Make Money Writing For Sites - Ghostwriting, Earning, and More...(resources included)

Need some ways to generate money NOW instead of years later? Maintaining ambition and generating an income in the same place- Freelance Writing...

This article is to help complete newbies to internet marketing and freelance writing concepts to start figuring out your options and how to peruse them (for making money with your writing). This will be a quick overview of the various things you can do to earn money writing and some good seeds for furthering your research. Making money online isn't a matter of always having to sell something i.e. a product, but rather can also be done providing a service (even a free one to the end user like writing articles) or a service to bring other businesses/products buyers and visitors (affiliate marketing).

In this article I'll discuss some of the services site owners will pay you to do for them. This won’t be an exhaustive account of these concepts but it will give you a broad idea of how it works so you can further your research or take additional steps to begin your career path as a freelance writer and/or internet marketer. (The two intertwine a lot!)

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Articles And Blogs

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You can make some money writing Articles and Blogs for website owners/webmasters and internet marketers who build and promote websites for other people.

Content writing is one of the biggest demands right now on the web, but QUALITY writers are the ones in demand.

These website owners know some of the most effective and lucrative ways to get content and one of them is finding a consistent and quality writer to hire.

One of the reasons the rise of content mills (where you go to ghostwrite for pay) happened so powerfully was that it supplied a demand from those that would pay you to write for them- consistency of work, guarantee in quality, and money back if the writing is just horrible.

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Writing mills now train writers to write well, meet deadlines, and create quality work- nothing but what the freelance writer SHOULD be doing anyway. The customers are willing to pay more money for the promise of organization and consistency- accountability so they pay the writing mill.

They would be more interested in paying a dependable writer the same fee and deal with only that writer (or writers for many projects). With the mills competing now, you really have to sell yourself through your writing, but it can be done.

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The freelance market is very much still alive outside the content mills. Like the online version of going to the office vs. writing and emailing your content to a ghostwritten copy buyer. Because not enough quality and dependable writers are out there or rather they can't find you, they turn to the mills. They don't have time for tom foolery and the mills give them a no nonsense system to get what they need. If you find one of these people and show them great work, you can get quite a lot of high paying work from them or people they know.

Other sites working on the same basic principal but instead of paying you directly offer you a platform to write on that is in the middle of a mall so to speak of traffic and split the revenue the ads around your content bring in.

Wizzley is actually one of those sites, as is Squidoo - but the sites we will discuss in this article are more of the independent internet marketer variety. The write and get paid now people. I'm not talking about writing mills either, although a great place to get a consistent income. Higher paying gigs are available if you avail yourself and market your skills well. (what I'm trying to show you here).

Some people actually outsource the articles they put on these sites but they have them ghostwritten so your name doesn't appear on them- theirs does. Often they will have to doctor up these articles to merge the information with their personality or to make it consistent with the sites tone (often several writers are hired for fast turnaround and the site owner will take all the content purchased and doctor it up so it all sounds the same (in tone)... so one consistent writer is like taking a lot of the work out of their job/business!

Being a chameleon in this business is an asset! This goes for writing any and all work you're offered. Like actors- you never turn down a part because you don't like it (unless it's morally a problem), you build your skill set taking the hard work! Once you're an expert or professional in the field, you can then pick and choose work, demand certain rates, and your work ethic is your best commodity! Being one of those people who feel they are entitled to things they didn't yet earn- would be your worst liability so make sure you keep your ego in check!

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Let’s Overview Some Of The Best Forms Of Paid Writing

and how you’d execute those to make money:

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Introduction

First you can write articles that inform people of something. This can be based on a product, a review of a product or service, or just general tips and tricks about anything.

Often, established sites need content and the owner doesn't have the time or skills to write it. This is why they hire ghostwriters.

Others build entire sites of ghostwritten content to make money on monetization (adsense, amazon, etc...).

This is how many great sites are built but a lot of attention has to be put into great content, high quality potent copy that people love. It's not as easy as it seems actually but it works and it means there are a lot of opportunities to write out there.

