Blogging for Bucks
Freelance writing is a great way to pursue your passions and make a few extra bucks on the side. Whether you’re looking to get into freelance writing for the first time or you want to expand your current freelance assignments with more work and greater exposure, there are several important things to remember when you’re trying to find work writing online.
First: Choose your subject, and I can tell you from experience that it’s best if you write about something you really care about. Yes, you’re writing to make some money, but you won’t be able to devote your full energy to the business side of things unless you’re committed to the creative side. It doesn’t matter what it is, so long as it’s a subject you enjoy. Knitting? Cooking? Movies? Finance? Technology? Think about what motivates you, what interests you, and what you find yourself reading about online, and then use that to narrow your search until you’ve come up with a topic.
Once you’ve decided which area you want to focus on, it’s a good idea to scour online job boards to see if any established outlets are looking for freelance writers in your field. For example, Examiner.com often hires freelancers in different cities to write about local trends in everything from entertainment and sports to dining and photography. Online job postings can be a great way to discover openings at outlets nationwide for freelance writers, and they also provide the comfort that comes with knowing you’re working with an established organization. Many freelancers who now work on their own projects started out doing smaller writing jobs for other outlets.
Of course, one of the best ways to get your feet wet as a freelancer and to start to build your bankroll is to just get out their on your own and write. Start your own blog — there are multiple free ones to choose from, including Blogger, WordPress, and more — and begin writing regular posts. It’s a good idea to update your blog frequently, so rather than publish bursts of information that are then followed by periods of inactivity, write several posts at a time and space out their dates of publication. That will let you post a new entry every day, maybe two a day, and build a momentum in your writing. More importantly, it will let readers know that your blog is a reliable one, and they’ll come back for regular updates.
Building your blog is just the first step, though. It’s important to establish yourself as a member of the online community, and you can do that by visiting other blogs and commenting there, adding interesting blogs to your blogroll, or just contacting other bloggers to ask about exchanging links. You’ll soon enough find that you’ve got a small but growing audience, and this is the point when you can start to monetize them. There are many ways to do this. For instance, QueryAds lets you set up pay-per-click advertising for your site. Or there’s Amazon Associates, the affiliate program that lets you earn a percentage of Amazon purchases readers make through your site. Or you can use the Romow Directory Affiliate Program, which pays you for referring readers to their site. And believe me, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. By using powerful but subtle ancillary monetization tools, you can start to earn money on your blog all by writing passionately about your interests.
By following and repeating these steps, you’ll be able to grow your site and also sharpen your skills as a freelance writer, both of which will lead to more work as readers and editors discover your talent and drive. There’s nothing better than making some extra cash doing what you love.
By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Jena Ellis, who writes on the topics of Online Certificate Courses. She welcomes your questions and comments at her email Id: jena.ellis20@gmail.com.
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BloggerNoob is all about
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:59 am
Check out this website with huge information on how one woman got started in the business. It’s rather very welcoming to all freelancers out there.
http://www.savingmoneysmarts.com/building_a_website.html
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:39 pm
So many people make lots of money from blogging.
With adsense and other CPC programs and all of the affiliate programs, if you get yourself indexed for a good niche theres tons of money to be made
Nice post.
July 3rd, 2010 at 5:20 am
Hey noob, still waiting 4 ur reply to my earlier query.. just wanted to ask u about the flipping page animation thing u added for displaying ad.. would u pls tell me how to get that? thnx
July 3rd, 2010 at 5:47 pm
vaibhav- you can learn how to do the page peel animation here http://www.bloggernoob.com/adding-a-peel-away-ad-spot/13/
July 3rd, 2010 at 10:19 pm
One way that I have made good money with my blog is by reselling blog and other sites. Check out http://www.freedom.ws/fieldsofgold and join for free to give it a try.
July 5th, 2010 at 7:51 am
This is a very nice way to make money online i find. Writing can be relaxing. There is a website i like to do this for called freelancer.com. This has loads of different writing job opportunities. Although they are one time jobs normally there is a wide range there so you can pick and choose (although there is quite a lot of competition)
July 8th, 2010 at 7:01 am
I think the easiest way to make money is uploading files to ShareCash.
