The goal here is to build passive income over the long term. But not all publishers are alike and depending on your skills, you’ll need to be selective.
1. Medium
Medium does not monetize external views. You get paid for “reads”. The more time a member spends reading your content, the more you get paid.
First off, yes it’s possible to make a living writing online. And no, it isn’t just a pipe dream sold by marketers who get writers to prey on their ambitions (though that does happen).
Revenue
The key is knowing where to invest your energy and talent, which is what this article is all Allabout.ofthese are viable assuming you know how they work Today, I’m going to go over your options as a content writer so you can find the right platform for you. Sharing Platforms for Writers
Revenue-sharing platforms reward you for your writing in many different ways.
1/15 August 14, 2022 The 21 Best Places to Get Paid for Your Writing nelmondo.me/places-to-get-paid-for-your-writing/
The curated topics on the right are provided by the Chrome addon Medium Distribution Info There are no barriers to entry with Medium. You’re about two clicks away from writing anything you like, at any given time. But if you plan on making money on Medium, you need to understand how it works.
options
Whatmodel.that means for us writers is that the moderation process can be frustrating. Here’s how it works in a nutshell:
Red circle: Articles written 12 years ago still get traffic! Hubpages is one of the first places to get paid for your writing. Some of my articles are over 10 years old, and still receiving generous amounts of traffic!
Human interest stories do well. Because you aren’t dependent on SEO for exposure, you can be a little more open and flexible with your writing. Monetization is gated. You’ll need to accrue 100 followers (you can do this in a couple of days if you need to by commenting on follow-for-follow articles) and live in an eligible location
Hubpages
2. The article undergoes automated quality assessment.
2.
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Medium is a community. The more you give, the more you get. Maximizing profits means building a following. Engaging with others by clapping, commenting, and highlighting, is an integral part of succeeding.
Success on Medium requires consistency and engagement. Understand what tags do well, and become a part of the ongoing conversation on that topic.
In 2011, Hubpages was hit hard by Google Panda and forced to rethink its business
3. The article is moved from the default Hubpages domain to its Discover subdomain if it passes the baseline benchmarks.
1 Write an article and publish it.
Who is Medium for? Aside from some passive revenue, one of Medium’s biggest advantages for writers is exposure. If you are good at what you do, you will be noticed.
4. If an article is deemed high quality, it may then be promoted to one of their niche sites. You can also request a promotion to a niche site once every 15 days. This process can take months
3/15 Ideally, over time, you’ll want to move all your articles to relevant niche sites to maximize their ranking potential and income (and if they are rejected, take that as a sign it needs to be Anupdated).addedadvantage is that Hubpages employs editors who routinely update and correct articles, keeping them fresh. Not everyone loves their content being tampered with, but I’m not complaining, the editors know what they are doing. Who is Hubpages for? For those of you whose strength lies in keyword research and on-page SEO, Hubpages offers a place to rank your keywords and optimize AD placement (advertising is very aggressive). 3. Newsbreak If you live in the U.S you can apply to join the Newsbreak Creator Program I can’t apply myself, but I’m still including this option because I know several writers who do well with it. Like Medium, Newsbreak demands you meet certain criteria before being able to monetize.Youneed 100 followers. You need at least 10 articles. Once you meet those guidelines you can publish content and earn via views (not impressions), referrals and app downloads. 4. Substack
4/15 My relationship advice newsletters are on Substack Substack is all about building a list of paying subscribers. The first thing you’ll notice is the prominence of the subscribe form everywhere on your site. Your goal is to create a newsletter that people are willing to pay to follow Substack provides the following tools: Free and paid (gated) content. Open or fixed monthly subscriptions. CTA placement and optimization. Hosting with optional domain name support ($50 fee, paid once). I haven’t had much luck creating a following or driving much traffic to my Substack, but the earning potential is higher than your traditional revenue sharing platform because you can monetize your list of subscribers any way you like. 5. Vocal Media Vocal is an emerging writing platform that pays per “read”. The good news is that writing on this platform is straightforward, and monetization is transparent.
�� My Pick: I write on both Medium and Hubpages. Medium for human interest articles, and Hubpages for keyword-driven content. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket in case something bad happens Websites That Pay for Content
The bad news is to maximize your profits, you’ll need a Vocal+ membership ($9.99 per month or $99 per year). How to maximize profits? Simply put, your eCPM will depend on your account membership.ForVocal creators, we pay $3.80 / 1000 reads. For Vocal+ creators, we pay $6.00 / 1000 reads. Vocal official FAQ I don’t write on Vocal myself, but I’ve heard both praise and horror stories about making money there. If you want to diversify your passive income empire further, Vocal might be the right place to do it.
