Ways to Make Money Blogging
There are a few ways to turn a blog into a career. I research this topic every week or so. Aside from the obvious ways of selling advertising or stuff on your blog, you might also consider going freelance.
There is a big need for original content online today. There are just millions of blogs and websites offering bits of information as bait to get people to buy stuff. All it takes is some advertisement and some promotion, and you could be selling articles for a good price. All over the world there are people willing to pay money for original content. The only hard part is finding the work and getting paid.
I looked into Elance.com a while ago. This is a freelance clearing house. The problem with this site is that it’s worldwide and the jobs don’t pay much. You might need to have specialized knowledge of computer systems or programming to do some of these jobs, and you will be in competition with writers in third world countries where the cost of living is a lot different. Bottom line here, in my opinion, is if you want to write a book for $100 feel free to give this a go.
When you are working for yourself it is a bit different. You will need to advertise. If you already have a blog you might try advertising on it for jobs. You will have to set your own prices and do your own billing. If you are any good at writing this should not be a problem. The only problem is in finding the people who need your work. Some hack writers charge a penny a word. If you can write 2000 words an hour, that’s $20. Still, a lot of writing involves some research. You will have to do some preparation to come up with a good article. This time should be factored into your prices. In fact, many freelance writers charge by the hour. I’m not sure what the going rate for copywriting is these days, but I’ve read in books that $75 an hour is pretty fair. If you can get the work, it pays fairly well.
This is the modern age, and people tend to be lazy. A lot of places hire people to write blog posts for them. You might be given a topic or a theme to work from. Many blogs these days are about making money on the Internet. This is a popular subject. You might research the topic and write up some samples to help sell your services. The important thing to remember is that if you write for money you are in business for yourself. You will be responsible to your customers for any work they contract. You will have to keep track of finances so you can pay your taxes. You will want to adjust your prices so that you make a decent living.
It’s hard to build up a popular blog and generate traffic for your work. You need thousands of page views a day to make anything off of advertising or affiliate sales. Blogging for a fee is a job, but it pays an amount for the work done. It’s a gamble to rely on advertisements drawing traffic from your site. In freelancing, you sell a service, your skill as a writer. You will still have to find work, but it will be interesting work if you like to write. Set yourself up to make money from your skills and you might be able to make a decent living writing blog posts.
