There was a time when most writers could only aspire to land a job in the few prestigious magazines and publishing firms. However, information digitization and internet connectivity unveiled a new era where enterprising writers utilize low-cost opportunities to monetize their skillset.
The sheer number of online businesses presents numerous opportunities to do what you love outside formal employment.
Here are five ways you can make a kill from writing.
Niche blogging is a creative channel that enterprising writers can harness into a long-term profitable venture. It entails creating target-specific written content for a small and highly specialized demographic within an industry or demographics like age groups and geographical locations. The primary advantage of this creative writing venture is the low initial cost involved; you only need to budget for web hosting and marketing.
Blogging statistics from 2020 show that niche bloggers made a mean of $54,108 in net annual income. Pro niche bloggers made an average of $138,046 in profits within the year. While those figures seem tantalizing, realistically speaking, it will take you a minute to start earning such income.
However, nothing worthwhile comes easy, so you can monetize your niche blog and generate more opportunities for yourself if you follow the simple steps below. Begin by selecting a laser-focused niche with low competition and long-term cultural relevance. For instance, if food is your passion, you can focus on toddlers’ fun and healthy meal plans.
Advantages of writing for such a targeted niche include high-quality traffic, which translates to better search engine rankings and less marketing. Moreover, a responsive, reliable audience is the key to monetizing your blog.
Constantly researching niche topics makes you an expert, creating potential secondary opportunities like consultancy services. You can also monetize your blog by writing and selling e-books, allowing display ads, utilizing affiliate marketing channels, posting sponsored posts and starting a podcast.
The phrase "content is king" may be the oldest cliché in the digital sphere, but it is constantly proven accurate. According to a 2021 marketing statistics report, 70% of businesses actively invest in content marketing, while 78% recruit and consult content marketing talents. Therefore, the content marketing arena presents an opportunity for budding creatives, including writers like you, to generate income while doing what you love.
Besides, content marketing is one of the few enterprising writing ideas with a career trajectory. You can venture into content marketing as a content specialist writing different types of content and advance into specialized roles like content strategist or director on a consultancy basis.
However, you need to understand the success metrics for content marketing before venturing into the field. Content marketing is about consumer education, building trust, and presenting consumers with solutions during the consideration and evaluation stages of the purchasing lifecycle.
Content marketing is for you if you can adopt an objective yet engaging tone, utilize empathy, and make seemingly boring complex concepts palatable. You will also need research skills, SEO skills, and strategy creation and implementation skills. The easiest way to kickstart your content marketing venture is to start a content marketing blog to link you to potential clients and like-minded individuals.
Industry statistics show that e-books grossed $18.13 billion in 2020, with the industry expected to gross $23.12 billion by 2026. Therefore, you can build a strong business around the ready e-book market.
The e-book space is diverse, presenting opportunities for fiction and non-fiction writers, while self-publishing platforms simplify the process. If you choose to write ebooks full-time, creating a library is the way to go. For fiction ebooks, writing a series is a viable long-term strategy.
However, you can also create information products around your passion and expertise, including courses and guides. Breaking such information into subtopics helps you create a helpful library of information and potential income.
The primary advantage of e-book writing as a creative venture is the constant residual income from book sales and royalties. However, to accrue these benefits, create a helpful product with exceptional value and appealing formatting. Consumers will not hesitate to pay for exceptional quality. For instance, you can write unique product descriptions, write sales copies for companies or handle their blogs. If writing is second nature to you, you can indulge your creative side while making good money.
The above writing ventures are medium to long term and may take time to materialize. However, ghostwriting is a viable venture if you need an immediate income stream. It entails writing copy like blog posts, e-books, speeches, newsletters, and much more, credited to a second individual.
Payment options vary from project to project, but overall, it is a lucrative business that only requires stellar writing and research skills. However, you have to make peace with stumbling across your works of art bearing a stranger's name on the byline.
Resume writing is perhaps the most lucrative writing gig, given many job applicants lack self-presentation skills. With the high global unemployment rate, job applicants willing to pay to stand out to recruiters are a ready market. You need writing and industry research skills; earning your first satisfied client and referrals will do the rest.
Writing is a timeless skill, and thanks to digitization, it is also a viable ticket to financial freedom. If you possess writing understanding, explore the above income-generating avenues to earn a decent income while doing what you love.
