Being almost eighteen, and being a broke college freshman, money and jobs have been on my mind lately. A lot. I need to start saving to move out, to buy my own food, to pay for my car insurance and gas money, to pay off my library fees, to etc. etc. etc. The problem is, as we all know, that the economy...well, it's kind of crappy right now. And that's probably an understatement.
I live in an area where, at the moment, most jobs hiring are either looking for people over eighteen or looking for people with more experience than I have, so my options are a bit limited at the moment. Once my birthday hits, I'll be applying for more jobs, but until then, I've been trying to do some more writing for Associated Content. For those of you who are my friends on Facebook, you may have seen my status about getting my first payment.
It was awesome.
That brings me to my topic today: freelancing and making money from writing online. Once I'm 18, I can get paid per article on AC in addition to page views, and once I'm 18 I can also monetize this blog and make some money from ads. I hate ads as much as the next person, but I'm going to need every bit of money I can get, so it's an option I really want to consider. Also, once I'm 18, I can hopefully expand and write for more online markets. I'm also debating trying to write for magazines, but, honestly, I'm not quite sure where to start.
So I turn to you, my readers: do you have any advice, tips, tricks, or general knowledge about freelance writing, for magazines or the Internet? And would you consider unfollowing this blog should I turn on ads?
Thanks in advance to everyone who comments. I hope you're all having a good day. :)
--J.
1 Writer(s) Joined the Discussion:
I wouldn't unfollow for ads!
I have been writing my whole life, but didn't start getting paid for it until about 5 years ago. The following may sound a little braggy - it's not intended that way, but as an example of what one can do when properly motivated and sufficiently skilled.
I started at Helium, which paid out close to what AC does for revshare, and also paid out a few bucks per article for a while. I still do some writing there, but it's on their custom content platform which is behind the scenes and all writers are handpicked.
I signed up at Elance, and wrote basic articles for a penny or two a word, built a reputation and raised my rates every few months (I now settle for ten cents per word minimum, and just landed a job for 20 cents per word.)
Last year I got headhunted to work on the SBA.gov relaunch, copyediting for $65 an hour. That was AWESOME. It all comes down to believing in yourself.
My best advice? Pick 2-3 niches and build up a portfolio. I do an unbelievable amount of work in the dentistry vertical - started out with a couple of clients who happened to be orthodontists, then a graphic designer I know tipped a client of hers about me because the client's copywriter had died suddenly.
Kristie liked my work and started using me exclusively - and she is an SEO who does only webwork for dentists. I have rewritten probably four websites this year and created press releases, brochures, letters and sales copy for periodontists, cosmetic dentists, and pediatric dentists through Kristie.
I do a lot of self help work. I do a lot in the internet marketing niche. I am currently shifting from just copywriting t a blend of social media and writing, managing large scale campaigns for clients who need better search rankings, traffic, or even reputation management.
I rarely do Elance work any more, unless someone headhunts me from there. I'll probably make $60K next year - and remember, I never attended a day of school in my life, I was raised by wolves in a cave!
If I can do it, you can too. In fact, I might have some work for you if you're interested next year.
Chin up and good luck
Grace
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