July 9th, 2010 at 10:23 am
Yeah, writing is one way to make money, but that’s like a job. You have to constantly write to get paid. And if you stop writing, you’ll stop getting paid. It’s better to invest online and make your money work for you … even while you sleep.
July 9th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
I thought freelance writing didn’t pay enough. Especially with International competition driving the prices down. When someone in India will research and write 500-1000 words for $7, you wonder if working Taco Bell might pay better!
July 10th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
great article..
July 11th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Wow, I personally didnt know that there were this many ways to monetize a blog, thanks for sharing. I’ve been sticking with adsense for the most part, will check these solutions out
July 13th, 2010 at 5:24 am
Nice dude…..
http://affiliatemarketing.selfip.com/blog
July 13th, 2010 at 5:24 am
Continue with these ideas…..
need more…..
July 13th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
nice to read it..:)
thanks for share
July 13th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
I make fast money online. I don’t sell anything and I don’t charge people to find out what i do. dgreen.surfmoney.com
July 15th, 2010 at 1:36 am
nice to read
July 17th, 2010 at 2:01 am
nice to read it..:)
thanks for share
July 17th, 2010 at 7:09 am
Nice tips man… I used the page peel for awhile, conversion wasn’t great, but it did get clicked alot
July 17th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
i always want to try make money from blogging
July 19th, 2010 at 7:25 am
I agree that is why more and more are blogging to earn some extra bucks at the comfort of your own home.
July 20th, 2010 at 5:34 am
great article..
July 20th, 2010 at 11:50 am
i’m always looking for freelance
July 27th, 2010 at 10:40 am
Very nice blog and website you maintain
keep up the good work
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July 28th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Isn’t it weird how people can make money by blogging about money?
http://www.rycast.com/2010/07/make-money-online/
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:30 am
Very nice and helpful post. Thank you so much for sharing you knowledge. I am always looking forward for some more blog post from you.
August 8th, 2010 at 1:23 am
I agree with you Freelance writing is a great way to pursue your passions and make a few extra bucks on the side.In these days we have to do some extra to fulfill the expenditure.
August 17th, 2010 at 2:30 am
Nice post .It has all the information about the basics of freelance writing.once again well written
August 17th, 2010 at 4:39 am
In my experience I don’t pretend to be billionaire with my blog but having extra money is really good idea. Sometime I see blogging as a way thing to my life not a profession I still want to have a job as a programmer one day.
August 19th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Using Adsense or an affiliate program on your blog is a very good way to monetize it. I find that affiliate programs will make you more money though in the long run.
August 21st, 2010 at 12:25 pm
A very interesting read for someone like me, who is new to all of this, so thanks!
August 21st, 2010 at 9:33 pm
I like it! Its nice Article.. thanks for the info!
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Thanks. Informative. Thanks for info
September 1st, 2010 at 12:08 pm
I know how to make money online and its easier than you think.
September 17th, 2010 at 6:22 am
It is a lot of different opportunities for writing. Although they are usually once a job is a wide selection out there so you can choose
October 12th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Thanks for the information.
Blogging is really a good way to make money but there are tons of other great methods such as cpa marketing.
Thanks again.
November 8th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
This is an excellent article. This certainly provides helpful tips to make easy money online.
November 9th, 2010 at 2:51 am
Lots of Great info here provided. This is one good way to make money online, but there are still many other ways that people have been successful. But this is without a doubt one of the best.
February 9th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
This blog has some really great information, BUT it is still a whole lot harder than you think to blog for money and to get people reading your blogs regulary. You still have to find that one niche or thing, people want to be informed on, or learn something new, or just simple read something because it keeps them entertained. Give it a try, you might find success in the blogging world, it might not be easy, but you will never succeed if you give up easily. Work towards your goals in blogging and do not give up! Best of Luck!!
March 17th, 2011 at 5:37 am
This is a great article for beginners on making money! Who knew you could get paid to blog!
April 14th, 2011 at 8:38 pm
My brother suggested I might like this web site. He was totally right. This post truly made my day. You can not imagine simply how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
April 18th, 2011 at 4:31 am
A very interesting read for someone like me, who is new to all of this, so thanks!
May 8th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
I used to own a few blogs of my own, and actually had a decent amount of adsense revenue. Its not a bad idea if you know lots about a decent sized niche.
June 4th, 2011 at 10:58 pm
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June 14th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
never got into freelance writing