Often established site owners want a continuous “drip” of content added to the site and will hire you to write that content. They may have become excited about the content when they built the site and their interest in the topic wanes.

This is when they, to keep their site alive and earning them money, ranking, and overall being an authority site, hire writers to keep the content flowing. Sites that continue to add content continue to look fresh on Google if it's written tightly. Some people just hire ghostwriters to rewrite THEIR content to update it, keep it fresh to search engines and valid in a post panda world.

Others want to clone their highly performing money making sites into new angles of the same niche but need fresh new content for it. The reasons they could need content are mind boggling, somewhere in the millions of articles needed every day range...

They also come for content to replace robot created content (i.e. spun content or content scraped with a plugin from other sites i.e. not original) they purchased on a site from flippa or other website auction sites. Some people buy a site just for the structure then hire ghostwriters to fill in the actual content.

This could be a lot of content and a great writer means a site full of work that's consistently written. Think of it in terms of how much they will pay you to turn their site's lights on in the darkness of the web! Content is king and for writers it's potential money. The better a writer you become in this career, the more you can demand for your services- and people will pay it if you're consistent, write quality, and your content earns them traffic (which translates into potential money).

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Writer Pools And Content Scouts

Where People/Companies Needing Well Written Contact Look

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Site owners go to a variety of "writer pools" or "Writer hangouts" such as Wizzley, Hubpages, Squidoo, and anywhere else the content is highly moderated- so they know they have "real" writers with the right skills. They can also instantly look through their "resume"- all their writing on that site to elicit if this persons writing is quality and what they want in tone and personality if any.

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Poster

They will do a keyword search on the site for their needed writing/content and if your page comes up and is well written, they will check out your other pages, your profile, and may even email you directly- and offer you work.

They usually give you a test article to see if you write their topic well and if you do great they give you more, and some have unlimited work for you.

They also tend to pay much better than writing mills because they are paying you directly and may be accustomed to outsourcing sites that charge them high rates thus they pay you slightly less to save money (but which is more than you may be asking) and everybody wins!

Your work on 2.0 sites like Wizzley could get you discovered and a relationship with the hiring internet marketer or site owner could mean steady writing -for pay now- work.

You could get several people scouting for your work- if your work speaks for itself that is.

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Anytime you ever write something it's your resume.

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It must be fresh and unique to each person hiring you- how much more impressed would you be as the person paying for the work, if someone came up to you and handed you a free article so you could "experience" their writing first hand- and in the topic most important to them- their sites content!

Most people like to find a good writer and keep them because it makes things more smooth. A writer that is problematic, does shoddy work, or doesn't over deliver (often in writing very potent copy) is not often called again for more work (I black list people like this myself and by that I mean I also warn my friends, business colleges and such to stay away from that person).

The better you do with some of these people the more they are willing to pay you. If your writing helps them immensely they will not hesitate to hire you again- bottom line- quality equals more money and a great resume. Great quality writers are as in demand as good doctors!

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Word Of Mouth Means Word Of Pay Potential

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The outsourcer will inevitably hand you over to their other friends who build or maintain sites or need articles for article marketing (putting on ezinearticles or other sites for the back links and organic traffic) and your career is born. Like most doctors in specialized practice, word of mouth is their greatest asset, and it's yours too. Most of these people know others like them- in this game knowing one is a great "in" to more people looking for writers.

Also keep in mind that there is a middle man for THOSE people. Someone owning an SEO business for example, needs someone they can depend on to get their customers great content so they use a mill and API (jacking into their writer base) and don't worry about problems.

There is a bunch of people out there doing this on a smaller scale and that use freelance writers to get the content for their customers- find one of them with a lot of customers and a backlog of writing they need and prove your a timely great writer- and they will never let you go! Potent writers who are timely and accurate are very hard to find and worth their weight in gold.

They may find you on Wizzley or you could proactively contact the site owner to ask them if they need writing done as you stumble. I used to use stumbleupon type sites or just random Google searches on topics I knew well to find sites with crap copy on them. I'd contact the owner an respectfully hand him one of his sites pages rewritten beautifully for free- an olive branch that works very well! I often choose their landing page or home page.

