When you create content, you’re writing for an audience. As we all do, members of your audience have problems. Can you describe four of their biggest challenges?
For example, on this blog, I often create content for freelance writers, who have many challenges, including:
Discover content ideas here.
If you’re wondering why I’m removing these courses, time’s the big factor, because the courses include coaching. I’ve just accepted a great commission for fiction ghostwriting: not only a mystery series, but also two serials. Moreover, I’m working on several new professional writing courses, so there aren’t enough hours in the day.
Not only will you enjoy these courses, they’ll help you avoid pitfalls and make money sooner. They’re all tried and tested by working writers.
Here they are:
There will always be people who want to pay peanuts for writing services—and writers who will accept those peanuts.
A solution: commit to charging according to the solutions and benefits you provide to your clients.
Please don’t lower your rates, because you’ve heard that X dollars is the “standard rate”. Or because writers charge peanuts on the freelance marketplaces.
A tip: avoid writing for peanuts. If you do, you’ll become overworked and depressed; you may even damage your health. (And yes, in the dim and misguided past, I’ve burned out from overwork, so I know whereof I speak.)
Today, the writing marketplace is global.
Companies in your town which are looking for cheap content can easily hire writers who live across the world, in countries where costs and wages are low. Compared with what you charge, these writers charge little. They can afford it.
However, you can’t match those tiny rates if you live in a western economy.
Want to get paid to write? Remember: “No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money” .
As writers, we trade time for money. But clients pay for solutions to their problems. What if you could spend a few minutes creating something that solves a problem for a client… and he pays very well for it?
In our new program, you’ll discover how to create short content clients pay for, including:
- Ideas (create an idea, charge for it… How much you charge is up to you).
- Slogans, greeting cards, calendars… Use your imagination. Sell to your current or prospective clients.
- Seasonal holiday writing: help businesses which need help, and get paid.
Let’s look at some profitable projects you can complete in an hour or less.
Companies find it challenging to get reviews. (If you’re a self-publishing author, you’ll sympathize.) They hire consultants and PR hacks to interview their customers, but this is expensive, as well as time-consuming.
A friend shared a review-writing strategy with me years ago; it’s effective today. Whenever you use a product, pay attention: you’re a customer, and your opinion counts.
Take some notes. (Take a few photos too.) Did you like the product? What was good? What was bad, or could be improved?
Rather than posting a short review on Yelp or similar, offer your review to the marketing manager of the company which sells the product.
Why this works: genuine reviews are HARD to find. If you’ve used a product and can write a genuine review, your words are GOLD.
Although the gig economy is booming, third parties such as the freelance marketplaces tend to get the profits.
BTW, if you want to give your freelance career a boost, there’s a very special offering on our popular Freelance Writing Zero To Hero program, until July 21. Great news: everything is included, even coaching, and your Action Plan.
The best thing about freelance writing? You can write your way. Write what you want, when you want.
Here’s a friend’s story. She went from happy freelancing to a day job. (Bet you didn’t expect that. Me neither.)
A couple of weeks ago, a friend who’s been freelancing for ten years took a day job. “I want a regular income I can show the bank,” she told me. “We need a bigger house for the kids, and I want something in the country. That means applying for a bigger mortgage.”
Everyone starts a writing career as a complete beginner, from zero. It will never be as hard again.
Everything you do counts, even though it might not seem like it at the time. Over time, your tiniest communications and smallest actions get a big result: suddenly, you’re hero. You made your dreams happen, one baby step at a time. Often your dreams happen MUCH faster than you think possible.
Already freelancing? Wish you could stop tapping your fingers to the bone and attract top-tier clients? This program (and your Action Plan) will ensure it happens for you.
You’ll benefit from my experience. Over the years, I’ve made horrible mistakes which derailed my career (in one case, for a decade.)
While the world’s changed since I tapped away on my Olivetti and IBM Selectric typewriters, freelance writing hasn’t changed. Human nature is the same as it ever was. And the same kinds of people and situations are still taking advantage of inexperienced writers and other creatives.
Learn more
Want an ebook idea?
Here you go:
You should have a list of topics.
As a career path, ghostwriting tends to be hidden. You can’t tout yourself as a ghostwriter who writes (whatever), because you’ve agreed to provide your clients with confidentiality.
Above all, ghostwriters are discreet.
But why would you choose to write books and other materials for which you can never claim credit?
Reasons include:
Let’s look at those reasons in a little more detail.
Let’s look at standard ways first.
In the first post, I suggested:
Let’s look at some unusual ways to make money from fiction.
Over the past couple of years, fiction ghostwriting has taken off, BUT there are many opportunities and gigs for nonfiction authors too.
Let’s begin at the beginning. With buyers.
When authors consider nonfiction, they always wonder: who pays for nonfiction books?
Listen up. New authors tend to worry most about “who pays and how much do I get paid?” Here’s what’s more important: what you’re selling.
You MUST know what you’re selling if you want someone to pay you to write a book AND want to make a profit. Sadly, the world is filled with scammers who want books and will happily scam you out of months and years of work.
Writers and authors tend to confuse traditional publishing, self-publishing, and ghostwriting.
Think in terms of copyright, rather than getting paid per se.
Think about the kind of freelance writing you’d like to do. If you’re a blogger, you might offer blogging services. Or, if you’re a self-publishing author, you might offer fiction ghostwriting services.
However, every writing business has challenges.
If you’re a freelance writer, you’re trading your hours for income, much like a job. You’ll always be limited by hours. You can’t manufacture more hours. However, as your experience grows, you can charge more for your services.
Alternatively, you can create products, such as books. Authors can sell their books forever. So, you’re no longer trading hours for dollars.
Every writing business is different. This brings us to another very popular question: how long does it take to set up a writing business?
Why not use the magical power of new to sell more? You can win more clients and commissions. If you’re a self-publishing author, you can sell more books.
Let’s look at some tips to get you started.
Here’s why this works: it’s fast, and removes friction. Clients can buy your services with one click.
Turning your services into products lets clients know exactly what they get from you, and when.
There’s a thriving market for ghostwriters, especially for fiction.
Here’s why: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP.) Amazon isn’t just an online store. It’s a massive global machine, which can be leveraged to buy and sell just about anything. Traders buy ghostwritten books; they market and sell them on Amazon.
If you can write a novel in a popular genre, you can make a steady income. You don’t even need to write a complete novel. Some ghostwriters make a good income selling concepts: ideas for novels. A concept may be accompanied by an outline, but the buyer is paying for the idea. He’ll hire someone to write it: another ghostwriter who costs less than you do.
So, dear fiction author, let’s look at some reasons you might develop a ghostwriting income.
I class “little ebooks” as any ebook, whether fiction or nonfiction, under 10,000 words. Your mileage may vary. A colleague’s published several dozen of them, all food-related, and all under 5,000 words.
She said: “Everyone eats. There’s a million topics in food and foodie fashions, and healthy food. Sure, people can get a lot of recipes online. But who wants to battle frustrating recipe webpages overrun by flashing, intrusive ads? They can buy a little ebook, and get just the info they want.”
But how does she sell her little ebooks?
In a long email message, with lots of tips (they’re gold, so I’ll be sharing them with you over the next few months), she said: “Although I started self-publishing my ebooks on the Amazon Kindle Store and wide, I’ve branched out. Now I make most of my income from writing white-label little ebooks for food-related businesses. For a recent ghostwriting gig, I wrote about yummy dessert smoothies.”
I'm a professional copywriter, writing teacher, author and tech journalist.
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