If you’re skilled at writing (or marketing) opportunities to create content will arise through your passive income portals.
6. Simily Simily is the new kid on the block. One that, as you can tell from my follower count, I haven’t gotten around to testing yet. Until I get at least a dozen articles hosted on here, I’m going to restrain myself from passing judgment. I will update this section in a couple of months. In the meantime, if you have some experience with this platform, you can let me know how things are going in the comments.
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6/15 But not all of us are so lucky. A large part of making a living with freelance article writing boils down to weathering rejection and knowing when and where to pitch. Start small and build. Here are a few websites that new writers can submit to right now that offer competitive introductory rates. 7. Cracked These headlines are an example of the content Cracked loves Cracked is a great place to try your luck if your writing voice is of a humorous bent. Intriguing articles also work. Preferable both. Topics: Humor, movies, human interest. Payment: $100-$250 based on length and experience. No pun intended. New writer friendly: Yes. Submission page: Submit content to Cracked. 8. Go World Travel Go World Travel isn’t going to make you rich, but it is an accessible platform for new Gowriters.outside, take a few pictures, look to the sunny side of your hometown, and bag yourself some cash (and start building that portfolio of yours).
7/15 Topics: Travel. Payment: $30-$40. New writer friendly: Yes! Submission page: Submit content to Go World Travel 9. Eating Well Eating Well offers up to $1 per word for articles on the topics of — well — eating well. Yes, that’s a lot of money. And yes, you’re going to have to earn it with a stellar pitch and idea. Payment: Up to $1 word. Topics: Food, recipes, and eating well. New writer friendly: Yes, but not really Submission page: Pitch your writing to [email protected], but visit their guidelines before you do. 10. Mental Floss Mental Floss is all about answering life’s big questions. Historical or scientific articles tend to do well.
Fiverr is a freelance marketplace. I don’t use it because I’ve found that it is a race to the bottom where quantity and low prices are valued over quality.
This may be changing, however. Fiverr has tried to break its “$5” mold by expanding its price ranges, but I still don’t think it’s a great place to market your services as a freelance writer Quality over quantity. If you do choose to go with Fiverr, don’t make the mistake of making your services cheap.
8/15 Payment: $125 and up. Topics: Many: Science, history, philosophy, music, pop culture, to get you started. New writer friendly: No. Submission page: Visit the submission page first and find the appropriate contact to pitch to. Read the guidelines carefully. �� Tip: Medium is an absolute goldmine for finding places to pitch to. There are dozens of fresh lists published every day containing websites open for submissions. Not a member? Join Medium today. Seriously. Freelance Writing Platforms Freelance writing platforms are places you can advertise your services and build a client base. These websites help freelancers find clients, and clients find freelancers. Maintaining a presence on one of these sites can lead to a steady source of income if you take the time to build (demand is reputation based). The more work you do, the easier it gets. 11. Fiverr
Upwork connects freelancers with jobs.
You’ll want to take the time to curate your profile and upload any relevant credentials (digital credentials can be uploaded via Credly).
12. Upwork
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13. Constant Content
When you have people selling 1000-word articles for $2 (AI writers and outsourcing), the key to standing out is offering a high-quality service.
Once you build a client base, feel free to kick the middleman, but if you’re just starting out, Upwork is a good place to start grinding and building an online portfolio.
You can use Constant Content to sell original content. Unlike the other platforms, first you write, then you sell. Waste not, want not. Constant Content is a great place to make some money off of writing that hasn’t found a home.
How about that high-school dissertation that’s collecting dust in your filing cabinet? Why not try and sell it?
10/15 14. WriterAccess Much like Upwork, WriterAccess connects you with clients by hosting your portfolio and offering jobs via their “AI search”. The main difference is that WriterAccess has a more fastidious vetting process, which appeals to clients but may exclude newer writers. Heads up. Brush up your Linkedin profile before applying, you’ll thank me later My pick: I use Upwork to find clients in times of need. It works well. But I confess I haven’t explored many other options. I have failed to get anywhere with Fiverr. Self-Publishing You can get paid as a writer by self-publishing your long-form content. This includes: How-toseCourses.eBooks.and guides. Newsletters. The self-help world is brimming with opportunity While the market is saturated with poor-quality content (at exorbitant prices), this is also a chance for you to make a name for yourself. 15. Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
16. Gumroad Gumroad is a place where you can sell anything from a blog post to a novel. As a content writer, you’ll love Gumroad’s flexibility. You can set up courses, subscriptions, and more. If you have writing of any kind, there’s probably a way to sell it on Gumroad’Gumroad.sfees scale with income. The more you make, the less they charge. From 9% to 3%.