If he likes it he uses it and contacts you to rewrite the rest of his site, if not your only out an article rewrite :) and he may STILL pass your name on to someone who DOES need a site or content written.

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Planting Seeds For Future Crops

Of Opportunities Coming TO YOU

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Every seed you plant may not sprout right away but you'd be surprised how many people help you if you do them a favor- even if they personally don't need or want your services they may know someone who would... the risk is well worth it because you will hit more hits than misses if their site is really badly written- they want ranking and you have to explain why your article will help them- again selling yourself through your content and explaining it's worth i.e. SEO, LSI's, etc... being infused.

By offering up a free sample they can use, you invoke the law of reciprocity, if your work is bad they may email your content back to you, if it's good you may be the writer they couldn't find after hiring a bunch of bad ones!

Sometimes the owner wants a cross section of writers to write the content so the site has some spice and covers a variety of topics from experts in that topic range. The more your comfortable taking the initiative to research even if you don't like the topic, the more you eliminate the "I can't write about that" articles. These guys want writers who are dynamic and can take on anything, the closer they get to that the more they value you. If you can write on anything they can hand you because you know the web had every piece of intel you could need- then you will not only make money but you will be talked about and recommended for more possibly even higher paying work.

What you should realize in this industry is that there is intense demand for good writers- but there is a very low pool of such writers out there. Most internet marketers and website owners have outsourced a lot of content only to get a lot of crap back or hassles from freelance writers. This forces them to pay higher prices at the outsourcing sites (content providers) to get some consistency- but they'd much rather pay you and deal with consistent writing and once they find you do a great job they are more than happy to hand you the money- it's a headache averted. I say this from my own experiences hiring writers it's a major headache, but a great writer you want to pamper with great work.

This is why it’s a very good idea to write about things outside the box (of your comfort level) - the more topics you can cover or research and cover easily- the more money your work is worth.

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AD Copy or Sales Copy (long form)

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Ad copy is basically a description of a product or service being sold. There are simple ads like banner ads and textual ads (ads that are links) and longer ad copy containing the benefits of the product but also realistic reasons to buy. This is a lower form of "sales copy" or "sales Page" writing. The former is for small ads and flyer type block ads, while sales copy is a more advanced form like the difference between a magazine ad and a television commercial.

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When I hear "ad copy" I think smaller copy with a short and potent message usually pertaining to small ads or banner ads so the content is succinct and potent. The terminology changes between people and even different countries. Ad copy can also be a short form sales page- or page trying to sell something but that is succinct and to the point- no talking you into it, just informative and a sign up box or way to purchase.

Sales copy is a long form version that is much more psychologically motivated to, much like a movie, enthraw someone so deeply in the concept that they have no reasons to say no! There is a technique to writing good sales copy and it's not easy so it's expensive (and high paying). Good sales copy can create amazing conversions/sales so it's worth paying good money for if someone can do it well.

A more covert type of sales page is called a presell page. This is an informative page that is self sufficient and informative, but leads them eventually to another page that often is offering a product or even a page like a Wizzley page just to promote a back link to it.

These can be reviews of a product (pre-sell to the actual sales site often placed on a high traffic blog site to generate “leads” and “Organic traffic”.

Sales copy is a much longer copy. These pages are often 1,000 words or more and contains a long rant of reasons to purchase something but written so it keeps them enthralled to the point of losing resistance to buy. It's more conversational and hypnotic if written well.

It's not as easy to write as you would think. Your best bet is to get some books on writing sales copy to get in line with how they are written and the psychology involved. I've put a few besides this paragraph to get you started, you can get them on Amazon.

It's a pretty fascinating read learning sales copy writing. It's part psychology, part cleaver writing, part being a great story teller.

These are harder to write but with practice they are easy and lucrative. Some people command thousands of dollars to write one of these!

If you can write a brilliant sales copy piece you can charge a lot for it. It's going to be used to generate a lot of money for the site so they will pay the money if it's well written. The problem is without a background and some history, these people won't take a chance, but if you have something started to show them, you never know!

