You have been writing for your entertainment for years. Now you suddenly start seeing all kinds of ads on the Internet telling you can make money writing on line. You tell yourself that this is the perfect job for you. No more driving too and from work, no more unreasonable demands by your boss, no more canceled vacations, or going to work sick because you have used up all your sick days.
Your mind is made up and you begin your lucrative writing career only to discover that the money you expected to be rolling in is barely a trickle. Now you find yourself wondering if you can really make a living writing on line.
Truthfully the answer to that question lies entirely within you. It depends on a number of things, your talent, your drive, your witlessness to improve at your craft and take criticism well. It also depends on the amount of time you want to spend working hard in order to build yourself a writing career.
It isn’t going to happen overnight, or even in a few months. There is a rule of thumb in the business world that says it takes at least five years for any new business to really start seeing a profit. Most businessmen understand that during this five year period they are going to eat, sleep, and live the building of that business. We are not talking eight hour days here but often twelve and fourteen hour days of hard work.
Becoming an earning writer is a lot like starting a new business. If you want to make the money you are going to have to work some long hard hours to achieve your goal. This means you aren’t going to be able to just whip out an article or two every few days and sit back and watch the money roll in. It means you are going to have to spend hour upon hour at the keyboard, writing.
The first, and most important step in becoming an earning writer is choosing where to start writing. If you have never been published before, your smartest move is to find a site where there is a community of writers who are willing to read your work and offer comments that will help you improve your writing skills.
These types of sites are usually low paying and your income is based on the number of views you receive. They are however, an invaluable resource for the beginning writer. Think of one of these sites as a free writing course. In many ways that is exactly what they are. They allow you to get your work published and viewed by other writers. Many of the writers viewing your work have been writing professionally for years and can give you pointers that will help you learn to write more professionally.
These beginning sites, also teach you through trial and error how to market your work which is a must for every writer.
They also give you a chance to read the work of many other on line writers, and learn from their example.
Once you are comfortable with a single site, the next step is to branch out to as many sites as you can find where you can showcase your work. This will give you a further opportunity to learn and grow as a writer and help you begin to build a writing portfolio which is a must to get the higher paying writing jobs that are available.
Once you have a decent portfolio and have decided exactly what kind of writing you want to do you can begin searching for good paying writing jobs. If you want to a steady job, then magazines either printed or on line might be your best choice. If you prefer freelancing then you must be prepared to spend time each day job searching.
A word to the wise though. When searching for good paying on line jobs it is best to avoid those who promise you big earnings in exchange for a signing up fee. More often than not these claims if not a complete scam rarely live up to their promises and you may find yourself paying out more than you actually make.
Many places post advertisements for single or even series of articles they want published and will even tell you upfront how much you will make on completion of the assignment.
These are the places to try and write for at least in the beginning. Just be prepared to submit a resume and examples of previously published work in the category for which they are seeking writers.
If writing on line is a career you honestly want to pursue then do so with the full knowledge that it takes work and dedication to achieve your goal and be willing to give it the same amount of time you would to start a business and see it start to suceed.
