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Article Writing, Blog Writing, Content Writing, Freelance Writing & Prediction
Writing For
Cash – Real Opportunities
make money writing on the internet.
Business, Business Opportunity, Marketing, Advertising,
Home Business
There is money to made writing for
cash, especially on the Internet. One of the best
opportunities to make money writing for cash is in the
field of search engine optimized keyword articles. Over
the last two years, this industry has exploded into a
market worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for
enterprising freelance writers.
Basically, this
writing for cash opportunity works as follows.
Businesses want to attract as many visitors to their
websites as possible, and the top way to draw visitors
who wouldn’t otherwise come is through web searches.
These companies hire writers or an article provider that
commissions writers to write short articles containing
common keyword phrases that are related to their
business. When the company posts these articles on their
website, anyone searching for these keyword phrases with
search engines like Google end up seeing the business’s
web page at the top of their search results. This
increases the chances that people will click into their
website.
Search engine optimized keyword articles
are a great way to earn money writing for cash because
the work is steady and usually very easy for experienced
writers. There is also a lot of demand. On the down
side, this writing for cash option can often be very
tedious and the per word pay is extremely low. However,
once you get the hang on it and can start producing
quickly, the per hour rate is dependent on how fast you
as an individual writer produce and can be pretty
decent.
Writing for cash with these types of
opportunities is by no means the road to fame and
fortune as a writer. However, if you wish to put your
writing talents and abilities to use and make real money
writing for cash, getting involved with search engine
optimized keyword articles is a great way to bring in
some extra cash.
Writing in exchange
for bread on the table
Some people say that I have it all – I
disagree. I constantly have to struggle with this
love-hate relationship I have with writing. I love
reading, that’s for sure. And I love to write….about
myself as and when I want to. But....
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writer,article,articles,web content,search
engine,SEO,homeworker,work at home,working,money,make
money,type,typing
Some people say that I have it
all – I disagree. I constantly have to struggle with
this love-hate relationship I have with writing. I love
reading, that’s for sure. And I love to write….about
myself as and when I want to. But when I am required to
write about something like….say….how to change the black
oil in a car or how to pick the right motherboard for
your computer….I have to literally drag myself to the
computer and prompt my fingers to move.
This is
the relationship I have with writing. It’s because I
make a living out of churning out articles after
articles…sometimes completing up to 30 articles a day
face to face with a deadly deadline….it is not such a
heavenly life after all.
It’s ironic that I
spent a large part of my life looking for the right
thing to do. Something that excites me and challenges
me. Something that I WANT to do instead of being FORCED
TO do. I hate being forced into doing something but this
is sometimes called the ‘REAL WORLD’. Even when you love
doing something and you start having people telling you
HOW to write your articles, or books, it begins to lose
its initial appeal.
And yet, despite turning
into a drudgery of kind, I continue to write. Writing is
what I do best. Because my husband would turn to me in
the dead of night, awakened by some kind of swearing and
the tap-tap-tap of my keyboard, he shakes his head and
says, “Gosh, you’re still writing? Why?”
I hiss
back. “Because I am paid to do this. Because I LOVE
this. It’s my job. It’s my life. This is what I am being
paid to do, you moron!”
With a chuckle, knowing
me, he turns his back on me and goes back to sleep.
Smart ass!
While over the years, many other
opportunities came a-knocking on my door and I wondered
if I would do better if I did something else. Oh, I
would still write but I will write my own stuff. My own
novel. My own articles. My own blog. Whatever…my own
diary. But no one else will ever get the chance to tell
me how to write the things I write – NEVER!!!
And
yet, surprisingly, I turn my back on those opportunities
because I know I love to write. Like I said. I write for
a living and secretly love it. If I started selling
insurance or doing real estate, it would be like…so
superficial. So temporary. But when I write…I write well
and I do it quickly, fast and very efficiently. And I
sometimes feel proud of myself…although my fingers and
eyes were throbbing like an earthquake waiting to
happen.
Writing is a passion. If you have a
passion for writing, you’ll start writing passionately
and whatever comes out is a masterpiece in its own
right. Every single article that I’ve ever written, I am
proud of them. I treat them like my little babies. I’ve
lost count of the number of ‘babies’ I have today but
all those articles that I have written, they are a part
of me.
And I have learnt how to write
efficiently and quickly without sounding like a train
running out of steam. Get going, get going, get going.
Come on, go on with it, write, write, write. And then
after you’ve completed the article, go back and dissect
them and inject some botox into them. If you stick
around the first few sentences and try to get it perfect
right from the start, you’ll never complete the article.
And with this secret (which is not a really a
secret to begin with), I am now making my life as a
writer.
Do I still love writing after spending
the last 7 years writing on topics that are completely
dry and arid to me? Well….I love to hate it …and
sometimes I hate to love it.
I believe I will
continue writing until I am lying on my
deathbed….breathing my last few breaths….I can imagine
myself saying, “Honey, get me my keyboard…I want to be
buried with it.”
Once a writer, always a writer.
Evidence: I took a total of 3 mins 22 seconds to
write this whole article.
Be a Well
Paid Writer, Starting Today
Imagine writing a few words, several times
a day, and waiting for checks for $10, $50, two hundred
dollars or more to pop through your letterbox some time
soon. That’s what life is like for writers of short
manuscripts, commonly called ‘fillers’, who can make
this a full time writing career or a wonderfully
profitable hobby.
writing, freelance writer,
writer, write articles, published writer
Imagine
writing a few words, several times a day, and waiting
for checks for $10, $50, two hundred dollars or more to
pop through your letterbox some time soon. That’s what
life is like for writers of short manuscripts, commonly
called ‘fillers’, who can make this a full time writing
career or a wonderfully profitable hobby.
