above is an example of a detailed request for content, use their topics to write your own articles on HubPages or your own sites, note that they even included keywords that you can use to optimize your content for adwords

Overview of writing for money online method

  1. Use Writers networks to find topics and keywords
  2. Find overlapping topics in order to get paid multiple times for the same research
  3. Use various networks to create backlinks for your other articles, Be your own authority!
  4. Count your money, try to avoid checking stats every 5 minutes on revenue share!

Other monetization methods for writers

Examiner.com is rapidly growing and is a very special kind of opportunity. Early reports show that pay is better than most traffic based sites. But a real bonus, is the reputation and exposure you can gain as a regular contributor. Stories abound of good writers on examiner, being approached for high paying opportunities

Earn money generated by your articles. Write for Examiner.com.

My experience: Hubpages vs. The Examiner

More writing opportunities with freelance updates

6 Figure Freelance eBook, 100% Money Back Guarantee - includes my favorite book "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill

Writing product reviews and summaries of new services that you have affiliation agreements with via Publisher networks can be the most profitable of all methods.

Find out about Affiliate marketing and a guaranteed $10.00 per Blog post

Learn the language of online writing, promotion and marketing


An example of the writing for money method at work

Using the Constant Content module, I receive updates when new requests are made. A request was published seeking "How to find the Top Selling items on eBay" 20-30 per article.

Demand Studios was also seeking an article "What are the top selling items on eBay" - they were offering 15.00, and required it be written in the "How to" format as it was for publication on eHow.

I wrote the article following strict guidelines for Constant Content. Submitted it for review.

I then wrote the article for Demand Studios, wrote an associated content spin off and a hubpages article.

Demand Studios accepted and paid me 15.00, Associated Content accepted and paid me 3.30 plus revenue share. I included a link in both to one of my related HubPages, within a week i saw substantial increases in traffic to the HubPages article - resulting in 3.00 in adsense revenue and 2.60 from an Amazon sale.

Consant Content has yet to confirm purchase, but research that cost me less than one hours time has already paid me over 18.00 upfront and generated 5.60 in revenue in less than a week.

This wasnt even a high paying keyword!

Read some other articles by the Author


The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition
Price: $5.00
List Price: $9.95

The two books every writer should own

On Writing On Writing
Price: $3.85
List Price: $7.99

Join an affiliate network to open up your earning possibilities and make $10 per blog post about your experience with the network!

Join Pepperjam network, $10.00 per blog posting!

 Write a review of the entire Network or simply talk about pepperjamADS, Pepperjam Chat, or one of the other cool features of Pepperjam. Our top affiliates are blogging about Pepperjam Network and making extra money on every referral they send!

RSS for comments on this Hub

pgrundy profile image

pgrundy  says:
3 months ago

Wow, thanks. I'm going to try it your way. For the past two years I've been picking up Elance work and writing at Hub Pages, but it's getting harder and harder to get good freelance projects--so many people are out of work and trying to do the same thing. To tell you the truth, sometimes it's really annoying.

I've been seeing a steady increase in my income, but I don't make anything like $110 an hour. If I'm working steady, it's closer to $25 an hour, but I don't work steady. These are great ideas for those times when nothing is on the horizon, which the past month or so has been more the rule than the exception. Great hub, thanks again.

marcofratelli profile image

marcofratelli  says:
3 months ago

I'm not a freelance writer (and nowhere near as good as pgrundy) but I'm certainly interested in writing for money online! I'll have to check out those sites soon. Great hub, thanks!

awsydney profile image

awsydney  says:
3 months ago

Great info and too much to digest at 4am. Will definitely return. Thanks for sharing!

sunforged profile image

sunforged  says:
3 months ago

Pam,

Im sure your current process will work to, Im really just explaining my strategy of finding related themes, so that what I find to be the difficult part (research) is used to the utmost. Also pointing out that keyword research which can be a gamble and is time consuming can be limited by using suggested topics and also taking advantage of teh low payers for a backlink to my own rev share here at hubpages.

Im sure your method can be adapted, Work smarter, not harder!

jady06 profile image

jady06  says:
3 months ago

Great hub! Definitely one of the best guide I have come across recently and it is very refreshing to read about your innovative idea. Though I am not that active in hubpages, I have been doing my share of freelance writing work and I am looking forward to try out your method ...

Jo Woodward profile image

Jo Woodward  says:
3 months ago

I have just joined hubpages after following a link on another freelance website I've just joined www.peopleperhour.com

Al I want to do is earn money doing what I love and this hub has shown me more ways to do it.

