7 Ways for Writers to Make Money Online

It was once difficult for good writers to make money: you needed to please an agent, who needed to please an editor, who needed to please a magazine or a publishing house. Good writers are artists, and are often considered poor business people. In the age of information, however, writers have more opportunities to make money: with the proper know-how and skills, the most humble artists can still make a decent penny through online writing jobs.

Good writers, in particular, can use the online world as a way to not only reach out to a wider audience, but practice good writing skills. The web, after all, demands that writing be terse, easy to read, and entertaining.

If you are interested in making money online as a writer, then start applying to job sites. You can choose among these seven popular ways of making money through your writing.

1. You can be a freelance ghostwriter. In the print world, copy is text for advertisements and magazines. In the digital world, copy extends to writing for websites and online advertisements. Such writing will often not carry your byline, and will often pay you lower fees. The articles you have to write will be very brief, and will often be governed by keyword and search engine rules.

If you are very particular about honing your craft, and if you wish to have your name appear as the article’s author, then freelance ghostwriting may not be for you. If you are after money, however, then you can consider ghostwriter, as you can make many articles and e-books in a small amount of time, and for some cash.

2. You can work as a paid blogger or problogger. More and more people are blogging about their lives through online diaries and journals. Some companies need blogs to reach out to their customers, provide informative articles, and advertise their latest goods and services. These companies need freelance bloggers or probloggers to write articles, advertisements, and services, so if you are a fast, prolific writer; and if you have something of a reputation in your chosen field, then you may work as a paid blogger. Your byline will usually appear, and you will be cited as an expert on certain subjects.

3. If you do not want to work as a blogger for a company, and if you are an exceptionally good writer, then you can put up your own blog. You can offer informative articles, advice, or even art. If your blog attracts visitors, then you can join online advertisement networks such as BlogAds, Text-Link-Ads, and Google’s AdSense program and sell advertising space on your site.

4. Sell your book. There are now many companies offering e-books for download, as well as publishers and printers that offer to print your book and sell it online. If you have a book but no publisher, then you may want to try out the vanity publishing or self publishing route. Some authors actually build up their fan base in this fashion. In fact, if you are lucky, you may be picked up by a major publishing house because of a book you initially sold online.

5. Are you fond of writing poetry? Are you skilled in writing one-liners? Then you can write greetings cards. Many greeting card companies welcome e-mail submissions from freelance writers, so if you have any romantic, funny, or hilarious ideas for a card, look for these greeting card companies online.

6. Can you spot a good writer? Then you may want to be a freelance editor or proofreader. Many online writers need editors, and many sites heavily engaged in writing need proofreaders.

7. Extend your work offline. If you can teach children how to write, or help students with their papers, then advertise your services online. Provide your contact emails and wait for the requests to trickle in.

Do you know other ways that a writer can make money online? Feel free to share your ideas or own experience.

 [image from Flickr as uploaded by Inkygirl]