How to Make Money & Earn a Living as a Writer

The recent evolution in technology has opened up massive opportunities for creatives like you to make money as a writer and earn a living professionally, regardless of their location.

From rural communities in India, to the interior parts of Africa, a lot of people are taking up these opportunities and so many of them are now pursuing a robust career, after taking up writing as a profession.

As someone aspiring to earn a living as a writer, it is very clear that you’re on the right path because so many others before you have also achieved this successfully.

But before you get started on this very ambitious journey, there are certain key steps you must take. And I’ll be explaining each of these steps below in this guide.

Before Earning as a Writer

Before you think of starting to make money as a writer, the following are the key things you must put in place:

Define a Niche

One of the best steps you can take before you start to make money as a writer is to define your niche. This is very crucial because it makes it easier for you to actually get on the journey to earning an income as a writer.

Reason is because it removes arbitrariness. The moment you define your niche, it becomes easy for you to define your target audience. When you identify your target audience, you get better positioned to target and create content that appeals to the audience that’s actually interested in patronizing you.

Defining your niche also gives you the chance to easily establish your brand or become a thought leader in a very specific niche. This makes it even easier to get more niche defined jobs.

PS: Defining your niche might also mean attending some trainings to get specific writing skills associated with that niche, getting certifications and real hands on experience you can showcase in your profile.

Create your Brand

After identifying your niche, to further make money as writer, you need a brand to distinguish yourself from other writers whether in your niche or outside of it.

So, you have to think thoughtfully about creating a brand that is unique to you, distinct in your industry and one your audience can easily connect with.

This will also involve creating a profile, building your portfolio and getting your own professional website. Doing this sets you apart as a professional.

Get on Social Media

For so many aspiring writers, the social media is one of the top places to shape your writing skills and build your brand as a writer.

With an existing audience, feedback features and a community support system, the social media serves as a veritable platform where you grow your craft, build your startup audience and gather a few early days’ clients.

Beyond these, you can also use your social media platform as an avenue to experiment your write to earn goals, learn audience preferences and build credibility through storytelling.

Steps to Make Money as a Writer

The following are steps you can take or the things you can do to make money and earn a living as a writer:

Publish a Book

Although everyone may not have a story that will become the next Harry Porter series, if you’re highly skilled or experienced in a specific area then you definitely have what it takes to write and publish a book.

Even where you don’t have an experience or highly skilled in any specific area, there are ways you can still create books and sell them online on platforms like Amazon, Lulu, Okadabooks etc.

These could be ranging from items like; low content books to books to tutorials, guides, ebooks and other kinds of books.

With the unprecedented avalanche of information and endless search for knowledge today, publishing and selling books online could actually be your best avenue to make money and earn a living as a writer because there’s a ready market for these books.

And when done well, you can write, publish and get your books out there in front of your audience, using online stores, without paying anything upfront.

Write for Others

Another easy ways to make money and earn a living as a writer is to write for others and get paid for it. And there are many ways to do this.

For example, there are a number of businesses looking for writers to boost their publications. This includes blogs, Newspapers, Magazines and other publishing houses. Most of these platforms are willing to pay you to write for them.

There are also job boards for local and international firms in search of remote writers and contract writers for their projects. You can opt to write for these, in addition to others.

And finally, there are platforms, websites and blogs on the lookout for writers and content creators who are willing to manage and create content on their platforms. Just like the others, this is an option you can consider.

Start a Blog

Starting a blog gives you a platform to create and share content with your audience. Over time as your blog continues to grow in traffic, audience and web visits, you can get to start earning from it.

Blogging is one of the most popular ways to make money and earn a living as a writer. And a lot of successful writers are doing just this.

To get started, you have to outline your skills, research the niche you want to be blogging about, create a blog and start growing it with content.

As soon as the blog gathers a decent traffic over a period of time, you can then monetize it by creating ad spaces, engaging in Google Advertising, Sponsored advertising amongst other means of blog monetization.

And of course, you can go as far as publishing your books and creating your products that can be sold, using that platform. Here’s a guide on how to start a blog.

Ghost Writing

Ghost writing means to write on behalf of or for other people (who will become the real owners of the book or content) while you get paid in return.

It is one of the most well-known ways that you can make money and earn a living as a writer.

Considering that today, a lot of influential people, entrepreneurs, ministers, etc. are getting too busy to sit down and write books, content etc. to share their knowledge, cement their expertise or for PR purposes; this gives you an opportunity to make a living as a Guest Writer.

To make things even better, you don’t necessarily have to sit and wait out your turn to get offers for jobs as a ghost writer; you can pitch books and content ideas to potential authors or send out mouthwatering proposals that will get them hooked.

Manage Social Media

Be it text, videos or images, social media thrives on content. And as a creative writer, you’re one of the best fit to manage and create content for other people’s social media accounts while getting paid for it.

Naturally, most people expect to get into social media management merely for busy clients but that doesn’t have to be your story.

You’re not the average social media manager. You’re a professional writer and as a writer, you bring in an extra level of skills to the job of social media management and this in turn gives you an edge over the average social media manager.

Utilizing your creative and writing abilities, you can make money and earn a living as a writer, using your skills to set yourself apart in social media management by taking up your client’s goals and interpreting same to create content that drives engagement and delivers on their expected outcomes.

Become Employed to Write

Apart from working as a self-employed or freelance writer, a number of establishments do have roles exclusively for content writers.

Some of these roles are for local and international workers with flexible working options, including, remote, on site and hybrid alternatives.

If you’re someone that prefers a more formal working environment with steady income, this presents you a good opportunity to make money and earn a living as a writer.

Start a Writing Agency

As a highly driven entrepreneur that’s out to build a business out of writing, to make money and earn a living as a writer, you can start an actual boutique writing agency, providing a range of writing aligned services to clients around the world.

This could range from providing services like Content Creation, Ghost Writing, and Social Media Management etc. to clients.

Although this may require more initial financial investment but this arrangement gives you more leverage, compared to a one man writing business.

As a writing agency, you are well positioned as an establishment that services different businesses. This affords you the chance to bid for and get jobs from entities looking for established writing firms.

The good part is that you can start this business with yourself and a few staff working on site or remotely while building from the ground up.

Final Words

It’s very possible to make money as a writer, regardless of who you are, where you are or your current financial status. As a matter of fact, a good number of people are already doing this. And what you just read here are the secret ideas and strategies that have set them apart.

As you embark on the journey to earn a living as a writer, keep in mind that to set yourself apart, there are certain specific skills you must learn, experiences you have to gather and a level of expertise you must get to before you can write for certain brands or in certain niches.

That’s why before you get started, you must outline your goals, set your niche and then learn the adequate skills that will transform your writing journey.

And of course, we have a range of these writing related skills and courses that will set you apart and get you the right mentorship, to start earning fast. Sign up here and join a class.

Now, it’s over to you. What’s the biggest obstacle blocking you from making a living as a writer? Drop your comment below.