Self-Hosted Blogging Your goal as a writer is to build a presence, and there’s no better way to do that than by building your website.
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TKD is a self-publishing platform that allows you to inject your eBook into the massive Amazon marketplace for free, and earn up to 70% royalties on sales. You can also market your writing, which means offering it free of charge for a time, but letting Amazon do the marketing for you. Or, you can get expanded distribution with a royalty rate of $40. The choice is Self-publishingyours.withKDP is a flexible way of making a supplemental income while bolstering your brand.
17. WordPress Hosting
Affiliate marketing. Write lists and guides (like this one) and refer readers to products you are an affiliate for. I don’t do this, which is a strategic choice, but I probably should. Sell your services (no middleman). Use your online bios or blog posts to advertise your freelance services. Simple, but effective.
Build an Email list. Offer free guides or use your free content to build a list of readers that you can then market your products to over time. Check the bottom of this page and the subscribe button in the menu to see how I’m doing this.
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While I recommend writing on other platforms first (those with inbuilt communities)to build a following, you should be maintaining and slowly building your blog simultaneously, because one sweet day your blog is where you can sell your writing without additional Startfees.now. Even if you aren’t getting any traffic.
I recommend WordPress due to the vast amount of plugins and themes available, but there are other self-hosted blogging platforms you can use to get the job done.
Tipping. I’ve incorporated my Ko-Fi page (a tipping and services platform like Patreon, but better suited for writers) almost everywhere I write. You can add a donate button to the bottom of your posts with the free Ko-Fi plugin if needed.
5 Simple Ways to Monetize your WordPress blog Your website, your rules. Display advertising. You can opt for display advertising on your content to generate passive income. A good strategy is using Ezoic until you have enough pageviews to join Adthrive (100,000 / month). Or you can use a WordPress plugin to inject ads automatically into your content via Google Adsense.
I chose Namecheap’s EasyWP WordPress hosting package to be the backbone of this blog. And no, that’s not an affiliate link, I genuinely recommend it. No matter what hosting you choose, if you haven’t already, start building your website. Make it your online portfolio, and use your blog posts as bait to reel prospective clients in. You can also link to your website from your online bios for added credibility
13/15 CanvasGhostJoomlaDrupal Just to name four. Pick one and start building. Free Tipping and Subscription Platforms The rise of Patreon gave birth to a wide array of platforms that help writers (and other content creators) get paid for their work. The good news about these payment models is that they can be employed in addition to other, traditional ways of making money online. You can add a link to these platforms in your online bios and make some extra cash with little effort. 18. Ko-Fi Ko-Fi is a tipping platform that fits freelance writing like a glove. You can do almost anything with it. Receive one-off donations. Sell subscriptions Sell your services (commissions). Open a shop. Keep readers updated with your blog. �� (2022) Medium has integrated Ko-Fi with its tipping system making it even easier to get paid. 19. Patreon
If you sell other digital work, such as artwork or music, a Patreon account is a great way to monetize. As a pure writer, however, I feel there are better options.
My old Patreon account for my relationship website
The good thing about adding a link to your BMaC page is that you can build a subscriber list that you can export at any time.
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Patreon is a great way to build tiers of paying subscribers. But it lacks the flexibility that an online writer needs.
20. Buy Me a Coffee Buy Me a Coffee works just like Ko-Fi. It allows creators to accept subscriptions or donations for a 5% fee. I’ve seen a fair number of writers use this on Medium, though I don’t use it myself.
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The key is adapting your skills to the market. For instance, if English isn’t your first language, try writing actionable guides (where grammar is less important than the usefulness of the content). If you don’t know where to start. Use this list to start branching out. I suggest focusing on 2-3 different revenue streams at most.
Wrapping Up: Places to Get Paid for Your Writing
Don’t be intimidated by the sheer number of writers elbowing each other for attention. As large as the writing community is, the demand for written services is even larger. There’s always a way to make money, even if: English isn’t your first language. You don’t have any specialized knowledge. You have no experience. You don’t know what to do.
Also, make sure you know what free tools to use to make your work that much easier