Four Easy Ways to Make Money Online Writing

The internet is much more than a place for you to go for news and gossip with the occasional laugh thrown in. Today more than ever, increasing amounts of people are using the internet to start businesses, using this tool of ours to help them achieve their goals. Considering the sheer number of websites, blogs, online magazines and other written content and the fact that all these places require constant, fresh content to keep them relevant, it stands to reason that writing must be a highly sought after skill, right? That is correct. But where to start?

This article will explore four easy and simple ideas that will help you kickstart your writing career, whether you are looking to write full-time or if you just want to earn a little bit extra each month.

What? Blogging is still relevant in 2019? Yes, very much so. I would highly recommend anyone aspiring to make money online through writing to start a blog. You can blog about literally any topic under the sun, but if you are looking to monetize your blog then it is advisable to choose niche topics that will enable you to rank high in Google's listings. Monetizing a blog, once you have steady traffic, is a lot easier than it sounds and can be done using Google Adsense, affiliate marketing, generating and selling content such as ebooks, manuals, seminars. The possibilities are endless with a blog.

A great man once said that inside every person is a story waiting to get out. I don't know if he was correct or not but the ebook business is booming and it is now easier than ever for a new writer to publish. Remember Fifty Shades of Grey? That was originally published on the Kindle store, before being rapidly picked up by a real publisher, allowing the author to make millions is sales and movie rights.

Publishing is a relatively straightforward affair; there are a multitude of guides that will show you exactly how to format and publish an ebook, the only real question is whether you wish to sell on your own or through Amazon. The benefits of Amazon are clear; you get instant access to the millions of people who access the site every day, but they do take excessive cuts of profits and have a tendency to ban accounts with no prior warning. However, if you have followed the step above and have a blog of your own, you can promote your written content there for your loyal followers.

If you are new to the online writing scene, freelancing will be your bread and butter for the first few months or years, depending entirely on the individual. What is freelancing? Freelancing is simply marketing and selling whatever skills you feel you have in return for financial compensation, and there are many different people and companies willing to reward diligent writers, editors and copy-writers for their time.

Finding freelancing gigs can be tough though as there is stiff competition. I would advise steering clear of content mills, as they are notorious for their low rates of pay. Instead, think of the type of client you would want to work for - picture what they are doing, where they are. Then find companies that fit the description you have, and offer your services to them. Of course many will say no, but it is the few that say yes that could lead you to the holy grail of writing work; steady income.

I briefly mentioned affiliate marketing earlier on in this article but it is so important that it deserves its own section. Affiliate marketing is simply when you advertise a product on behalf of someone else. When a person buys that product after clicking a link embedded within your blog post or article or whatever, then you will receive a set cut of the profits, as high as 50% with some schemes. It is these attractive rates that make affiliate marketing so lucrative.

Amazon runs a very well-regarded affiliate program which is great because it gives you an almost unlimited arsenal of products to use. For this reason, writing product descriptions can be extremely rewarding when coupled with a good affiliate program. People search for reviews for whatever it is they are wanting to buy, read your glowing review and click the handy link on your page that takes them directly to Amazon, a well-trusted site, where they can quickly complete the purchase. Amazon gets free advertising, you get 50% of the proceeds, the customer leaves happy. Everybody wins

These are but four of the plethora of ways that exist to make money from writing using the internet, but these are good starting points for anyone first starting out on the writer's path. There are no quick ways to success however, and no one is going to be getting mega rich any time soon, but if you stick with it you will find that its more than possible to generate a decent income from your written work.