Thank You

Carrie Bailey  says:
3 months ago

You've provided so much information here I'm just beginning to digest it all. Personally, I'm not experienced enough to make use of it, but I'm going to refer back soon.

Anyone else feel the same, they can come post an practice article at www.peevishpenman.com. Gain some confidence then come back and launch their careers.

kartika damon profile image

kartika damon  says:
3 months ago

Excellent hub - I just signed up for Constant Content!

sunforged profile image

sunforged  says:
2 months ago

Im glad you all signed up! You can use them just for ideas or bid on existing projects or put up unique content for sale. Good luck

dave272727 profile image

dave272727  says:
2 months ago

This is a great source of information. Thank you for the research and the links. I am going to give your ideas a try and put elance on the back burner. Thanks again!!

prasetio30 profile image

prasetio30  says:
2 months ago

wow...this is amazing information. I useful for us who want get a online job as a writer. thanks for share.

Appletreedeals profile image

Appletreedeals  says:
2 months ago

like the others, great info I will use your links to establish my accounts

Lynn Star profile image

Lynn Star  says:
2 months ago

Great plan! Lots of things I can begin to work on. Thanks for the info.

sunforged profile image

sunforged  says:
2 months ago

Thanks for the great feedback guys, it seems as if a bunch of you have signed up for constant content, if you need any help getting established your welcome to contact me through my hubprofile. It feels real good to get 50 bucks for an article!

Pr0metheus profile image

Pr0metheus  says:
2 months ago

Wow, great hub! Thank you so much for the information (and for the response to my post). :-D

Cranoo profile image

Cranoo  says:
2 months ago

Nice hub very interesting!

Anne Potter profile image

Anne Potter  says:
2 months ago

Excellent, thanks for sharing that, it's just what I have been searching for.

(Excellent writing too!)

Eaglekiwi profile image

Eaglekiwi  says:
2 months ago

Wow! thankyou for sharing this info,its loaded and exciting!

I have so much to learn indeed. Bookmarked for homework.

Be-Moved  says:
2 months ago

Ni-ya-ya-ya-ice work baby... I'm all over this one. Nice work Sunforged.

livingsta profile image

livingsta  says:
6 weeks ago

thanks a lot for this information sunforged

Larry Ivey profile image

Larry Ivey  says:
6 weeks ago

A vast amount of quality information. It's appreciated.

John Z profile image

John Z  says:
5 weeks ago

OMG I gotta get busy!

sukhera143 profile image

sukhera143  says:
5 weeks ago

Informative.

Maggyann  says:
5 weeks ago

Thank you for all that information. Useful to have and easily understood. Brilliant!

GRivers profile image

GRivers  says:
5 weeks ago

This is a great Hub. I found it to be very informative and intend to apply what I read to my online writing efforts. Thanks much!

AnnieThompson profile image

AnnieThompson  says:
5 weeks ago

Great hub. Thanks for sharing.

rebekahELLE profile image

rebekahELLE  says:
5 weeks ago

very useful info, sunforged. will check out these sites. may be back asking questions! thanks for posting a helpful hub.

rebekahELLE profile image

rebekahELLE  says:
5 weeks ago

are you saying that we can use our hub articles on constant content because they (CC) do not index on search engines?

please clarify, thanks.

xunlei profile image

xunlei  says:
5 weeks ago

Excellent hub - I just signed up for Constant Content!

sunforged profile image

sunforged  says:
5 weeks ago

@rebekahELLE - No, Im suggesting the exact opposite. When you sell an article on CC with usage rights than its ok if its not unique, but otherwise CC is the biggest payer and therefore should get the most original work - After you complete an article for upfront payment for any of those sites, I expect that your brain is still filled with information and you can easily spill out a unique article for Hubs or Associated Content.

Use the sources above to find a related theme, do whatever research is necessary and than write out unique yet similar articles interlinking whenever possible, if you do this right you will be getting affiliate income from Hubpages, page view income from associated content, pageview income from examiner and upfront payments from AC and CC

http://magicianofinformation.com/examiner

rebekahELLE profile image

rebekahELLE  says:
5 weeks ago

thanks for the clarification. I have heard that articles published here can go to other sites as long as it was published here first and there's at least a week time period before posting on another site (concerning duplication).

your brain moves quickly, mine has to catch up, thanks!

sunforged profile image

sunforged  says:
5 weeks ago

@rebekahELLE - well you heard right, since indexing isnt immediate you can get away with publishing the same content and not getting it caught as duplicate, but that will limit your longevity and reputation at sites like CC.

I cant really recommend using duplicate content anywhere, I think most writers can quickly create various drafts of the same content when the ideas are still streaming through our minds, when you know where the content is heading for sale, you can slant it for the different buyers and readers.