Fillers
are short written pieces, sometimes just a few words,
ranging from readers’ letters, to verses, jokes and
cartoons, recipes and household hints, overheard
conversations and odd things children say, press errors,
and much more.
Demand for fillers is growing fast
as people spend less time reading longer features,
preferring instead shorter, fact-packed pieces that can
be read during coffee breaks and in whatever little
spare time most people have.
How to Get Started
Today
Becoming a published writer, and being
paid, is as easy as reaching for pen and paper, a few
envelopes and stamps, and studying magazines for current
published fillers. To be a published writer really fast
look for prolific users like Reader’s Digest, Woman’s
Own, Writers’ News, most hobby and special interest
publications and virtually every woman’s magazine.
Read other people’s published and paid for
contributions - not all attract payment - and model your
work on those editors have already chosen. Notice how
some editors favour comments on past published features
in the magazine, while others choose pictures of
children and pets, and others recipes, poetry, jokes and
so on.
Look further at magazines that most
closely match your interests and writing preferences and
look for editors’ notes on how and what to write for
payment which you’ll usually find on the contents page
or in special readers’ letters and filler pages.
Make a list of possible subjects to write about and
begin collecting ideas for letters, jokes, hints, as
required by your target magazines.
Start by
listing all main points you might include in your letter
or filler. List these in order of importance, from ‘1’
for most important down to however many points there
are. This is usually the order they will take in your
finished piece, but not always, and some editors favour
keeping the most important, sometimes second most
important piece to close the feature. As always, study
your target magazine first.
Write your piece, in
simple style, not trying to impress and without using
long and complicated words. Make sure each word deserves
its place in your manuscript. Go through with a
highlighter pen marking essential points and looking for
any which might be deleted.
Make your lead as
strong as possible. Try including something to shock
readers or search for an odd and little known fact about
your subject. Anything to attract and retain reader
interest. This is what will compel the editor, and
ultimately his readers, to finish reading your work.
Letters can be handwritten, other fillers should be
typed on A4 paper, double spacing, with wide margins.
Add your name and address at the beginning of
the manuscript and number all pages.
Add an
introduction letter to fillers stating subject, word
count and your own name or chosen pen name.
Submit your letter or fillers and wait. Don’t hassle
editors, you’ll only antagonise them and possibly turn
them against you forever. Once your first manuscript has
gone, start work on the next, and the next.
Main
Points for Filler Writers
* Sentences and
paragraphs should be short and punchy. Longer sentences
and paragraphs are offputting to readers. And, of
course, editors, too.
* Begin by writing about
subjects that interest you in magazines you read
yourself.
* Try to be different. Even if the
subject is common, look for an unusual feature or aspect
to focus on. Make it one readers can relate to and make
sure nothing similar has featured recently.
*
Watch out for special sections in some publications,
where editors invite features on a common theme,
sometimes a grouse, frequently complaints, often asking
readers to recount their most embarrassing moments, and
so on.
* Keep your eye
s and ears open for
anything remotely interesting to use in your letters and
fillers. Listen to what other people say, particularly
children. Watch out for odd signs and business names,
and have your camera ready to record them.
*
Never copy other people’s work in your target magazines.
This is breach of copyright, but there is no copyright
on ideas, so what you see in one magazine can be
borrowed to form the basis of a filler you write for
another publication.
* Study at least a dozen or
so publications of the type you would like to write for.
Rank these in order of preference, according to filler
types, payment, subject matter. Start writing and
submitting material for those highest on your list.
* Think pictures. Think illustrations. Instead of
sending just words to your target publication, include a
photograph, maybe a cartoon or line drawing. This will
increase your chance of being published. As always,
careful study of your target magazine will establish
editorial preferences.
* Always have a notepad
and pen at hand, and preferably a pocket camera and mini
recorder. It’s amazing where inspiration and ideas
strike and how often there is nothing handy to record
the incident. My best ideas come when I’m in the bath,
ironing, gardening, or walking the dog! Those notepads
pinned to every wall and popped into my handbag have
repaid their cost many times over!
* Be
professional in everything you write, however brief.
This will bring your name to the fore when editors view
your work. Being professional also opens the door to
longer assignments, like articles and columns and maybe
even regular commissions.
* Never assume that
what suits one market will also suit another. It won’t.
Each market must be studied as a separate entity.
* Do not submit the same piece, or something very
similar, to two markets at the same time. Editors hate
this, especially where that other market is one of their
major competitors. More importantly, you will lose all
credibility as a writer.
* Send your manuscript
to the appropriate person or department. This will
usually be indicated in the publication itself, usually
on the readers’ letters page or in appropriate sections
reserved for fillers. Otherwise, address your work to
the editor whose name usually features in the early
pages of your target magazine. Alternatively, look in
Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook or Writer’s Market for
the information you require.
* On the question of
when to retrieve your work and submit it to another
publication, most writers agree that three months is the
very minimum you should wait before assuming your work
has been unsuccessful. Some writers wait longer, up to a
year for high-paying markets like Reader’s Digest.
* Keep your work in circulation. Keep accurate
records of everything you write, including where it is
currently on offer and where it might be submitted next.
Incidentally, resubmission doesn’t apply purely to
unsuccessful pieces; published pieces can also be
revised and resubmitted to new markets
, but not too
soon after publication and preferably not to major
competitors of your main markets.
* Above all,
enjoy yourself, this isn’t hard work after all!