Hello, my name is Toby Nwazor and I own a freelance writing firm. For more than 2 years now, I have had only one job – freelance writing – from which 90% of my income is derived.
Our session today is two-phased. The first is about the basics of freelance writing; the second is about how to make money from freelance writing.
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The basics
- Having the ability to write and having the required writing materials – a laptop or a phone.
- Secondly, I always recommend having a good landing page for yourself. Personally, I have a blog. If you cannot create a blog, then start with your social media sites – Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Let it be known there that you are a freelance writer. A major way to make money is to be visible. If clients can’t see you, they wouldn’t give you business.
- Thirdly, you must get serious about it and not take it as a hobby. If you do, you’ll make what I call “Hobby Income”. This is meagre income earned after a long period of time. Make writing a serious professional job for yourself.
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Join the right groups
Another important step to take is to join freelance writing groups on Facebook and on LinkedIn. Become active on those groups and let members see that you know what you are doing. Freelance writing jobs are usually advertised on these groups. Apply for them and make sure to deliver on schedule. Your reputation depends on it. If you are known to be on schedule, the client you worked with will recommend you to another.
Never plagiarise. Google doesn’t joke with plagiarism. They penalise content owners with plagiarised material. If you supplied this material, then your reputation is at stake.
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Seven guaranteed avenues to making money through freelance writing
1) Ghostwriting
The first time I made money from freelance writing was done as a ghost writer. So someone gave me a writing job which he finally published in his name. So he gets the credit for the writing. He paid me, so my rights to the writing were sold.
There are millions of websites and social media pages that need content. According to Bill Gates, content is king. And good content is a great king. If you are willing, there are thousands of clients that would pay you to produce content on their sites and blogs. All you need to do is reach out to them. That is why it is important to be active on Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter, so people can see what you do and contact you.
2) Turning Contents into min guides or e-book
Reach out to thought leaders on social media, offering to turn their content to mini-guides and short e-books. I belong to a Facebook marketing group. The administrator made a post recently about looking for someone to convert all he’s posted on the group since January into a book in .pdf. What he wanted was to copy every post, paste them on Ms Word, generate topics to differentiate each post from the next, convert the finished work to .pdf and send it off to him.
The whole job looks so simple, but the fact is that many people do not have the time to do tasks like this. For this administrator who made the said post, he knew what he wanted. There are others who don’t know about this. All you need is to reach out to them to turn their ideas and posts into mini books and you get paid from the money they will make.
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3) Google Is Your Friend
Look on Google for a list of websites that pay you to write for them. There are sites that will pay up to N20,000 for an article. Foreign sites will pay about $50 per article, even up to $500 if the work is huge.
4) Sales letter writing (copywriting)
This is a course on its own. It is writing before a product is sold. Copywriting is written to make people buy a product. It is subtle advertising. If you are interested in this, check on Google for how to become one.
5) Write an e-book and publish on Kindle or Amazon
You can turn your thoughts into an e-book. Find an area you are good at that has brought you success, then put those ideas and success tips into an e-book and sell it. On Amazon you can put the price at 0.99 cents or $1; this way, more people tend to buy and you make a good sum.
6) Skillshare
This is a platform where one can learn basically anything and acquire skills in any area. As a freelance writer, you can register on skillshare and teach freelance writing to others. I have a page on skillshare and I was once invited to talk about what I do. They pay per view and number of course subscribers. The more you teach and are good at it, the more you earn.
7) Fiverr and Upwork
This is the last resort in my opinion because everyone seems to be on it and the competition is now hectic. Also, the pay one gets isn’t encouraging. However, you can still register and establish a profile as a writer. I myself have had cause to hire talents on these platforms.
BONUS NUGGET
To make money in this day and age online, be ready to be visible and make a lot of noise. People will give you business if they see you are good at what you do and can provide them value.
This text is derived from a live video broadcast for ReDahlia Workspaces, 43B Emina Crescent, Off Toyin Street, Ikeja.
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