For example, I dont suggest giving your best writing to AC ever! but you can get by their content editors and get a decent upfront payment with 15 minutes of work and a run through the spellchecker

Thanks for the questions so I had an opportunity to flesh out some of these concepts that may have been to vague ;)

rebekahELLE profile image

rebekahELLE  says:
5 weeks ago

excellent, thank you for your advice. :)

emievil profile image

emievil  says:
5 weeks ago

My fingers are itching to click on those links. Unfortunately some of them do not accept non-US writers :(. Maybe I'll try Associated Content. Bookmarked this hub for future reference. And you got a new fan, too. thanks for the tips.

Timely profile image

Timely  says:
5 weeks ago

Great information! Would love to write for a living. Your hub gives me more direction and hope:) You have a new fan

sandwichmom profile image

sandwichmom  says:
5 weeks ago

I am already using one of those- but will definitely be looking into some of these other options- thank you

bkuzemka profile image

bkuzemka  says:
5 weeks ago

really awesome hub. a few extra bucks never hurt anyone. peace.

Juana Ortiz profile image

Juana Ortiz  says:
5 weeks ago

Very interesting!

Thank you

Jesaira profile image

Jesaira  says:
5 weeks ago

bigtime! Thank you for this awesome article. I don't need to attend such ecommerce seminar on how to earn money online because with this it's there already. More money for you!

JHOLLO74 profile image

JHOLLO74  says:
5 weeks ago

Man, I guess you really know your craft. Thanks for all the informative information. I guess, I got to get started with those sites and links you suggested. Hey I'm a Fan

Rose Kolowinski profile image

Rose Kolowinski  says:
5 weeks ago

Very interesting approach and very easy to follow and understand. Currently, I only write for HubPages but I have been investigating and debating some of the sites you have talked about in this article for a few months now. Because of this hub I am now going to sign up for a few of them and test out your method. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Paulipopo profile image

Paulipopo  says:
5 weeks ago

I must say kudos for taking time to deliver a quality hub. Well expressed and very useful indeed.

nwbe  says:
5 weeks ago

Great hub and lots of info! Thank you for sharing.

I found out your hubs after one my favorite hubbers becomes your fan. Happy that I check out your hubpages.

Csjun89  says:
5 weeks ago

Pretty good tips there, lots of great info

aquaseaCreative profile image

aquaseaCreative  says:
5 weeks ago

Thank you - all great stuff.

lois  says:
5 weeks ago

hey can you post your content with constant content for example and post that content with associate content?

upal19 profile image

upal19  says:
5 weeks ago

Thanks for all the information.

lindagoffigan profile image

lindagoffigan  says:
5 weeks ago

Great information especially about using like topics and distributing to the different writing sites. Those like topics can also be considered your niche. I have joined constant content as a result of your article and you may get credit for the membership. I agree with you about Associated Content. Your advice is well received and was very educational.

MikeNV profile image

MikeNV  says:
4 weeks ago

One of the best hubs I've read recently. Voting up. One tip for hubbers that can really help is to come back to your articles later and read your comments. And then REWRITE your existing hubs to make them better. Change titles if necessary and don't over do it on the ads.

Wife Who Saves profile image

Wife Who Saves  says:
4 weeks ago

This is a great hub about reaching out beyond Hub Pages. Thanks.

FastGoogMoney profile image

FastGoogMoney  says:
3 weeks ago

I thought I knew a lot about this subject already. Well, I found out there are always people out there that know more. Time to learn more for me. Thanks for the motivation.

rmcrayne profile image

rmcrayne  says:
3 weeks ago

Thanks sunforged for the info. This was "assigned reading" from my mentor. I'll have to read a time or 2 more before "reporting in".

Ollie Hicks  says:
2 weeks ago

You're so smart. Why haven't I been doing this already?

babybrownfox profile image

babybrownfox  says:
2 weeks ago

constant-content sounds interesting. I might have to check it out some time. Thanks for this info..

kirstenblog profile image

kirstenblog  says:
9 days ago

Awesome Hub! The info here is brilliant and I have bookmarked it so I can re-read it. The first lead I am planning on trying out is the constant content site, I can see it helping to get a bit of money straight away as well as bringing more traffic to my hub pages (currently, as I start to earn enough to give up the day job I plan to expand my horizons writing online). Using constant content to get ideas where the homework has already been done (meaning the keywords) is invaluable for a newbie to the world of online writing like myself!

hannzach profile image

hannzach  says:
6 days ago

Hi,What a brilliant hub, some really great info. I've written some articles on AC, but have only just learn't about using backlinks, so I'll definately try this!

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