You are a master at turning a word, but how do you transition a writing hobby into a full-blown, lucrative career? It may seem too good to be true, but it really is possible. Skilled writers are always needed, it is simply a matter of finding your niche and getting yourself out there.
Pitch Articles to Publications
With a little bit of research and some original thoughts, you can pitch article ideas to journals or magazines. First, learn as much as you can about the publication you hope to write for. Study their audience, voice, typical formatting, and general topics covered. Second, come up with a fresh, specific idea that would be compelling for your chosen journal or magazine. Finally, send a pitch. This will have to be incredibly interesting and succinct in order to impress a busy editor. Follow the preferred submission format and sell your idea with everything you’ve got.
Work as a Consultant
Writing consultants are needed at writing centers around the globe. While writing may be a skill you have, it isn’t one that everyone has, and writing consultants are tasked with helping other people improve. One easy place to look is your local college or university. You will be tasked with helping students to revise papers and essays, identify grammar problems, and become better writers overall. This is meaningful work that will help your clients throughout their schooling and careers.
Offer Writing Courses
There are many venues where you can share your writing skills. You can offer to teach a writing course at public, private, or charter schools. With the right credentials, you can recommend a specific writing class at a nearby collegiate institution. You might investigate community services that would be interested in hosting your course, such as libraries, care centers, and even prisons. Some writers offer classes within their own homes. You could even try your hand at offering an online course. It may take a little creativity and hard work, but you never know when the right position is just waiting for you to discover it.
Blog About Parenting
No one feels more desperate for tips, advice, and empathy than other parents. If you are a parent with a few tricks up your sleeve, you might want to consider becoming a parenting blogger. While not all blogs are lucrative, some can make an incredible amount of money. It takes a combination of endeavors to do this. The more baskets you put your eggs into, the better, including sponsorships, webinars, advertising, incorporating interactive tools, offering consulting, and selling books and merchandise. The more you can create valuable content and continually promote your blog, the more likely you are to have success.
Become a Travel Blogger
It may seem like a pipe dream, but it really is possible to make a career out of traveling the world. Good travel blogs are hugely popular, which translates into ready money. People are fascinated by folks who are gutsy enough to throw out the nine to five job and travel to exotic places, blogging about their experiences along the way. There are several ways to make money as a travel blogger. If you love to travel and aren’t tied down to any one place, why not try your hand at starting a travel blog? Not only could it become a career, but your life would be enriched in ways that most people can only imagine.
Write Social Media Content
Most businesses have a social media presence these days, and they need skilled writers to create content for their sites. If you have a strong following on social media, consider reaching out to local businesses. Your success on a personal level will be a strong pull in your favor if they are looking to hire creative content writers.
Write Reviews
There are many platforms for which you can get paid to write reviews. You can find companies who want well-written reviews on a variety of products. You can write reviews on music, fashion and software. Many companies want reviews on books and movies. By gradually building your clientele and steadily writing reviews, the money you make will slowly add up.
Become a Ghostwriter
While you will not receive any credit for the writing you do as a ghost writer, it is a more lucrative route than many other forms of writing. A wide variety of companies hire ghost writers, from bloggers to businesses to novelists. One way to get your foot in the door is to write guest posts about ghost writing on popular blogs or websites. Having a large and varied portfolio will also help. And as it is for acquiring all writing work, pitch, pitch, pitch!
Become a Columnist
For many, this is the crème de la crème of writing, and will not be an easy venture. But with patience and dedication, column writing is a possibility. Start as small-scale as you can and branch out from there. Producing a school or church newsletter might be a good starting point. As you become more well-known, you might pitch a column idea to your local newspaper. From there, submit work to non-local papers and hope for a break into a larger audience. You might also catch attention with a successful blog. As with most writing ventures, put yourself out there and never give up!
Write a Book
It goes without saying that if you can publish a book, you have made it as a writer! Maybe the next classic novel is waiting to be extricated from your mind, or maybe your deep knowledge about a topic could easily become an interesting non-fiction book. You can’t know what you will do if you don’t try. There are countless resources at your fingertips, both online and in books, that can get you started. If you have an idea mulling around in your head, give it a shot! A published book will open more writing doors than you can imagine.
There are many options for skilled writers to use that ability and create a career with it. If you are unhappy at your nine to five, make the switch. Your talent shouldn’t go to waste. Share it with the world and start writing!
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