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Submission or "Promo" Articles

Used For Back-link Building

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Submission articles give a broad over view of a niche or idea. These are designed to be utilized to both help people with details about what they are researching be it a product, service, or school project.

The idea is that someone who lands on the site from anywhere else often a search engine or a link on another page/site, will read the content and become interested in acquiring either more information or possibly a lead to where they can buy the product.

Submission articles are written with the intent to drive or entice traffic to a site but this isn’t always to sell them something.

Some sites just want to acquire traffic to spread their story, activists use this to get their message across, and affiliate marketers use this tactic to drive that traffic to a product site.

Site owners will pay you to write blogs to be used in the same manner as the submission article.

A blog is an opinion or short story illustrating an opinion on one single topic. The term blog has expanded to mean many things now but this is the original and still dominating definition. A writer could write several posts/articles to a blog on a variety of topics. You generally get paid on a per post basis but there are several models used.

Payment per hour, per post, per day (with a certain expectation within that day) and more.

You can make quite a lucrative income as a ghostwriter. Many have left their offline jobs specifically to pursue this because they make more money and acquire their freedom back.

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Affiliate Marketing

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Illustration of Global Reach or the Concept of Doing Business Globally Via the Internet

Ad AllPosters

You become an affiliate by going to a commercial website and signing up as an affiliate for free. They will give you a script that puts an ad link for their site. You put that script on your web-page and when someone clicks on it and buys something from that site you get a percentage of what they pay.

Wizzley uses this concept very well by adding modules that give you a quick and easy way to program and insert the amazon and other affiliate links, picture ads, and more without touching a line of code. Joining Amazon, Viglinks, and others are required to use these modules. They are simply consolidating all the monetize options you can use quickly into blocks/modules.

Normally on your own site you'd take your affiliate code the site (amazon, viglinks etc...) creates and embed it in the html code itself so it embeds in the area you want it in. On Wizzley where you put the module for amazon or eBay, for example, are where the page, the site rather, will stitch that affiliate code, the product information and all, into the page seamlessly. When published you just see the seamless result!

A live example is the image above this paragraph. It's actually a poster from a site called allposters.

It has my affiliate code in it so if you were to click that image and buy that poster on the next page, I'd earn a commission. There are a lot of different types of affiliate products on this page actually from all the books shown beside the content to pictures mascerading as art on the page but in reality are ads (if they don't click them it's just a picture!).

Posters to toasters, to cars- it's all available to earn a commission on if you know where to sign up. Most sites have an affiliate signup page found in the footer of the page. Clickbank also has great products you can presell and if they buy through your link you get the commission.

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Writing Mills

Organized Freelance/Ghostwriting Businesses That Will Hire YOU To Write

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Joseph Pulitzer Holding a Press Printing the New York World Newspaper, 1901

Ad AllPosters

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Writing mills are a great way to generate some money quickly and to get your experience writing for pay. If you write fast this is a great way to generate thousands a month. Some of the writing mills I've heard were good are (someone else suggested these whose worked at them all):

Writer Access.com

Textbroker.com

Wordgigs.com

(WG only hires freelancers once in a while)

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In Conclusion

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This should get your feet wet. There is a lot to learn in this vocation but with a little common sense and some perseverance and ambition, you can generate a great deal of money while helping those whom are where your going, and in the process you learn the realm. Also keep in mind that they were once in your position too so don't be afraid to approach them- just don't waste their time!

Good Luck!

Updated: 11/12/2012, Jerrico_Usher

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AngelaJohnson on 09/19/2014

Lots of great information on where to write. Right now I'm focusing totally on Wizzley since Squidoo (where I wrote) was recently bought by HubPages, and I quit Bubblews. Maybe in a few months, I'll branch out again.

Jerrico_Usher on 12/18/2012

Thanks John :) more to come!

john111 on 12/18/2012

I think this article was extremely well-done. It covers all the basics of writing online. It would be well for folks to pay attention to this if they are just beginning. Nice job, Jerrico_Usher